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POVERTY OF WOMEN : A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE
POVERTY tn general
to particular. remain* a major development challenge. Women ptay a central rote In producing food. generating tn come, bearing and raising
hold production They are a key force in reducing hunger and poverty, promoting family welfare and contributing to overall economic development In the developing world Aa labourer* for hire and on the
jor rote In food production.
They produce mm* than half the food In the developing countries and a* much a* three fourth* In Africa. they probably account for more than 90 per cent of *N lime spent prooc** tng and preparing II. They ptey a substantial part in storing processing and making food and cash crops. and they often take care of small liwsloek. In India, for example, women provide 75 per cent of the labour for transplanting and weeding rtcc. 80 per cent for harvesting and 33 per cent for threshing. In Bangladesh, apart
arc responsible for the post harvest work, including the processing of rice In addition, women are the primary collector* of fuel and waiter, which poor people generally must provide for thcmaclvea tn the gbaence of public services.
Moreover, women bear the major responsibility for
ensuring the nutrition, health and cognitive development of children during their crucial pre school year*
In spile of their economic conlrtbuilon, the weight of poverty falls heavily on women They are often the poorest of the poor. Female members of • poor household arc usually worse off than mate member* because of gender-based dlf ferences In Jie distribution of food and othet cnllUcmcnls within the family. In poor households they often shoulder more of the workload than men. are less educated and have no access lo remunerative activities
Poverty tn the developing countries has been aggravated and often caused by war* and ■octal unrest, in Africa. Central America and the Middle East, conflicts have led to the death and displacement of niililuna of people, destroyed infrastructure. disrupted agriculture and damaged the environment
Those directly affected by armed conflicts — those kitted or wounded — arc largely men. But most refugee* are widowed or abandoned women with children who have been forced to flee their communities.
Without the mean* to support themselves, many survive in refugee camps In their own or neighbouring countries, with the help of international relief agencies. The office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugee* ha* callmalcd the global refugee popuiatkin at about 15 million, approximately 80 per cent of whom arc women and children. Inadequate food rations cause health problem* for refugee women and children, who are particularly *u*ceptl blc to nutritional dcfictenck*. particularly lack of iron, cal ctum iodine and vitamin C. Water-borne disease* lend to afflict refugee* and displaced pcopk especially women, who are the primary collector* of waler. Overcrowding and poor •anilattori compound the prob tern*.
Over the pa*t decade, the •earch for durabk solutions to help refugee* achieve self-reliance has become increasingly urgent because of the enor mou* growth In the number of refugee* In Africa and West Asia. However, aid ha* not been tailored lo the character islie*. skills or need* of the majority of the adult refugee population. Most refugee as* I* lance Intended lo olve the problem* of dependency ha* been directed toward* men, who play a secondary rote tn the organization and upport of refugee families. A new approach is needed lo reach ihe bulk of adult refugees and their famlilc* and to design major training and employment-generating problem* based on the existing or polenlial productive abilities of women
A rapidly rising minority of women have become the sole support for their families, a phenomenon that occur* in
both developing and developed countries. About one third of ail ttousclwkls In the develop Ing world are headed by wsiirn. In ooaw regions, such as tn rural Africa and the urban •lum* of Latin America, the number I* clooer to half. A large proportion arc landless, unskilled, ilhlcrstc, unemployed or underemployed One of the problem* confronting the growing number* of rural women workers in their bin Hcd access lo iund. In nearly all of the regions of the dcvcl oping world, women face legal rest Detkin* against Inheriting land Furthermore, poor rural women arc denied capital, shortterm credit, technical assistance and training because they arc not officially catego Fixed as ’productive Women* farm worked is seen m a natural extension of rural houac hold work, and it often goc* unrecorded statistically.
Household* headed by women In the developed countries are also poorer than those headed by men In the United Stale*, 53 per cnt of poor famlilc* arc supported by a woman with no spouse pre •ent, and nearly one in every four children under the age of six Is currently brought up In poverty. Yet. gender Inequality I* more pronounced In the de vcloping aoclctic*. particularly in rural area* Thl* inequality I* evident In the female mate disparities In the share of women in the labour force. In Illiteracy rate* and educational levels, and tn health and nutrition. (UNIC Dhaka)