Empowering women relieves poverty

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Empowering Women Relieves Poverty

Transcript of Empowering women relieves poverty

Empowering Women Relieves Poverty

Executive Director for the International Foundation for Civil Society (IFCS), Bahman Baktiari, shares thoughts on how providing women with tools for economic progress can alleviate poverty in rural areas and third world countries. Bahman Baktiari, who holds a PhD in Government, specializes in the areas of the Middle East and North Africa for the IFCS.

Improving women's positions in small communities and rural areas, and allowing them to be contributing members of the economy can relieve some of the devastating effects of poverty. By providing women with full equal rights and increasing their educational opportunities, they can earn money through participation in mid-sized businesses, which drive the economy. With education comes improved maternal health, lower instances of gender-based violence, and the possibility that women can hold down jobs and operate simple machines to perform daily tasks such as grinding grain instead of grueling manual labor.

There are currently projects in place in Liberia and Africa, such as in villages in Burkina Faso, which are working to improve the social standing of women. When the lives of these underprivileged women are changed, the effects reach families and children as well, which in turn improves the health of the economy of the country as a whole.