Background

Women and girls are the most impoverished, discriminated-against group in the world. Consider the following:

• Of the 1.3 billion people living in absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women and girls.
• Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, yet earn only 10 percent of the income.
• Women produce half the world’s food, yet own only 1 percent of its land.
• Women make up two-thirds of the estimated 876 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write; and girls make up two-thirds of 77 million children not attending school.

In most societies, women face discrimination, exploitation and exclusion that limit their access to resources and assets. This disempowerment is a universal factor in extreme poverty. Rather than working with women as victims of poverty, more and more non-governmental organizations are working to empower marginalized women to challenge and change the contexts in which they live.

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