Economic Empowerment Of Women Research Articles

The Politics of Gender Discrimination in Nigerian Fourth Republic: A Gender Analysis

The vicious circle of men-women dominance in political leadership has been the major attraction of most studies on gender politics in Nigeria. Women constitute a substantial percentage of the country’s population, yet they occupy a secondary place in relation to men politically, economically, socially, and culturally. This study departed markedly from this research bias and delved into the proportion of males to females in public agencies of the federal government in the Fourth Republic. The framework of analysis in this study was the Gender and Development (GAD) model which emerged in the 1990s as a grassroots-based framework. The case study research design was adopted with a qualitative approach which enabled data to be derived from a variety of sources, including documentary records and semi-structured elite interview. The findings reveal that women make up a huge population, but they are not heard politically in terms of elective and appointive positions in Nigeria due to certain structural and cultural impediments, ignorance, and poverty. The results confirmed patriarchal dominance as a reality in federal government agencies with evidence in both number and occupation of managerial leadership positions. The study, therefore, advocated investment in women administrative leadership by reserving some managerial positions exclusively for women, as well as building confidence and courage in the women to eliminate the inherent fear of male dominance. Also, government should review all discriminatory practices, the economic empowerment of women, support from family, fellow women, and media, equal representation in governance, and proper perception of women in politics.

Innovative Technology and Operations for Alleviating Poverty through Women's Economic Empowerment

Can technology and operations enable the world to achieve various United Nation Sustainable Development Goals? I provide my own perspective on this question by focusing on the issue of gender equality through the lens of “women's economic empowerment.” To do so, I use case examples to describe how innovative operations enabled by technologies (mobile phones/online platforms, solar technology, blockchain/AI, and Internet of Things) can empower women to alleviate poverty, reduce hunger by improving health, increase access to clean water and sanitation, increase access to education and decent work. Then I share some ideas for Operations Management researchers to consider so that we can explore and develop ways to close the “gender gap.”

Goat Husbandry: An Opportunity to Strengthen Rural Economy in Devipatan Region (Trans-Ghaghara) of Uttar Pradesh

Agriculture is the main economic activity in India which mostly practiced in association with livestock husbandry. Goat is one the most important species of livestock which reared by the poor and socio-economically backward section of rural population. Great market demand for livestock product, diversification of agriculture, rising unemployment level, nutritional requirements, lack of capital to purchase the big ruminants and lack of labour to rear the big animal have fuelled the growth of goat rearing in India. Present study has been under taken to understand the distribution of goat population in time and space, their density and share in total livestock and explore the causes of growth of goat husbandry, in the form of milk and meat production, employment and income generation. The role of goat rearing in rural socio economic transformation has been also explored for development of strategy for alleviation of rural poverty and women economic empowerment in the study area. Devipatan region in Eastern Uttar Pradesh has been selected as the study area to conduct the study. The study has revealed that goat has increased by 21.74 percent in the study area. It also revealed that 20.69 percent Hindu and 78.16 percent are Muslims are rearing goat. The caste-wise involvement shows that there are 20.00 percent Schedule caste, 71.92 other backward castes and 7.69 High caste goat farmers. The cost –income analysis showed positive performance with income over total production cost at least Rs.11854.00 per female goat per annum which varies with stock size up to Rs.14000.00 for big stock size (more than 12 female adult goat). Moreover, nutrition intake is also improved through consumption of milk produced and indirectly helps in saving expenditure for purchasing milk from outside. 71.79 percent responded in positive for improvement in nutrition intake. Economic women empowerment through this occupation is also enhanced as believed by 83 percent of respondents.

Women's Economic Empowerment and Fiscal Policy: A Note for Kenya's 13th Parliament

Women's Economic Empowerment and Fiscal Policy: A Note for Kenya's 13th Parliament

Impact of participation of women in Self Help Groups and their empowerment: A study on the women from vulnerable delta region of West Bengal

Purpose: To examine the relationship between participation in Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the overall socio- economic empowerment of women. Results: The comparative study covering 234 women representing functional and non-functional SHGs highlighted that the poor and vulnerable women often become inactive. A significant relationship was found between women’s active participation in SHGs and its impact on women’s perception of their rights and gender stereotypes, household decision making, and participation in other development activities. Women did access finance, though in a limited scale, due to the fear of repayment and lack of opportunities. Although the ability to take action differs in both categories of SHGs, women continue to experience domestic violence. Conclusion: Convergent effort needs to be undertaken to integrate gender equality and access to finance; to facilitate the process of empowerment of women through an inclusive method of forming, sustaining, mentoring and training the most vulnerable women in SHGs.

Gender Equality and Sustainable Development

The article discusses gender equality as an integral part of democratic values. It is a democratic state that should be based not only on political and social, but also on the idea of gender equality, which means ensuring equal rights and responsibilities, responsibilities and equal participation in socio-political life. The 5th goal of the United Nations-Sustainable Development is to ensure gender equality in society. Therefore, the Government of Georgia is actively working to ensure economic empowerment of women and equal economic opportunities in the country by 2030 and to protect the gender balance in the decision-making process. According to global studies, female potential is the least used economic resource in the world, and a pandemic exacerbates this problem. According to world studies, globally, the rate of job losses in women due to pandemics is about 1.8 times higher than the same rate in men. The article extensively covers additional risk factors for gender equality, such as poverty, as women often do not have access to adequate nutrition, fresh air, water, doctor visits, and housing. For example, the production of textiles is one of the most important polluting industries in the world. 90% of the employees in this field are women. Similarly, in Georgia, the majority of employees in garment factories are women. Our observations show that women earn an average of 400-500 GEL per month, in return for having to work hard, working overtime, which also increases their health risks. Similar problems exist in other industry conditions. For example, the city of Rustavi, where the degree of air pollution is 3-4 times higher than the allowable norms. That is why most women complain of weak immunity, various allergic and oncological diseases. It should also be noted that in Georgia, the integration of gender issues in the development of legislative policies, laws, strategies and programs does not happen often and, unfortunately, the state puts the interest of business profit ahead of the needs of society. The UN Office in Georgia has set up an Extended Gender Thematic Group (GTG) to achieve the goals and objectives set out in the 2021-2025 Partnership Agreement, which brings together all gender contacts and works to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in the country. Keywords: Gender equality, sustainable development, cooperation agreement, women's empowerment, women's rights.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on double marginalisation of women in Kosovo

The COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has revealed the scale of social inequalities even in some of the most developed economies, exposing the existing vulnerabilities. Particularly, gender inequality and economic empowerment of women were a challenge even before the COVID-19 pandemic. This article investigates the “double marginalisation” effect of COVID-19 pandemic on women in Kosovo, through the analysis of gender implications of COVID-19 and participation of women in the labour market. Double marginalisation is analysed through the prism of the lack of institutional actions to prevent the further marginalisation of women during the pandemic crisis. Governmental preventive and recovery measures have particularly neglected women by failing to recognise the threats and vulnerabilities they are exposed to. Thus, the intentional negligence leads to the emergence and development of the phenomenon of double marginalisation of women. It is also a result of traditional vision of the role of women in society and cultural stereotypes combined with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

‘Cooking is for everyone?’: Exploring the complexity of gendered dynamics in a cookstove intervention study in rural Malawi

ABSTRACT Background Household air pollution (HAP) resulting from cooking on open fires has been linked to considerable ill-health in women and girls, including chronic respiratory diseases, and has been identified as a contributor to climate change. It has been suggested that cleaner burning cookstoves can mitigate these risks, and that time saved through speedier cooking can lead to the economic empowerment of women. Despite these and other potential advantages of cookstoves, sustained use is difficult to achieve. Objective We used qualitative methods (focus groups, interviews, observation) and the participatory methodology Photovoice in order to inform a deeper understanding of gendered social relationships within the Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS) in rural Malawi. Methods Over five CAPS villages, forty women and ten men were recruited for Photovoice activities, including image collection, village-level focus group discussion and interviews. Data were also collected from interviews with village-based community representatives. Results This study facilitated a rich exploration of context-specific gendered household roles and power relations which found that there was space for contestation in seemingly entrenched and ‘traditional’ household responsibilities. The results suggest that the introduction of cookstoves through CAPS provided a focus for this contestation. It was evident that men and children also cooked, and that cooking played a central role in the gendered socialisation of children. However, there were no indications that time saved resulted in the empowerment of women. Conclusion Our findings suggest that dominant narratives of the links between gender and cookstoves are often reductive and fail to reflect the complexity of gender power relations. The use of qualitative methods incorporating Photovoice helped to facilitate an alternative ‘bottom-up’ view of cookstove use which demonstrated that while cookstoves may disrupt gendered relationships in target communities, positive impacts for women and girls cannot be assumed.

African Perspectives of Gender and Sex in Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trilogy

The notions of what is male and what is female are cultural conceptions into which all human beings are placed. These conceptions form a sex-gender view in African culture. This study examines the concept of gender and sex in Akachi Ezeigbo’s trilogy using survey method. It was discovered among other things that Ezeigbo is using these literary texts as a medium to seek for the end of oppression of women in the world outside the texts. This work analyzed issues in Akachi Ezeigbo’s trilogy from a female point of view as Njoku (2004:277) asserts, “Feminist criticism engages issues from the female point of view which reflects the changing nature of society and highlights the protest of a marginalized group (women)”. Akachi Ezeigbo's trilogy is therefore seen as a message of hope to all oppressed women in Africa; that women are already in the ascent and that total liberation is possible and at the threshold. The “benign way” to survive being the pathway of sound education and economic empowerment of women. These will help to facilitate the “coming salvation.

IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES ON WOMEN'S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN MENA REGION

The focus on ICT as means of empowering women has gained momentum. Their potential is paralleled by their rapid development that extends into all aspects of life. Conducting our analysis on aggregate macroeconomic data taken from the World Bank database, we deploy an econometric panel data approach to capture the impact of ICT on women's economic empowerment in 18 MENA countries between 2000 and 2019, using ARDL panel estimates. The results reveal the existence of a long-term cointegrating relationship between the variables. In addition, the impact of all the variables is significant in the long run, while in the short run their impact is not significant. Mobile phone subscriptions and internet users have a positive impact in the long run; however, fixed telephone subscriptions and fixed broadband subscriptions have a negative impact‎.

Prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among married women in 19 sub-Saharan African countries

BackgroundSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the region with the highest burden of anemia globally. Since anemia has both health and non-health-related consequences, its reduction is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among married women in SSA.MethodsUsing Stata version-14 software, the analysis was done on 89,029 married women from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 19 countries in SSA. Pearson Chi-Square test and Binary logistic regression analyses were used to examine the factors associated with anemia. The results were presented using adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) at a 95% Confidence Interval (CI). A p-value less than or equal to 0.05 (p ≤ 0.05) was considered statistically significant.ResultsThe pooled analysis showed that 49.7% of married women were anemic. Of these, 1.04% and 15.05% were severely and moderately anemic respectively, and the rest 33.61% were mildly anemic. Husband education (primary school-aOR = 0.84, 95% CI; 0.71–0.99), wealth index (middle-aOR = 0.81, 95% CI; 0.68–0.96, richer-aOR = 0.69, 95% CI; 0.57–0.84, richest-aOR = 0.68, 95% CI; 0.51–0.91), modern contraceptive use (yes-aOR = 0.68, 95% CI; 0.56–0.81) and religion (Muslim-aOR = 1.27, 95% CI; 1.11–1.46, others-aOR = 0.73, 95% CI; 0.59–0.90) were factors associated with anemia among married women.ConclusionThe findings show that nearly half of the married women are affected by anemia. Enhancing partners’ educational levels, and economic empowerment of women, strengthening family planning services, and working with religious leaders to reduce the perception and religious beliefs related to food restrictions can be the main focus to reduce the burden of anemia among married women in SSA.

Qualitative exploration of the dynamics of women's dietary diversity. How much does economic empowerment matter?

This study qualitatively examined dietary diversity among married women of reproductive age who engaged in two socio-economic activities to explore the dynamics of food availability, access, costs and consumption. Qualitative in-depth interviews. The food groups in the Minimum Dietary Diversity for women were used to explore women's dietary diversity. IDI were used to develop a roster of daily food consumption over a week. We explored food items that were considered expensive and frequency of consumption, food items that women require permission to consume and frequency of permission sought and the role of economic empowerment. Data analysis followed an inductive-deductive approach to thematic analysis. Rural and peri-urban setting in Enugu State, Nigeria. Thirty-eight married women of reproductive age across two socio-economic groupings (women who work only at home and those who worked outside their homes) were recruited in April 2019. Economic empowerment improved women's autonomy in food purchase and consumption. However, limited income restricted women from full autonomy in consumption decisions and access. Consumption of non-staple food items, especially flesh proteins, would benefit from women's economic empowerment, whereas staple food items would not benefit so much. Dietary diversity is influenced by food production and purchase where factors including seasonal variation in food availability, prices, contextual factors that influence women's autonomy and income are important determinants. With limited income, agency and access to household financial resources coupled with norms that restrict women's income earning, women continue to be at risk for not achieving adequate dietary diversity.

Gender Inequality in Latin America: A Multidimensional Analysis Based on ECLAC Indicators

This article analyzes the behavior of gender indicators on the economic, physical, and decision-making autonomy of Latin-American women, based on data compiled and published in 2020 by the Gender Equality Observatory of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), for 17 countries. Using the HJ-Biplot multivariate technique, it is concluded that the three evaluated areas interact with each other, in such a way that they cannot be interpreted in isolation because their relationships and interdependencies explain the differences in the participation of men and women in the socioeconomic and political environment of the nations in the region. Additionally, it is concluded that in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Ecuador, greater public policy actions are required to seek the economic empowerment of women; while in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, laws are necessary to regulate violence against women. It is necessary to continue promoting gender equality in the region as a determinant factor in methodological frameworks and transformational policies to enable moving towards the construction of sustainable societies and economies.

Revitalizing Women as Heads of Families in Aceh (Conflict and Post-Conflict Period)

The protracted conflict in Aceh made women feel more suffering, both physically and mentally. Women are the backbone of the family because their husbands are kidnapped, killed, wandering in search of a safe place. Women who are abandoned by their husbands are often faced with negative stigma. The term woman as the head of the family is an effort to change the view of widowed women to be positioned in the position of roles and responsibilities as the head of the family. Women can be independent with support from various parties towards independent and prosperous, just and dignified families. Post-conflict women as heads of families have a role in women's economic empowerment such as women's savings and loans, joining cooperatives of non-governmental organizations and contributing to village development and development.

Gender Equality: Marital Name Changing Attitude and Plan

In Nigeria just like other parts of the world, women have made remarkable achievements in creating awareness on girl's enrollment in school, violence against women and girls, women's economic empowerment, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, women's voice, women leadership and influence, women's participation in peace and security, equality in the workplace, and household responsibilities in relation to the campaign for gender equality . However, this is not without incurring the wrath of the Nigerian male chauvinist in government. The most recent example is the throwing out of the Nigerian Senate the bill seeking equal rights to women in marriage, job and education for the third time at the plenary; quoting and citing the Quran, the Bible and the constitution as a basis for their reservations .

Social and economic empowerment of women through financial inclusion: empirical evidence from India

PurposeWomen empowerment becomes an important policy discussion in development economics and modernization theory. The empowerment of women can lead to an increase in the quality viz-a-viz the capacity of human resources accessible for economic development. The purpose of this study is to evidence the impact of social and economic dimensions on women empowerment through financial inclusion in rural India.Design/methodology/approachTo reveal the research objective, the study has utilized a primary survey of women respondents from the Gujarat state of India by a simple random sampling method and applied a logistic regression approach to identify the relationship between the need of a bank account (determinant of financial inclusion) as a dependent variable and social and economic dimensions of women empowerment such as earning status, participation in financial decision-making, recipient of social welfare schemes and perception towards the safety of saving as independent variables.FindingsThe results of this study show that earning status, participation in financial decision-making at household level and recipient of social welfare schemes by women have a significant impact on women empowerment through financial inclusion; however, safety of their savings is observed as an insignificant variable, yet the odd value is very high (2.437) in the present study.Originality/valueThe present study is the first of its kind to examine the social and economic status of women and its impact on their requirement of a formal bank account for the overall empowerment of women in rural India.

Challenges and Difficulties facing Islamic Financial Inclusion in Women's Economic Empowerment in Yemen: Qualitative Approach

The study aimed to explore the challenges and difficulties faced by Islamic financial inclusion through Islamic financial institutions (banks, microfinance, insurance) in women's economic empowerment in Yemen. This will lead to enhance women's place in economic development when finding appropriate solutions to these challenges. This study applied the qualitative approach by conducting in-depth interviews with the experts comprising eighteen respondents in Islamic financial institutions. The result of respondents showed that there are a number of challenges and difficulties associated with the environment that have implications for overall institutional action and directly or indirectly contribute to women's economic empowerment. Where customs and traditions constitute the biggest external challenge facing Islamic financial institutions, as well as women's financial illiteracy, and the unstable political conditions that Yemen is going through. In addition to internal topics associated with the policies of those institutions themselves, they are ultimately subject to the impact of external problems and challenges. Furthermore, the results of the study will help decision-makers to activate the role of compulsory in society and implement effective plans and strategies to empower women economically.

Determinants of Women's Economic Empowerment in Selected Arab Countries for the Period (2000-2018)

This study examines the determinants of economic empowerment of women in selected Arab countries (Iraq, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Arab Republic of Egypt and Algeria) during the period (2000-2018), using the usual small squares method, and in this study we reviewed the concept and the economic determinants that affect empowerment Women, which in turn affect all other variables in these countries, the most important of which are the political and social aspects. In order to know the specific factors for women's economic empowerment, the study adopted the quantitative method to estimate these factors which are (the ratio of women’s enrollment in secondary education to males, average life expectancy at birth for males and females, fertility rate, per capita GDP). The results of the study found that the most important factors affecting the economic empowerment of women in most Arab countries are health, the proportion of women’s enrollment in secondary education to males, average life expectancy at birth for males and females, per capita gross domestic product that had a significant and positive impact, while the fertility rate was found. It appeared morally and negatively.

English

Nonfarm employment is an increasing form of employment in rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is partly because many of the workers in developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa are self-employed workers.  Most women in Uganda do not own land since customary land ownership system deprives women of owning land. This has pushed women to nonfarm employment in urban areas, semi-rural, and rural areas. This paper explored the implications of nonfarm rural employment on the social and economic empowerment of women in rural areas. The findings revealed that nonfarm rural employment boosts women’s income, puts women in leadership positions in women’s groups such as the savings groups, and empowers women to become independent by reducing economic dependence on men or their husbands while also providing women with decision making power both in the community and households. Additionally, successful women in nonfarm employment, especially self-employed women, are role models and a motivation to other rural women to venture into nonfarm employment. Being successful as a woman in nonfarm employment also comes along with leadership roles and high social status in the community.   Key words: Nonfarm employment, women empowerment, rural nonfarm economy, Uganda.

WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Pakistan is a country that has been facing the biggest problem of gender inequality since its inception and has been considered one of the worst performers for decades, especially in terms of women's economic empowerment. Strategic analysis shows that this threat is the result of religious misrepresentation as well as many political, socio-economic and cultural barriers. Rendering to world economic forum report of 2018, Pakistan is classified 148th out of 149 countries. In Pakistan, women, who make up about half of the population, are deprived of basic services such as domestic violence, poverty, poor health, economic dependence and low literacy rates, with little difference between metropolitan and rural life. At the same time, this research should carefully address this issue and point out that legal reforms are necessary and indispensable for the participation of women in the economic development of the country. This will be a first stride to provide objective measure of how specific regulations, implementation and protection of inheritance of property right affect women’s inclusive participation in economic development. The study is correlated to new index introduced by WBL2019 which is structured around eight indicators that encompass different stages of women’s working life, provide essential grounds for economic standing of women, the particular emphasis will be on seventh indicator that is managing assets that involves ownership and inheritance of property. Keywords: Economic empowerment, Legal reforms, Property rights, Inclusive participation, WBL