Poverty and Economic Security
Women are disproportionately impacted by the burden of poverty. It is estimated that 70% of the world’s poor are women. Poverty traps women in multiple layers of discrimination and hinders their ability to claim their rights.
Not only do women bear a disproportionate burden of the world's poverty, but in some cases, globalisation has widened the gap, with women losing more than their share of jobs, benefits and labour rights. From tax systems to trade regimes, however, economic policies and institutions still mostly fail to take gender disparities into account. With too few seats at the tables where economic decisions are made, women themselves have little chance of rectifying the deepening of existing inequalities.
Empowering women is essential to combating poverty. Women hold the key to ending the cycle of poverty for themselves, their families and communities.
It has been proven that communities as a whole benefit when women are given economic security. Women are more likely to spend money on food, education and healthcare for themselves and their families compared with men and women are quicker at repaying loans.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are an important step in trying to end poverty. The MDGs were developed at the United Nations in 2000 and represent 8 individual goals which if achieved will contribute towards ending poverty. These goals include achieving universal access to primary education, achieving gender equality and combating HIV/AIDS and other dieases. Gender equality plays an essential role in all eight goals.
For more Information on Poverty and Economic Security, please see the resources below
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Empowering Women to End Poverty Factsheet
Learn more about the role women can play in ending poverty.(203 KB)
Read more about the role gender plays in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).(474 KB)
Women in the Labour Market Factsheet
Read more about women in the labour market its relationship to poverty.(196 KB)
News Factsheets about UNIFEM (now part of UN Women) programs:
Strengthening Accountability, Sustaining Trade: Who Responds to Women Informal Cross Border Traders?
Unleashing the Potential of Women Informal Cross Border Traders to Transform Intra-African Trade
Securing the Rights and Livelihoods of Rural Women in Africa in the Context of the Food Crisis and Climate Change
