WomenAIDLive! - Impact

A GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

“Women are now the most powerful engine of global growth”
“The Future of the World’s Economy lies increasingly in women’s hands.”
“Forget China, India and the Internet: economic growth is driven by women.”
The Economist.

The results are in. The studies are clear. There is indisputable evidence that gender equality is good for business and good for economies and for the health and prosperity of communities worldwide.

Women and girls are a huge resource and opportunity waiting to happen. Nothing short of a revolution in thinking will change this. It’s as simple and straightforward as that.

The higher the status of women and their involvement in a nation’s economy, the more prosperous that nation will be, and more fit for the challenges of the 21st century.

UNLEASHING THE WORLD’S MOST POTENT ECONOMIC FORCE – WOMEN

Women today:
1. in most of the markets – make 80% of consumer goods purchasing decisions
2. represent 60% of university graduates in Europe and North America
3. are linked to profitability – companies with the most women in leadership outperform others
4. who are educated and work enjoy lower birth rates and higher family income
5. Are catalysts for change. The arrival of women to economic and political power will change the world

SNAPSHOT OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE: FACTS & FIGURES – UNIFEM

Prepared March 2008, for Advancing the Global Marketplace see link

Why women and girls are the key to ending poverty - The World Economic Forum
“There has never before been such a confluence of international attention given to the economic importance of women and the need to enable them to fulfil their potential. The position of women – in companies, countries and governments – is seen as a measure of health, maturity and economic viability. The World Economic Forum, organizer of the influential Davos conference, created a Global Gender Gap Report in 2005, ranking 115 countries on how they score for women’s education, health, and participation in the economy and the political process.”

“The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has declared that ‘gender equality strengthens long-term economic development’. In 2007, it set up a gender website to focus on ‘the implications of [gender] inequalities for economic development and what can be done to develop policies for parity’. In a similar vein, the World Bank launched a Gender Action Plan in 2007.”

GENDER EQUALITY IS SMART ECONOMICS – The World Bank

This report provides the first update of Gender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank Group Gender Action Plan (GAP), a year after implementation began in January 2007. The plan commits the Bank Group to ‘do more’ to help achieve gender equality.

The plan’s objective is to advance women’s economic empowerment in Bank client countries to promote shared growth and accelerate implementation of MDG3.

GIRLS COUNT - A GLOBAL INVESTMENT & ACTION REPORT

The Center For Global Development

One person in eight is a girl or young woman age 10–24. Young people are the fastest growing segment of the population in developing countries, and their welfare is a fundamental input for key economic and social outcomes -- including the size and competitiveness of tomorrow's labor force, future economic growth, improved.

This report describes how to initiate effective investments that will give adolescent girls in developing countries a full and equal chance for rewarding lives and livelihoods.

SEE ATTACHMENT PDF

THE GIRL EFFECT - NIKE FOUNDATION

The Girl Effect is about powerful social and economic change when girls are educated.
http://www.girleffect.org

MARIA EITEL at the Nike Foundation is an indefatigable champion for Adolescent girls and has established itself as a leader in the programming and knowledge building for girls. For a list of the successful programs created for girls, go to:
http://www.nikefoundation.org/what_we_do.html

These programs rely on a network of organizations to provide additional funding for putting resources on the ground and into a girl's hands. http://www.nikefoundation.org/who_we_are.html

For a list of the successful programs created for girls, go to:
http://www.nikefoundation.org/what_we_do.html

Investing in Women as Entrepreneurs. EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Female employment rates have a tremendous positive effect on the global economy, giving a powerful boost to GDP in Europe, the US and Japan. ‘Encouraging more women into the labour force has been the single biggest driver of Eurozone’s labour market success, much more so than “conventional” labour market reforms,’ the European Commission reports.

‘Women are driving job growth in Europe and helping us reach our economic targets, but they still face too many barriers to realizing their full potential.’ European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

The potential for growth and change is striking when women have opportunity. UNITED KINGDOM

In the UK, a government-appointed commission on women and work has reported that the country could gain £23bn – or 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) – by better harnessing women’s skills. ‘Many women are working, day-in, day-out, far below their abilities and this waste of talent is a national outrage at a time when the UK is facing some of its strongest competition from around the globe,’ said Baroness Margaret Prosser, commission chair.

Women Mean Business

Invest in programs that promote equality, affordable child care, and prioritize girls' education.

Gender is a business issue, not a women’s issue. No business, large or small, rural or global, developing world or corporate giant, can afford to ignore the growing economic power and potential of women in the 21st century. “The emerging force of women in the 21st century is part of major social and economic change, which has to be acknowledged by any organization looking for a competitive edge.”

Women’s funds are proving that investments in women can bring about lasting changes to both family and community poverty.

“Few developments have had such far-reaching effects on the lives of every man, woman and child today than the rapid change in the status and role of women.”

*Adapted from “Why Women Mean Business” by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland

THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S WOMEN

See Current Issues and status

The dire global statistics on the plight of women are overwhelming.