Empowering Women through the Graduation Approach
Empowering Women through the Graduation Approach
Central to the Graduation approach is the understanding that extreme poverty encompasses a multidimensional set of challenges not limited to low incomes. While extreme poverty afflicts both women and men, women are particularly vulnerable because of barriers created by unequal gender dynamics. They often lack control or ownership of productive assets, face limited mobility, and have lower access to education, healthcare, and markets. In addition, biased social norms limit their opportunities and make them more vulnerable to early marriage, genderbased violence, and exploitation. Women also shoulder a higher portion of unpaid care work, which creates a barrier to their participation in the paid labor force. ILO estimates indicate that women and girls work 12.5 billion hours each day for free, which is valued at about $10.8 trillion each year.