FACTS AND FIGURES
United
Nations estimates suggest that up to 70% of the world's poor are female. Women's
inequality is a key obstacle to development and a major cause of social injustice.
Women need more power in government and civil society if they are to claim their
rights and protects themselves from violence. Women are poorly represented in
positions of power. The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed
to women's equality.
World poverty cannot be eliminated without it.Women make up more of the world's
poor than men. Often, their work is unrecognised and unpaid. They rarely have
control over assets, such as land. This means they cannot become economically
independent, and makes them particularly vulnerable in widowhood and old age.
Women provide most of the agricultural labour in developing countries.Women
need more resources and opportunities for sustainable economic and human development.
(Excerpts taken from - Breaking The Barriers, Women and the Elimination of World Poverty - a Department for International Development (DFID) publication)