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Expanding Horizons: Financial Education

(CAF, 2023)

Financial education, with its focus on practical training and functional knowledge, can have a significant impact on promoting economic involvement and driving development. Especially for those without formal schooling, these education programs provide a means to develop essential skills for business and employment, independence, or family support. More than just imparting basic money management skills, financial education empowers people to make informed decisions and participate in local economies which further contributes to society (Garcia et al., 2013). In regions marked by economic disparities and gender inequalities, this knowledge afforded by this form of education emerges as a key element in building a more equitable society.

Developing Equality through Education:

Disparate economic standings significantly contribute to inequality, and knowledge is essential to change individual circumstances. It is astounding how basic literacy in financial matters can improve financial inclusion among the most vulnerable populations and contribute to the fight against socioeconomic and gender inequalities (Garcia et al., 2013). In this way it is easy to understand why financial literacy education, particularly in developing economies, directly contributes to multiple United Nations defined sustainable development goals, two of which are SDG 5 and SDG 10.

  1. SDG 5 – Gender Equality: Financial education is pivotal in empowering women. By equipping women with the training to achieve financial literacy, they gain skills not only to open businesses but also to manage household finances and find financial independence (BBVA, 2020). This empowerment enhances women’s economic standing improving their ability to open and run businesses and manage finances effectively.  This is further translated into greater participation in the economy at large as well as within households, which is a key step towards achieving gender equality (BBVA, 2020).
  2. SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities: Financial education for adults, particularly those from underserved populations, addresses economic inequalities. Equipping these individuals with essential entrepreneurial skills and financial capabilities, the programs foster economic independence and create opportunities for upward social mobility, much as they do for women (Valerio et al., 2014). This kind of education directly contributes to a more equitable distribution of economic resources and opportunities.

Financial Education: Focus on Latin America

Recent data highlights the need for financial education in Latin America, particularly for women and underrepresented groups. For example, surveys in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru show that only 33% of women are independently making financial decisions, in contrast to 48% of men, with Ecuador at the highest level of disparity, 18% between men and women in this regard (CAF, 2022). These figures not only reveal existing inequalities but also illustrate the potential of such education programs to advance SDG 5 by empowering women in financial matters.

In addition to advancing gender equality, financial education programs can also foster economic stability and growth. A program in Peru and the Dominican Republic demonstrated how entrepreneurial training with financial education can lead to increased business revenue and personal savings among participants, a finding that supports the objectives of SDG 10 in reducing economic inequalities (Valerio et al., 2014). By addressing both poverty and lack of opportunity, these programs are not just educational; they are empowering tools for development.

The growing recognition of the positive impacts of financial education has led to the formation of the International Network on Financial Education (INFE). Comprising over 260 institutions, INFE is dedicated to developing research and policy tools to further enhance financial and entrepreneurial education (OCDE & CAF, 2020). Currently this network includes 51 public authorities in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region (OECD, n.d.).

Latin American Countries Participating in the OECD/INFE

(Garcia et al., 2013)

Despite the promising impact there are notable gaps and challenges in these programs that include limited access in remote or rural areas, potential gender biases in program delivery, and the sustainability of funding sources. Additionally, the effectiveness of these programs can vary significantly based on regional economic conditions, cultural factors, and a lack of sufficiently measured outcomes (OCDE & CAF, 2020). Addressing these issues can ensure that programs meet the diverse needs of those who need such education the most and successfully provide access to financial knowledge and skill development. This educational approach takes a needed step towards diminishing inequalities and enhancing gender equality.

  • Valerio, A., Parton, B., & Robb, A. (2014). Entrepreneurship education and training programs around the world: Dimensions for success. The World Bank.
  • CAF. (2022, March). There is no Gender Equality without Financial Inclusion. CAF News. https://www.caf.com/en/currently/news/2022/03/there-is-no-gender-equality-without-financial-inclusion/​​.
  • BBVA. (2020, February 17). To what extent does financial education influence gender equality? NEWS BBVA. https://www.bbva.com/en/sustainability/to-what-extent-does-financial-education-influence-gender-equality/
  • OCDE/CAF. (2020). Estrategias nacionales de inclusión y educación financiera en América Latina y el Caribe: Retos de implementación. OCDE.
  • Garcia, N., Grifoni, A., Lopez, J.C. and Mejía, D., (2013), “Financial Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Rationale, Overview and Way Forward”, OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions, No.33, OECD Publishing.
  • OECD. (n.d.). Latin America and the Caribbean. OECD Financial Education. https://www.oecd.org/financial/education/oecd-cvm-financial-education.htm

Education For All in Kenya

The Kenyan government recognized illiteracy, poverty, and disease as severe barriers to human socioeconomic growth as early as 1965. (SCIRP, 2020). Kenya’s educational system is divided into three levels: 8 years of mandatory primary education (starting at the age of six), 4 years at secondary school, and other 4 years of higher education (Ingham et al., 2021). Primary and secondary education is free. However, secondary school is conditional on passing the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education through a national exam. Education is highly regarded in Kenya, with many students relying on “shadow education” (after-school and weekend instruction) and continuing in a grade for at least 1 year to pass the Certificate of Primary Education exam. But, because of the country’s ongoing economic difficulties, many of these learners have had a hard time continuing their education passed the elementary level; free secondary education was implemented in 2008 to address this issue. Kenya’s literacy rate is one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, at more than four-fifths of the population.

Ending Poverty through Education

           Poverty eradication aims to promote fairness and break open vast human potential. Increased access to higher education has stimulated economic development and poverty eradication. And with that success the fundamental skills of writing, reading, and numeracy have helped out those how have been historically marginalized . Since its independence, Kenya has enacted several laws and published policy papers expressing the desire to eradicate poverty, such as the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, Participatory Poverty Assessment Reports, and National Poverty Eradication Plan.  According to the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (2012), education not only aids individuals in escaping poverty through knowledge and developing the skills they need, but it also helps to increase productivity revenues that, in turn promotes economic growth.

Education helps people to realize and nurture their potential, which leads to creativity, innovation, and lucrative work, leading to socioeconomic stability. According to The Institute of Development Studies, Investment in secondary education gives economic development a clear boost, much more than can be achieved by universal primary education alone. (IDS, 2017) This claim is supported by the figure below.

           Transition to high schools grew gradually in Kenya with free primary education but increased a ton more after the implementation of free secondary education in 2008. Statistics from the year 2016 show that the net enrolment rate in secondary school was 53.1% up from 28.9% in 2008.(SCIRP, 2020). It is important for Kenya to stay on this path of success in order to meet its industrialization goals for the future.

As you can see, there is a positive relationship between free education and the eradication of poverty in this Kenya. Both target goals were met after the launch and implementation of these new policies which means that it was a sound investment in the people of the country for their future. There exists a positive relationship between free education and eradication of poverty in Kenya. Considering the targets for both free primary and secondary education was launched and implemented, Oranga et al. (2020) suggest accomplishments and socio-economic rationale for investment in and free secondary and free primary education in Kenya. Given the high private and social returns to funding in primary and secondary education (Oranga et al., 2020), pragmatic and inventive management decision-making and initiatives are badly needed to enhance the quality of primary and secondary education and meet the growing demand for it without ignoring the basic requirements for the success of free education programs in Africa. Although, Kenya has ways to go to eradicate poverty, the government’s efforts have not been in vain and now ensuring quality standards are met, there’s no telling how far they can go.

References

Clark, N. (2015, June 2). Education in Kenya. World Education News + Reviews. https://wenr.wes.org/2015/06/education-kenya

Ingham, K. , Ominde, . Simeon Hongo and Ntarangwi, . Mwenda (2021, September 28). Kenya. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Kenya

Krueger, A. B., & Malečková, J. (2003). Education, poverty and terrorism: Is there a causal connection?. Journal of Economic perspectives17(4), 119-144.

Oranga, J., Obuba, E., & Nyakundi, E. (2020). Education as an Instrument of Poverty Eradication in Kenya: Successes and Challenges. Open Journal of Social Sciences8(09), 410. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2020.89031

The Cross Section between Education and Poverty in Zambia

Photo by Jeffrey Kurnick, Youth Day 2020, Fritter Eating Competition

When serving with the Peace Corps in Zambia my host father, who made a modest living from farming, used a good portion of his income to send all 10 of his kids and nephew to school.  He would tell me, “I don’t want my kids to wake up every day early in the morning to break their backs farming.  If I send them to school, they can go work in the city.”  That statement is not just my host father’s idea, but a fact supported by the world bank.  In their research they found, “the most noticeable fall in inequality occurs when in-kind public service benefits are added” (22).  When the largest amount of funds were put towards education and health, the world bank reports that levels of inequality and poverty were lower.  This blog post will explore the relationship between primary school enrollment and poverty in Zambia my father talked about.

            There are many definitions for poverty, but I believe we can utilize the definition brought up by Ingutia, Rezitis, and Sumelius in their study of childhood poverty in sub-Saharan Africa which describes poverty as a child being, “deprived of interrelated material and sociocultural resources that are economic, political, social, cultural, physical and environmental in nature and are generally known to be vital for development” (2020).  This definition gives a wide range of what poverty can cover.  In Zambia, the World Bank estimated in 2009 that 70 percent of Zambians lived on less than $1 per day so making poverty strictly an economic issue may be misleading.  Now the question is, does increased enrollment in primary school truly decrease poverty rates?  The answer may not be as easy as a yes or no.

However, Ingutia, Rezitis, and Sumelius’s research on the statistics done by the Young Lives Project a research group sponsored by the University of Oxford suggests this is not just a direct link between enrollment and a decrease in inequality. By examining the crop production index, child underweight rates, and the ratio of female to male labor force participation they found that creating a direct link between poverty and primary school enrollment may be a mistake.  The scholars found that “Although education plays a crucial role in the pathway out of poverty, the order of elasticity ranking shows that female employment in agriculture, quality of institutions and child underweight are more potent in explaining child poverty than primary school enrolment” (12, 2020).  This article that while the numbers for primary school enrollment are important, that number is not the only factor when trying to dissect the cause of poverty in Zambia.

Female Employment in Agriculture

There are many causal relationships that work together to prolong poverty in Zambia.  One of these relationships includes female employment in agriculture, “The estimated elasticity shows that a 1% increase in the number of females employed in agriculture will decrease poverty by 2.48%” (13, 2020).  When there are fewer women earning money, unfortunately, families must choose which child gets to attend school.  In this case, boys are usually given privilege over their sisters to attend school.  This makes it harder for women to enter the labor market and this process continues with the next generation.  You can understand from this relationship that when women are not allowed to participate in school, they are then not equipped to participate in a large sphere of the economy.

Quality of Schools

            Looking into Zambia’s past even though in 1983 the primary school enrollment was nearly 100% (Haambote, 2009), Quality education in Zambia was declining due to a myriad of reasons including: “excessively large classes, poorly furnished classrooms, dilapidated buildings, and scarcity of textbooks, science equipment, and other essential items” these items combined led to a fall in teacher morale (Musambachime, 85).  Even if these students are enrolled in the class, there is no guarantee that they are getting a quality education.  During my time teaching, I saw many teachers who held admirative roles while also being teachers due to a lack of faculty and funds.  This led to many classes without teachers, and just some notes for students to copy from the board.  Due to a lack of resources these schools have had a tough time issuing the quality education they want to deliver.  One big factor in employment in Zambia is the use of English.  If students are not getting the proper education they require, entering the workforce and breaking out of poverty will be an uphill battle.  In 2001 it was found that discretionary district-level funding improved English and math test scores by 0.10 SDs (Ganimian and Murname, 2016).  If funds can be made available to schools, then it is possible for more improvement.

Child Underweight

When hungry in class focusing on schoolwork is difficult.  The Young Lives Project described how malnourished children cannot pay attention enough in school to truly get good value from it, this can then spiral into poverty in the kid’s future.  Reversely, kids from impoverished families sometimes do not have access to the nutrition they need leading to poverty causing child underweight. 

            While I saw many students attend class regularly in Zambia, much of the time was with no teacher present.  While the rates of primary school enrollment are high in Zambia, they do not give the full picture of what factors keep people in poverty.  The government can show off these high numbers, but what are the actual outcomes of schooling? These schools and communities sometimes lack the resources to provide children with the means for a good education.  When provided the world bank reports that inequalities have gone down, as seen in figure 8.

*The Gini index shows the measure of inequality amongst a population.

To recap discussed the complexity behind primary school enrollment and its relationship with poverty in Zambia.  This is an extensive topic that cannot be solved with one action, it will take many leaders to put egos aside and figure out what they as a people want to get out of education.  Currently, the new government elected this year led by Hakainde Hichilema plans to expand the social sector and attack these issues.  Then again what politicians preach before being elected and what they do after often differ, only time will tell what the future has in store for Zambia.

Works Cited

Bulfin, Michael. “Zambia’s Education System in Historical Context” Spark Ventures Publication, 2012

de la Fuente, Alejandro and Rosales, Manuel and Jellema, Jon Robbert, The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in Zambia (November 20, 2017). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 8246, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3074909

Ganimian, A. J., & Murnane, R. J. (2016). Improving Education in Developing Countries: Lessons From Rigorous Impact Evaluations. Review of Educational Research86(3), 719–755. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315627499

Haambote, Fidelis and Oxenham, John. “Regaining Momentum Towards Universal Primary Education in Zambia.” In Maintaining Universal Primary Education: Lessons from Commonwealth Africa, by Lalage Bown, 51-79. London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2009.

Ingutia, Rezitis, and Sumelius John. “Povery, status of rural women and education in sub-Saharan Africa” Children and youth Services Revise, Volumne 111, 2020.

Musambachime, Mwelwa. “The Impact of Rapid Population Growth and the Economic Decline on the Quality of Education: The Case of Zambia.” Review of African Political Economy, 1990: 81-92

When a Girl Has No Voice: Child Marriage in South Sudan

Background

The Republic of South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July of 2011 following a referendum held in January of that year. The world’s newest country was left with a legacy of more than 50 years of conflict and instability, as well as massive development requirements, particularly those in the education sector. By 2030, all girls and boys should have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary school, according to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). According to the UNESCO SDG 4 Data Book by Target, South Sudan had the highest out-of-school rate (61% in 2015) for children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age. Nowadays, an estimates 2.8 million children which is represented by more than 70%, are out of school. Such a situation threatens their futures as well as the country’s, according to UNICEF. Some of the out-of-school children live in pastoral villages and are unable to attend regular classes due to their cattle’s movement. The majority of out-of-school children are represented by girls in South Sudan.

Education Challenges

            Girls Facing Child and Early Marriage

            South Sudan’s extremely low rates of school enrollment and literacy among females are mostly due to early and forced marriages. It is also a leading cause of female school dropout. South Sudan is failing to meet its commitment to ensure equal access to education for boys and girls by failing to curb child marriages (Human Rights Watch, 2013). In 2015, a study was published by the International Rescue Committee, Global Women’s Institute, and Care International to examine the number of child marriages among a representative sample of 2,728 (of which 2,244 were women) adults aged 15 to 64 in three South Sudanese locations. Rape and child and forced marriages are all on the rise, according to the survey findings. As shown in figure 1, 78 percent of 615 Rumbek females and girls married between the ages of 15 and 19, while 7% were under the age of 15 at the time of their first marriage. Unfavorable sociocultural attitudes and behaviors that prohibit women and females from enrolling in, staying in, and completing their basic education are some of the most significant challenges to female education in South Sudan. Rape and child marriage are negative sociocultural attitudes that determine a female’s value by the amount of bride price/dowry she can leave her family when she marries. In a country where most of the population lives in poverty and many people struggle, marrying off a daughter is a definite way for families to acquire resources. As a result, girls are frequently married off for this reason, often at a young age when they are not physically or psychologically developed enough to adequately carry the physiological and psychological duties that come with marriage. Because a South Sudanese female’s social/cultural worth is often based on her ability to bring in bride price and carry children, many parents/communities do not perceive the value of investing in her education (Garang, 2019). This results in a low percentage of girl’s graduation rate in South Sudan. Furthermore, parents play a role in girls marrying against their will. Sometimes, parents threat to harm and even kill them. Up to a quarter of female respondents (ranging from 10% in Juba to 25% in Rumbek) said they had no say or input in the decision to marry (No Safe Place, 2017). As shown in figure 2 more than 50% of the respondents from Rumbek said that their families arranged the girl’s marriages.

Chart, bar chart

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(Figure 1)

(Figure 2)  

South Sudan Plans to Provide More Access to Education

            The National School Feeding Program (NSFP) is aligned with the national Poverty Reduction Strategy and the GESP, 2017-2022, and aims to increase access and improve the quality of education in South Sudan through improved nutrition, gender equality, and other socioeconomic benefits. The NSFP covers all school-aged children in all states, including those enrolled in public pre-primary, primary (P1-P8), secondary (S1-S4), community self-help schools, alternative education system centers, and learners enrolled in National Teachers Training Institutes. School children receive on-site meals through the NSFP, as well as “Take Home Rations” for children who attend school for a certain number of days. The NSFP is also moving toward more decentralization, putting more responsibility on state and county levels, and leveraging existing community-based institutions like parent-teacher associations, school management committees, and village chiefs. Partnerships are an important part of the NSFP’s implementation, and they necessitate strong horizontal and vertical cooperation under the Ministry of General Education and Instruction’s overall supervision (UNESCO, 2021).

Conclusion

            To conclude, the poor education system in South Sudan is a contributing factor to these unintended teenage pregnancy and child marriage in South Sudan. Thus, the government in South Sudan should enact laws that will protect girls to go to school and protect them from being married off at a young age. It must ensure that females who marry do so freely and with their full consent. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, acknowledge the right to marriage based on the spouses’ “full and free consent.”

References

Lifting Their Eyes: Girls in Schools

For this blogpost, we will be focusing on the relationship between education and gender equality (SDG), particularly on Target 5.1:

“End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere”

My motherland, Afghanistan, is a turbulent place to live, with some issues being more visible than others. Significant educational development was made in Afghanistan in the two decades following the fall of the Taliban administration in 2001 when girls were allowed to attend. While UNICEF’s trustworthy data is sparse, it is estimated that fewer than 1 million children, or around 40% of the 9 million students, were enrolled in school. That is unquestionably a significant increase. The percentage of female out of school in 2015 was 47% but still  Female literacy rate increased from 34% to 43% 2002-2020  (UNESCO, 2021). Afghanistan’s legal framework—at least on paper—offers women many protections, including equal rights for women and men.

The main reason for these changes has to do with significant efforts pursued by the US and the international community writ large. It is generally viewed that the impact of educating one girl has a generational impact. Women with six years of schooling and above are more likely to seek prenatal care, assisted labor, and post – natal care, according to UNICEF (2012), decreasing mother and child death rates. Women with a high school diploma are more than twice as likely uneducated mothers to immunize their children. Women can be empowered by education because it offers them the power to make decisions and live the life they want. According to UNICEF, the mortality rate decreased to 60.3/1000 in 2019, a stark difference from 128.7/1000 in 2000. Another benefit is that girls who have completed secondary education are highly unlikely to marry as children, allowing them to carve out a more independent future for themselves (World Bank, 2021).

UNICEF – Trends in under-five mortality rate in Afghanistan

However, despite significant gains, the relationship between education and gender equality in Afghanistan is fragile and complex. Gender equality in Afghanistan is a moot point on paper; Afghan women have the same legal rights as males. However, women face other barriers: They are constrained by cultural standards and religious conservatism. Women are expected to marry young, have children, and stay at home after they have children. Afghanistan has been one of the worst perpetrators of gender inequality for decades, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP014)

Perhaps, then, it is unsurprising that gender inequality still exists in Afghan schools. At the secondary and higher levels of education, there is still a significant difference in attendance between girls and boys, indicating that girls continue to drop out early. Not using the restroom and washing up in private is such a source of cultural shame for adolescent girls that many of them drop out of school when they enter puberty. Despite these significant advancements, Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most difficult places for women to live, with high maternal death rates, widespread gender-based violence, and restricted access to education and health care.

A girl looks on among Afghan women lining up to receive relief assistance, during the holy month of Ramadan in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Parwiz – UNICEF

Gender equality in a country was linked to higher per capita GDP, increased economic competitiveness, and chances for human development, according to 2015 World Economic Forum research. Although “it is consistent with the idea and accumulating evidence that empowering women entails a more efficient use of a nation’s human capital endowment and that lowering gender disparity boosts productivity and economic growth,” the paper emphasized that correlation does not prove causation. The most recent U.S. gender strategy for Afghanistan emphasizes the security argument, referring to studies that “indicate higher levels of gender equality are associated with a lower propensity for conflict.”

The security point is emphasized in the most recent US gender policy for Afghanistan, which cites studies that “suggest higher levels of gender equality are connected with a lower propensity for war.” In several parts of the United States’ gender efforts, agencies displayed sensitivity and adaptability to Afghan social norms to varying degrees of success. Community-based education, for example, was found to increase girls’ enrolment and educational outcomes in particular, partially because it is a culturally accepted model for girls’ education that allowed more families to send their daughters to neighboring schools.

Aside from the physical danger, women face unique challenges, such as limited physical mobility, sexual harassment, and limited access to male sources. A 2014 USAID Guide to Gender Practice in Afghanistan noted that the “prevailing sentiment in Afghanistan is that women working in media are considered un-Islamic by their families and society,” resulting in familial pushback, harassment by male colleagues, and retribution by men for controversial stories.

Afghanistan’s restrictive social and cultural norms toward women—who symbolize honor of the family and the nation—predate and pass over the Taliban. A common misperception about women in Afghanistan is that the Taliban are the prime instigators of their oppression. The mores and customs of Afghanistan’s major ethnicity, the Pashtuns, have heavily shaped Afghan gender roles and relations, in addition to diverse interpretations of Islam. “Family honor and its safeguarding as a true measure of a man’s worth and rank in society,” according to this tribal rule.

Bibliography

Azoulay, Audrey. Afghanistan – UNESCO Director-General Expresses Deep Concern over the Exclusion of Girls from School Reopening. 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/17/i-wont-be-doctor-and-one-day-youll-be-sick/girls-access-education-afghanistan.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. I Won’t Be a Doctor, and One Day You’ll Be Sick. 2017, https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/17/i-wont-be-doctor-and-one-day-youll-be-sick/girls-access-education-afghanistan#.

UNESCO. Out of School Children in Afghanistan. 2015, https://www.education-inequalities.org/countries/afghanistan/eduout_prim#ageGroups=%5B%22eduout_prim%22%5D&years=%5B%222015%22%5D&dimension=%7B%22id%22%3A%22sex%22%2C%22filters%22%3A%5B%22Female%22%2C%22Male%22%5D%7D.

UNICEF. Child-Related SDG Progress Assessment for Afghanistan. 2021.

https://afghanistan.un.org/en/sdgs/5

This document was attached to an August 2019 cable (U.S. Embassy Kabul, “Afghanistan: U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security,” Kabul 004040 cable, August 8, 2019).

For studies on the relationship between gender equality and state security, see, for example: Mary Caprioli, “Primed for Violence: The Role of Gender Inequality in Predicting Internal Conflict,” International Studies Quarterly 49, no. 2 (2005), pp. 171–172; Eric Melander, “Gender Equality and Intrastate Armed Conflict,” International Studies Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 4 (2005), p. 695; Valerie M. Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, and Chad F. Emmett, Sex & World Peace, (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2012), pp. 110, 112, 114; Marie O’Reilly, Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, and Thania Paffenholz, “Reimagining Peacemaking: Women’s Roles in Peace Processes,” International Peace Institute, June 2015, p. 6.

World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report 2015, 2015, p. 36. Similarly, a 2012 literature review found that women’s empowerment and economic development can be mutually reinforcing. However, the review concluded that neither is “the magic bullet it is sometimes made out to be.” Economic development alone will not ensure advancement in women’s status and rights, it said—and interventions that favor women and girls sometimes redistribute resources at the expense of men and boys. The author concluded that policymakers should have more realistic expectations regarding these tradeoffs, while also committing to very long-term actions to empower women—without which deep gender inequities will persist. See Esther Duflo, “Women Empowerment and Economic Development,” Journal of Economic Literature 2012, vol. 50, no. 4, p. 1076

USAID, A Guide to Gender Practice in Afghanistan: 2010–2014, 2014, pp. xlix–1.

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