We need a more visionary plan for women's economic opportunity around the world. Photo Credit: World Pulse

There is a "silver bullet" for ending global poverty and creating equality for women around the world at the same time. You carry it in your purse, you use it every day, you probably want more of it too, because you know its power. What is this magical substance? Money.

I have worked for more than 15 years pushing the U.S. government to invest in poor people around the world. I have seen the enormous benefits of women's health care programs, family planning services, basic education for children, and environmental protection. While absolutely essential, these programs, however, don't come close to the transformational power of investing in women's economic opportunities, because none of these other strategies put money into women's hands. And money in women's hands buys health care, gets family planning, sends kids to school, and helps women preserve their local environments, without donor governments having to provide aid. Money in women's pockets is what ends poverty for families, communities, and ultimately for nations.

The favorite women's economic opportunity program is, of course, micro-credit. I have certainly witnessed firsthand the positive effects of micro-lending in Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Egypt, and many other countries. There is no doubt that micro-credit is a breakthrough.

But I have also seen firsthand the limits of this strategy.

What we need are investments that generate good employment for poor women as well as much more investment in micro-finance.

I spent the day with a woman micro-entrepreneur selling candy and fruit at the main bus terminal in Durbin, South Africa. She was "successful" at paying back her loan and keeping her business going, but she only made enough money to buy food and send her older daughter to school. She wasn't making enough to move out of the "informal settlement" (aka, slum) that she was living in.

Micro-credit often results in micro-income. More importantly, not every poor woman has the wherewithal, innate skills, or desire to run her own business. What we need are investments that generate good employment for poor women as well as much more investment in micro-finance.

I believe we need a more visionary plan for women's economic opportunity around the world. At Women's Edge, the organization I helped to found, we have been working on just such a plan: The Global Opportunity for Women Campaign. We feel that women deserve nothing less than a visionary approach.

They deserve a plan that includes micro-finance as well as ample training and assistance to help them grow their micro-businesses into "mezzo" businesses. These small businesses could generate a real livable income for women as well as employment for other poor women. With more employment and more income to spend, local economies start to flourish, and more women can grow into medium-size enterprises and there will be demand for new products and services, creating even more businesses.

With more employment and more income to spend, local economies start to flourish, and more women can grow into medium-size enterprises.

Women deserve a plan that includes creating a local banking infrastructure so they have a safe place to put the money that they earn, a place where fathers or husbands can't access the money. Women's control over their own income is critical to creating a virtuous cycle of local economic development and poverty reduction. It is also essential for protection from violence and even from HIV/AIDS: A woman with her own money has negotiating power and the ability to walk if she's not treated well.

Women deserve a plan that harnesses the power of global trade. Trade can create millions of good jobs for women, if it is designed with women's economic opportunity in mind. Sound trade policies can also help reward businesses that are providing safe, secure, and well-paid employment for women.

Yes, money does make the world go around. And money in poor women's hands will make this world a better place for them, their children, and all of us. There are few investments that yield returns as magnificent.




Contributed by Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President of the Women's Edge Coalition, the leading nonpartisan organization shaping U.S. policy to benefit poor women worldwide. Reprinted with permission from World Pulse Magazine.

To read another Global Envision article about women and economics, see Why Focus on Poor Women and How Best to Serve Them.



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