A progressive nation must consider key issues such as gender equality and women’s empowerment to achieve sustainable development. Surveys show that higher earnings of women are a significant contributor to the education and health of children, which has a positive impact on economic growth. Globally, the number of female-owned businesses is steadily rising. The World Bank estimates between 8 and 10 million to 10,000,000 formal small and medium businesses with at least one proprietor in developing countries.
Women make significant contributions to national economies. They are a key contributor to job creation and poverty reduction. International organizations, governments, and international development stakeholders increasingly recognize the potential for women’s entrepreneurship development.
Despite all this progress, women worldwide still face discrimination and gender obstacles that limit their ability to realize their full potential. Economic empowerment and entrepreneurship development interventions are geared towards women to promote gender equality. They also seek to change the gender norms that place them at an economic disadvantage.
Methods and Means to Women’s Empowerment
Women’s empowerment is a burning question to end gender inequality and poverty and foster inclusive economic growth. Education, women’s organizations, science and technology, law, agriculture, and microfinance institutions are all ways to empower women.
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Education
The most important role in empowering women in education. It not only creates momentum but also sustains the empowerment process over the long term. Each of the five dimensions of empowerment is equally important but not sufficient to empower women to take action on their behalf. While educational settings can support all five dimensions, it must specifically design them to meet each end. Important to note that the National Policy on Education recommends that women be empowered through education agencies.
Education must include a variety of concepts to enable empowerment. Empowerment should be available to girls in primary and secondary schools. Limiting women’s social potential is because of sexual stereotypes and gender conceptions of femininity and masculinity. Courses that challenge current sexual stereotypes and offer students alternative visions of a society without gender should empower girls.
Students can now understand the role of gender in society through Gender and Women Studies programs. These programs have influenced the development of and discrimination in new methodological and theoretical approaches to gender, national change.
Another way to empower adult women is through distance education. What can women representatives do when they are too busy with their administrative and political engagements? Or how can employees who are already working full-time pursue education because of their lack of time? Distance education is the best and most satisfying option.
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Entrepreneurship
Women’s entrepreneurship involves both women’s status in society and their ability to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs of women faced many challenges, including in the marketplace for their products (which includes family responsibilities), which had to be overcome to have the same opportunities as men. Women may also face obstacles in certain countries to own property or enter contracts. Greater participation of women in the labor force is necessary for women to be more successful in society and self-employment.
Encouragement and aggravation will be given to rural women who want to enter microenterprises. Rural women can do great things through their effective participation in entrepreneurial activities.
Rural women can manage and start an enterprise with basic knowledge and skills. Knowledge about loans and funding agencies is essential. Also, it is important to be aware of certificates and government welfare programs.
It is important to encourage the creation and strengthening of rural women entrepreneurs’ networks. These networks of women entrepreneurs are a major source of information about women’s entrepreneurship and are becoming more widely recognized as an important tool for its promotion and development. These women can share their knowledge and expertise in marketing, production, and processing with each other through lectures and printed materials.
With the right support, it will motivate other rural women to start micro-entrepreneurship. They can also increase their family’s income and productivity. Entrepreneurship empowers women. Microentrepreneurship strengthens women’s empowerment and eliminates gender inequality.
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Science and Technology
Technology and science can reduce women’s workload. By involving them as equal partners and recognizing their experience and knowledge and the important role they play in sustainable development, organized orientation and training can help empower women with the right and sustainable technologies. Research has shown that women can be effective agents of change by being mothers and creating the right developmental programs.
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Women’s Organization
The primary source of power, position, and strength for women today is the role played by women’s organizations. Women can fight injustices committed by men alone or together. She can also do it collectively by joining organizations. Under the Stree Shakti Scheme for women, SHGs in rural regions organize women’s power through yeomen service.
Women from various sections are coming together to form an association to fight against gambling dens and liquor shops, mataka centers, and abolishing age-old practices such as wife-beating and polygamy, down-connected harassment, devadasi, child marriages, and other old-fashioned ones. The SHG also provides employment opportunities for large numbers of poor, illiterate, and marginalized women. A strong leadership model among women can help empower them. World’s most Inspiring Female Entrepreneurs can tell you alot about the empowerment of women’s.
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Information Technology
Knowledge is the most powerful tool to lift people out of poverty and empower them. Society strives to empower its citizens and become a knowledge society by utilizing knowledge in all its constitutions. This knowledge society needs empowerment at all levels and in all key actions. It is crucial to recognize the potential for women’s empowerment via information technology at this moment.
Information is key to women’s economic, political, and social empowerment. No other technology has so far claimed to provide instant, uncensored, and economically workable information to women than information technology engineering companies are paying most. The internet offers new ways to learn, educate, and provide livelihood options. It also provides a governance mechanism, eCommerce options, and other options that could lead to women’s empowerment.
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Microfinance Institution
The empowerment of women is a major focus for microfinance institutions. There have been many case studies and research on the impact that microfinance has on women’s empowerment. Despite microfinance institutions in South Asia, most of these studies were conducted there. Many of these studies have shown that microfinance institutions are a great help in women’s empowerment.
There’re also some necessary steps we can do for women’s empowerment.
- Get women into power.
- Talk to women and girls.
- Let girls use mobile phones.
- Work together
- Stop child marriage and sexual harassment
- Make education gender-sensitive
- Raise aspirations of girls and their parents
- Empower mothers
- Encourage women into non-traditional vocations
- Give proper value to ‘women’s work.’
- Beware the backlash
- Stop the violence against women
Closing Thoughts
Women empowerment programs invest heavily in women’s welfare and empowerment, encouraging them to get out of their traditional roles and break away from gender stereotypes. There are many ways to achieve women’s empowerment. The recommendations above are just a few. It’s time for us to break down barriers and look into alternative programs to promote financial inclusion and women’s empowerment.
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