Women and Development

The contributions that women make to the economic, social and political lives of their nations, communities, families and the next generation make them key actors in effective development. More than 800 million women are economically active worldwide — in agriculture, small and micro-enterprise and increasingly, in the export processing industries that drive globalisation. Limitations on women’s legal rights and participation in civil society are widespread. Girls’ education has been shown to have a dramatic impact on women’s earning power and on families’ welfare but progress toward gender equality in education still lags, both in absolute terms and relative to those of boys. Conflict and crisis have a disproportionate impact on women, who are frequent targets of rape and other forms of sexual violence, branding, maiming, and displacement. Promoting a stronger and more productive role for women in development demands a broad and flexible approach. This book gives an authoritative account of all vital issues pertaining to women and their development. It will be useful to the policy makers, academicians, researchers and activists in designing the policy for the betterment of women.