User:Jenny1004jeon/sandbox

Selecting Possible Articles

Area

The Borgen Project- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borgen_Project

Poverty Reduction- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_reduction

Sector

Lobbying- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying#United_States

Nonprofit Organizations- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit_organization#United_States

Evaluating Articles and Sources

Area: Poverty Reduction

-no talks about corruption within poverty reduction (mine got deleted)

-needs expert from int'l development...why?

-neutrality on "Good Institutions" disputed

Sector: Nonprofit Organizations

-concise about US: only includes explanation, governance, and accreditation

-include growing concern about NGOs? (state privatization so more power to NGO)

-why growing number of NGOs

-specific roles of NGOs in US vary

Bibliography

Sector- Gender and Development Area- Women's Empowerment

•     Aizenman, Nurith. “You Asked, We Answer: Can Microloans Lift Women Out Of Poverty?”

This article explains the backstory of how microloans began and how it gave people the opportunity to bring themselves out of poverty. The negative and positive consequences are listed as to how microloans actually impact people. This is relevant to my page because the concept of microloans to poor women was considered an innovative idea. It became a widely talked about idea to implement this program to women in development. This section can be included in the page to display the efforts of the microloan industry (some focused only on women) in Third World countries.

•     Cooper, Lucy-George. “The Impact of Microfinance on Female Entrepreneurs in Tanzania.”

This article focuses on microloans for women in Tanzania. The case study explains the benefits of microfinance for female entrepreneurs to the Tanzanian society and economy. It is a good source for my article because it provides another positive example for microcredit. This senior thesis can support the idea that microfinance can be a factor in bringing women out of poverty. Although it is just one example out of many others, it can build credibility to the section of the article that I write about.

•     Lott, Charlotte. “Why Women Matter: The Story of Microcredit.”

This article explains why women are worth receiving microcredits by emphasizing their productivity in the economy. It also portrays the impact of microcredits, especially for women, and argues the benefits society reap due to these efforts. This lists only the positive consequences, providing strong arguments as to why this can be the solution for women in development. This is a relevant article because it allows me to acknowledge both sides of the story so that I can take on a neutral stance. The more information there is, the better it is for the readers to determine for themselves if microloan is beneficial or not.

•     Manuh, Takyiwaa. “Africa Recovery Briefing Paper.”  

“If you want to develop Africa, you must develop the leadership of African women” (Ba). This article takes a stance in advocating for the growth in women in underdeveloped countries in order to pull themselves out of poverty. It states that women should be given more opportunities and treated as an equal to men in order to have full participation within society. This is relevant to my article because most underdeveloped regions don’t acknowledge women as participants within society, but this can be a good article as to why women should have participation in their own society. Empowerment means a lot because suppression is common in third world countries. This article argues the need for women to be more recognized, which is the key point for women in development.

•     Norwood, Carolette. “Women’s Empowerment and Microcredit: A Case Study from Rural Ghana.”

This is a case study about giving microloans to women in Ghana. It provides a more detailed and clear example of the concept of microcredit for women to “reduce fertility levels and increase educational opportunities” (Norwood). This study also places emphasis on the link between self-empowerment and social capital gained through microloans. This can be useful for the article I chose because it focuses on the improvement of status for women. Microcredit is a well-known concept that is seen within self-empowerment for people in developing countries. This can provide more detailed context for the article when talking about microcredit/microloans.

•     “Protecting Girls’ Access to Education Act.”

This provides a general summary, written by the Borgen Project, of the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education Act. This legislation will prioritize the education for women and increase the implementation in areas of need. It highlights the problem, solution, and costs regarding the legislation. This can be useful for my article because it shows the current work being done in the U.S. to advocate women rights in developing countries.

• https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262513982_sch_0001.pdf

Summarizing and Synthesizing

Area- Gender and Development

Gender and microfinance

Women have been identified by some development institutions as a key to successful development, for example through financial inclusion. One example is the Women’s Development Business (WDB) in South Africa, a Grameen Bank microfinance replicator. According to WDB, the goal is to ensure “[…] that rural women are given the tools to free themselves from the chains of poverty […]” through allocation of financial resources directly to women including enterprise development programs. The idea is to use microfinance as a market-oriented tool to ensure access to financial services for disadvantaged and low-income people and therefore fostering economic development through financial inclusion.

As a reaction, a current topic in the feminist literature on economic development is the ‘gendering’ of microfinance, as women have increasingly become the target borrowers for rural microcredit lending. This, in turn, creates the assumption of a “rational economic woman” which can exacerbate existing social hierarchies). Therefore, the critique is that the assumption of economic development through microfinance does not take into account all possible outcomes, especially the ones affecting women.

The impact of programs of the Bretton Woods Institutions and other similar organizations on gender are being monitored by Gender Action, a watchdog group founded in 2002 by Eliane Zuckerman who is a former World Bank economist.

(redone)

Women have been identified by some development institutions as a key to successful development, for example through financial inclusion. Microcredit is giving small loans to people in poverty without collateral. This was first started by Muhammad Yunus, who formed the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Studies have showed that women are more likely to repay their debt than men, and the Grameen Bank focuses on aiding women. This financial opportunity allows women to start their own businesses for a steady income.

There were numerous case studies done in Tanzania about the correlation of the role of SACCoS and the economic development of the country. The research showed that the microfinance policies were not being carried out in the most efficient ways due to exploitation. However, there was evidence that reform could possibly enrich the overall economy. One case study went a step further to claim that this financial service could provide a more equal society for women in Tanzania.

While there are such cases in which women were able to lift themselves out of poverty, there are also cases in which women fell into a poverty trap as they were unable to repay their loans. It is even said that microcredit is actually an "anti-developmental" approach. In South Africa, unemployment is high due to the introduction of microfinance, more so than it was under apartheid. Microcredit intensified poverty in Johannesburg, South Africa as poor communities, mostly women, who needed to repay debt were forced to work in the informal sector. Although there is debate on how effective microcredit is in alleviating poverty in general, there is an argument that microcredit enables women to participate and fulfill their capabilities in society.

Another example is the Women’s Development Business (WDB), a Grameen Bank microfinance replicator, in South Africa. According to WDB, the goal is to ensure “[…] that rural women are given the tools to free themselves from the chains of poverty […]” through allocation of financial resources directly to women including enterprise development programs. The idea is to use microfinance as a market-oriented tool to ensure access to financial services for disadvantaged and low-income people and therefore fostering economic development through financial inclusion.

As a reaction, a current topic in the feminist literature on economic development is the ‘gendering’ of microfinance, as women have increasingly become the target borrowers for rural microcredit lending. This, in turn, creates the assumption of a “rational economic woman” which can exacerbate existing social hierarchies). Therefore, the critique is that the assumption of economic development through microfinance does not take into account all possible outcomes, especially the ones affecting women.

The impact of programs of the Bretton Woods Institutions and other similar organizations on gender are being monitored by Gender Action, a watchdog group founded in 2002 by Eliane Zuckerman who is a former World Bank economist.

Sector- Women's Empowerment

Contents Restructuring

1. Importance of women's empowerment in societies
2. Methods which help to empower women
3. Measurement
4. Barriers
5. The role of education
6. The Internet as a tool of empowerment
7. Ongoing Projects- U.S. Involvement
8. See Also
9. Sources
10. References
11. Further Reading

The role of education

Improving education for women helps raise their levels of health and nutrition and reduces fertility rates. Education increases "people's self- confidence and enables them to find better jobs and they can work shoulder to shoulder with men.They engage in public debate and make demands on government for health care, social security and other entitlements". In particular, education empowers women to make choices that improve their own and their children's health and chances of survival. Education helps to prevent and contain disease, and is an essential element of efforts to reduce malnutrition. Further, education empowers women to make choices that improve their welfare, including marrying later and having fewer children. Crucially, education also increases women's awareness of their human rights their confidence and their actual ability to assert those rights.

Despite significant improvements in recent decades, education is not universally available and gender inequalities persist. A major concern in many countries is not only limited numbers of girls going to school, but also limited educational pathways for those that step into the classroom. This includes, more specifically, how to address the lower participation and learning achievement of girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

(reworded)

It is said that education increases "people's self- confidence and enables them to find better jobs, engage in public debate and make demands on government for health care, social security and other entitlements". In particular, education empowers women to make choices that improve their children's health, their wellbeing, and chances of survival. Education informs others of preventing and containing disease, and it is an essential element of efforts to reduce malnutrition. Furthermore, it empowers women to make choices that can improve their welfare, including marrying beyond childhood and having fewer children. Crucially, education increases women's awareness of their rights, their self-esteem, and their ability to assert rights.

Despite significant improvements in recent decades, education is not universally available, and gender inequalities persist. A major concern in many countries is not only the limited numbers of girls going to school, but also the limited educational pathways for those that step into the classroom. More specifically, there should be more efforts that address the lower participation and learning achievement of girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

Ongoing Projects

The UN came out with a set of goals called the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, to help make the world a better place. Of the 17, the fourth goal works to allow access to education for all people alike. A large effort has been made to include women in schools to better their education. Similarly, the fifth goal focuses on empowering women and girls to achieve gender equality through equal access to various types of opportunities (health care, education, work, etc.).

Prominent Non-profits that help empower women:

• She Should Run

• Girls Not Brides
• The Malala Fund
• Women in Defense
• Women for Women International

• Every Mother Counts   

U.S. Involvement

Domestically, the U.S. empowered women through passings of laws such as allowing women to vote in 1920, banning discrimination based on gender in 1964, banning discrimination against pregnant women in 1978, etc. Additionally, the inclusion of women in politics allowed for more gender equality. The first female speaker of House, the first First Lady to run for president, and first women to serve on the Supreme Court were monumental events that proved socially the acceptance of "subservient" women.

The U.S. provides foreign aid to third world countries in various forms, one of which is by providing education programs. There are currently bills in Congress that work to ensure education to girls, one of which is the Protecting Girls' Access to Education Act. These are enacted with the belief that proper education will pull them out of poverty and reduce exploitation.

Another action taken on by the U.S is the PEPFAR program, initiated by the Bush administration in 2003. The U.S. spent more than $1.4 billion in funding the sub-Saharan Africa. This program was taken into effect in response to the global HIV/AIDS crisis, and it promoted abstinence among young girls and women. There was a partnership with DREAMS, and it's main purpose with PEPFAR was to allow both girls and women to develop into Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe women. However, there are criticisms that this program did not really do much to reduce HIV risk behavior, and John Dietrich worried that the context of aid enforced Western beliefs of choosing abstinence before marriage. There was and still is controversy regarding the effectiveness of this program in reducing HIV/AIDS through advocating abstinence and whether this would actually empower women in Africa.

My Contributions

Gender and Development

-Created new Subheading 2: Gender and Microfinance

-Edited existing info. about microfinance and included small part in mine

Women's Empowerment

-restructured contents

-added SDGs (update) to Importance of women's empowerment...

-reworded Role of Education section to more neutral tone

-created whole section of Ongoing Projects