Women for Women International program participants in Nigeria. Photo Credit: Sefa Nkansa

What practical approaches maximize women’s economic empowerment, reduce risks and increase resilience?

In places hit by conflict, economic, and climatic aberrations, poor populations struggle to recover. But poor women are worse off. Their ability to cope with shocks - displacement, market shocks, family illnesses - are limited by underlying gender discrimination and unequal societal customs.

Financial dependency and social exclusion limit women’s resilience to shocks. Globally, women face lower market participation and a persistent wage gap, even in developed countries. In developing economies, the Global Findex finds that the financial inclusion gender gap remains unchanged at 9 percentage points. Women experience limited access to and investment in education, lack ownership and control over assets, property and unequal inheritance. Over one-third of women report experiencing physical or sexual violence.

The limitations faced by women contribute to inter-generational cycles of poverty, which in turn stunts their community’s ability to rebuild for generations.

Learning at #SEEP2019

This week, Anna Mecagni, Senior Director of Program Design and Development for Women for Women International, will host a series of roundtable discussions, "Innovative Strategies to Maximize Resilience in Women's Economic Empowerment," alongside other changemakers at the 2019 SEEP Annual Conference to discuss solutions to the question at the center of our program’s development.

The session will actively engage participants in three expert-led round tables focused on practical approaches that maximize women's economic empowerment, reduce risks and improve resilience:

• Victor Nsunwara, Women for Women International’s Economic Empowerment Manager in Nigeria, will present a gendered graduation program that includes rights, decision making and social capital through social support networks for socially excluded women in Nigeria.
• Jennifer Denomy, Technical Director for Vulnerable Populations at MEDA, will present a market-systems project that layered nutrition, land rights and access to new agricultural technology for smallholder women farmers in northern Ghana.
• Dr. Judith McFarlane, technical advisor with Aga Khan University, will present a cash program with added life skills training for men and women in Pakistan.

Each expert will provide a background and lessons learned from their approach, share data and current events surrounding their projects, how they have successfully deployed them in developing nations, and how they are currently evaluating them for improvements. These experts bring field experience and perspectives that are crucial to our understanding of how to replicate, scale, and adapt these approaches to the different challenges women face around the world.

Achieving global gender equality is an ongoing issue and the way we approach it requires constant evaluation and improvement. We invite attendees to join these discussions to encourage conversation and innovation in approaches to promote women’s economic empowerment and gender equality to make communities stronger and more resilient today and for generations to come.