Some interesting ideas are raised related to this eternal story of oppression, especially the the simple fact that women probably have always known but us men don't want to accept; that women are more resposible with the money. At least, that seems to be the case in the developing world.
Microfinance is currently the fashionable way forward in reaching out to impoverished women. Though that seems to work in Asia, in Africa it is not as successful.
Another issue is that microfinance Grameen Bank style seems to not always be successful. A common issue with microfinance in developing countries is that as these institutions start developing in a given location, many people will take out many loans from different sources, and find themselves unable to pay. There are a lot of defaulted loans.
Microfinance aside, it is a sad fact that 1% of the world's landowners are women, and the bad-news statistics certainly are numerous. Yet economics may yet provide that opportunity for equality. Any country, like China or Saudi Arabia, that wants to join the other stable economic powerhouses can't do it unless they employ that 50% of the workforce that they're keeping down.
But what do you need me to summarize these things for? Go read the piece.
Posted on August 20, 2009
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