Thank you Florence. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Panelists and guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I’m very pleased to participate in this side event and I’d like to thank the Permanent Mission of Spain and the NGO AFAMMER for co-organizing this discussion on an issue that is really critical for sustainable development.
As we know, women are the face of poverty, in particular rural poverty, due to their lower access to productive resources and assets, capabilities and decent paid employment. What’s more, persistent, multiple economic and social inequalities have exacerbated the feminization of poverty in rural areas.
Women comprise an estimated 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, and roughly 50 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Africa [1]. They produce most of the locally consumed food and are responsible for household food security in many areas [2].
Yet in most of the developing world the majority of women in rural areas remain poor, hungry and powerless. They eat least, and last, in many communities. Although women have equal property rights in 115 countries and equal inheritance rights in 93 countries [3], gender inequality in landholdings remain widespread in all regions. And women farmers receive only 5 per cent of available credit [4].
As recent MDG reports show, rural women fare worse than rural men and urban women and men, across all the MDGs. As we know, the low levels of skilled assistance at delivery is a leading
Poverty levels in South America are also very high. Woman in rural areas in South America are make up a big amount of the poorest of the poor (IFAD, 2009). The poorest people are the “Indigenous peasant communities in remote mountain areas in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador” (IFAD, 2009). Recent economic crisis has led to
However, the contributions of women to the economy have gone unrecognized and unvalued. Also, there is unequal opportunities between men and women in the workforce, which means that women do not receive an opportunity at demonstrating their ability to lift themselves from poverty and similar issues, and their options to improve their lives are limited or nonexistent. However, I feel that what men do not realize when oppressing women is that women make up half of the world's population. This ultimately means that women also make up half the workforce. A nation that limits women and discriminates against them cannot reach it's full potential or productiveness. On the other hand, if a country's government, businesses, and overall, the communities invest in women, developing countries are less likely to be striken by poverty. Women are educated to wisely manage the money that they earn, which results in less poverty because they will know how to save and spend her money properly. To add on, economic empowered women raise healthier and better educated children, which results in children that will continue to manage money wisely, with their mother's guidance, and ultimately this would lead to a decrease in poverty. Economic empowerment means not only reducing
Additionally, Orissa is a very conservative state, in a very conservative country, and it is generally considered that a female’s place is in the home. In many villages, women will not leave the house except to carry out essential tasks like fetch water or firewood, and even then they will cover their faces entirely with a sari. Women have very limited control over land and other productive assets. This inequality in property rights directly contributes to their low status in the society. These problems are chiefly governed by the lack of social equity, inclusion, gender equity and sustainability. In my community, people below poverty line have to suffer from poor-quality solutions, and every member does not have equal access to same facilities and opportunities. This exclusion
Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.
Poverty can be defined as a condition that people suffer from due to lack of economic resources. For being such a prosperous country, the United States possesses a persistent problem. The problem is the poverty rate in America and how it has become a force that continuously grows. One fact that American citizens are not aware of or do not wish to implement in their minds is that nearly 50 million people in the United States live in poverty. Amongst the 50 million people in the United States that live below the poverty line, over 5 million more were women than man. This phenomenon as to in which women experience poverty at far higher rates than men is described as feminization of poverty, a term coined by Diana Pearce in 1978 (3: Thibos).
Several factors affect the feminization of poverty, and these factors place women at high risk of poverty. According to the article “The Long History of Discrimination against Women” by No Bullying, “Discrimination is something that women face in every country around the world. In the United States, four in every ten women have faced or will face discrimination personally. Often this discrimination presents itself in the workplace, as women face barriers that center on childbearing and family obligations that many men do not.” From the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the character Atticus informs Scout and Jem that poverty affects everyone.
The term “feminization of poverty” was first created in 1978 in an article that analyzed the economic statuses of women. “In 1976, nearly two out of three of poor persons over 16 years of age were women” (Pearce; 1976). The feminization of poverty describes a phenomenon in which women represent a disproportionate percentage of the United States poor. This trend is not only a result of lack of income, but also a lack of opportunities due to gender biases and fixed gender roles in some societies (DeNavas-Walt; 2012). Gender biases often deprive women of opportunities to independently pursue education or careers and are often linked to the expectation that women are responsible for childbearing and caring for them as well. To better
Worldwide, farming is predominantly male, but there is an nearly invisible number of women who are fighting for questions about food safety and security. A ecosalon article states that 43 percent of the agricultural labor force is women and they are responsible for 60-80
Women poverty is directly related to the absence of economic opportunities and self-sufficiency, lack of access to
Feminization of poverty can be defined by the increasing female population on low income or in poverty. Since 1970, the increase of poor women greatly outnumbered that of poor man resulting in the termed feminization of poverty most households are headed by Socioeconomic can also be linked to femininization of poverty by lack of education, income and a range of health problems, such as cancer, diabetes, low birthweight. Also, divorce a giving birth out of wedlock. women.
"Women do two thirds of the world’s work...Yet they earn only one tenth of the world’s income and own less than one percent of the world’s property. They are among the poorest of the world’s poor." –Barber B. Conable Jr, President, World Bank
Conceability to access to power is very limited and stiffed, but they still try to choose paths or achieve their goals within masculine society (Laura, 2009). On the other hand, agriculturalists women in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from unequally in the distribution of lands and resources although they should contribute in the household expenses while they get less than men do, and they work the same as men do. For the classical system their issues is more about society role, but in Sub-Saharan Africa, women could have economic challenges out of that inequality. “According to sex role theory, we acquire our gender identity through socialization, and afterward, we are socialized to behave in masculine or feminine ways. It is thus the task of
In the society, we face so many struggles that maybe a group of people feel that another group of people are not worth the same as they are. These can be due to, a certain features, lifestyles or gender type. Gender role has grouped male and female to be seen separately, and it is not just in our role but it has also gotten to our job lifestyle. How much a certain gender should earn, what job they should be involved with and the position that they can hold a firm or place of work. Feminization poverty occur, because women are been treated differently in their place of work. Even while doing the same job as men, women still get paid less than men. Feminization of poverty is a trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor. The
In many developing countries globalization has brought masses of wealth to the elite at the expense of the poor. Consequently, many women of the poorer classes leave their homeland in search of opportunities for employment. These women are disproportionately affected by
Feminization of poverty is defined as, “A societal-level process over time in which the poor are increasingly made up of women and children” (Eshleman, 2010, p. 588). According to Lauren Abbate of Mount Holyoke College, “Feminization of poverty is the phenomenon in which women experience poverty at rates that are disproportionately high in comparison to men” (Abbate, 2010). It appears that,