Economic empowerment —

Economic empowerment for women is crucial to gender equity. WHGNE leads the way in working to improve the financial wellbeing and capacity of women through research, training and resources.


By empowering women economically, it sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and economic growth. Women make huge contributions to economies, but they remain disproportionately affected by poverty.


Gender inequality means women often end up in insecure, low-wage jobs and constitute a small percentage of those in senior positions.



What is economic empowerment?


The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2011) defines Economic Empowerment as the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways which recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth’


Economic Empowerment:


  • Increases women’s access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services and skills development.
  • Is fundamental to strengthening women’s rights and enabling women to have control over their lives and exert influence in society.
  • Is about creating equitable and just societies.

Did you know?


  • Women are twice as likely to be underemployed than men.
  • Women are over-represented in part time and causal employment.
  • Women earn lower wages (women earn on average 17.4% less than men).
  • Women are retiring with around half the savings of men.
  • Women have less access to secure and affordable housing than men, women comprise the majority of single-parent and sole-person households


Find our economic empowerment resources

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