By The Numbers: Women’s Economic Empowerment

In many countries where TechnoServe works, women continue to face tremendous barriers to economic success. Here are five of those barriers.

This blog post was originally published on July 27, 2022.

UPDATE:
This week, TechnoServe announced that it was joining the Global Labor Program funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – Inclusive Futures program led by Sightsavers. Through the partnership, TechnoServe will help 1,350 women with disabilities in Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya improve their livelihoods as micro-retailers in the distribution network of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA). 

Empowering women to achieve their full financial potential is one of the most powerful ways to fight poverty. Yet in many countries where TechnoServe works, women continue to face tremendous barriers to success. Here are five key statistics that illustrate the importance and potential of women’s economic empowerment.

That’s how much less women earn than men in similar roles around the world. This means that on the current trajectory, women are 267.6 years away from gender parity in the area of economic participation and opportunity – which includes equal pay.

    The annual estimated value of women’s unpaid work, such as childcare and housework – about half the size of the United States GDP.

The yearly economic cost of gender inequality in low-income countries. Women’s equal participation in the labor market would increase the global GDP by 26%, or $28 trillion.

How much yields on women’s farms could increase if women had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education, and markets as men. This would feed between 100 million and 150 million more people—children, women, and men who would otherwise go hungry.

How much more likely women were to be moderately or severely food insecure than men in 2020. The gender gap in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity has increased worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women’s economic empowerment not only promotes greater economic development but greater equity, opportunity, and social progress. And while the statistics above are troublesome, there is still hope. 

TechnoServe works creatively and proactively to help women worldwide gain equal access to the education, jobs, and finance that enhance both their incomes and their equitable economic opportunities for the future. 

Learn more about how we’re empowering women economically.