Abstract
s screened (n = 3498) Records excluded (n = 3136) Full-text articles assessed for eligibility (n = 362) Full-text articles excluded, with reasons (n = 257) Studies included in qualitative synthesis (n = 11) Studies included in quantitative synthesis (n = 23) Refined screening of remaining 107 full-text articles; 74 excluded with reasons
Highlights
1.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEMWomen bear an unequal share of the burden of poverty globally due to societal and structural barriers
We found that women’s economic self-help groups (SHGs) have positive statistically significant effects on various dimensions of women’s empowerment, including economic, social and political empowerment ranging from 0.06-0.41 SD
We did not find evidence for positive effects on psychological empowerment. These findings indicate that donors can consider funding women’s SHGs in order to stimulate women’s economic, social, and political empowerment, but the effects of SHGs on psychological empowerment are less clear
Summary
Women bear an unequal share of the burden of poverty globally due to societal and structural barriers. According to economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (2001), women worldwide have less access to “substantive freedoms” such as education, employment, health care, and democratic freedoms. Women experience unequal access to health care starting from birth and throughout their reproductive years (WHO, 2007). In South and Southeast Asia, women comprise more than 60 per cent of the agricultural labor force. In India, Nepal, and Thailand less than 10 per cent of women farmers own land (FAO, 2008). These facts describe what economists call the feminization of poverty. This phrase is meant to capture women’s unequal share of poverty, in terms of both wealth and choices and opportunities (Sen, 2001)
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