Women's Economic Ecmpowerment

Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) is the transformative process that helps women and girls move from limited power, voice, and choice at home and in the economy to having the skills, resources, and opportunities needed to compete equitably in markets as well as the agency to control and benefit from economic gains.

A healthy, empowered economic actor is defined as having three critical features:

1. Access to income and assets: When women have a source of income, they are on the path to becoming a healthy, empowered economic actor.

2. Control of and benefit from economic gains: Women who are able to decide where, when, and how to spend their income see improvements in their social and economic status and the level of resources devoted to their children.

3. Power to make decisions: Decision-making is a core expression of agency and refers to the capacity of women and girls to take purposeful action and pursue goals free from the threat of violence or retribution.

We also believe that women’s economic empowerment is beneficial not only for individual women but also for their children, households, and communities

There is evidence of strong positive links between women’s economic empowerment and foundational health outcomes for women and their families, including beneficial effects on nutrition, family planning, maternal mortality, and child mortality.

While more research is needed, a growing body of evidence indicates that increasing the share of household income controlled by women may produce other benefits as well, including greater investment in children’s education, delayed marriage, and reductions in gender-based violence.

Source: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/equal-is-greater/our-approach/