Women and the world’s issues
Increasingly, we’re realizing that helping women is the best first step in an array of issues. Data and experience demonstrate that dollars and effort invested in women return more good to the community than delivering to the state or to men. Women tend to reinvest in their families and communities before themselves and policy and action are adjusting.
Microfinance, as one very relevant example, is mostly now directed at women or groups of women: repayment rates and collateral positives are higher and it addresses systemic maldistribution and misallocation of power, resources and opportunity.
On this, and much else, is a wonderful interview over at WorldChanging with Kavita Ramdas, the CEO and President of the Global Fund for Women. Operating in over 160 countries it is the largest publicly funded, independent grant-making organization to advance women’s human rights. It is a striking story of incredible success and leaves me — ever the cynical pessimist — feeling absolutely effusively optimistic about the 21st century.
And while she discusses her success in addressing women’s human rights, Kativa reminds us we need to continue rethinking the role of women in human affairs.
I think that I’d encourage all our listeners to think about not using the term “women’s issues” anymore. I don’t believe there is any such thing. I don’t believe that 51% of the world’s population, which is what we are, doesn’t care about all the critical issues that affect us. I believe that women have the right to express an opinion on all issues, and I will strongly challenge us to speak out and speak up against the ghetto-ization of the few issues that somehow we are supposed to care about, and then the more serious ones, like the military and the economy and the war will somehow be left to those other people.
These are issues that should affect and concern all of us who care about free, open and democratic societies. Without the voices of 51% of the world’s population, our chances of making this world a better place for all of us are about zero.
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