What economic policies should governments around the world use to economically empower women and girls?

Quick introduction before I get into it. So this was my essay for an essay competition with the title written above and I was quite happy with the methods I mentioned below so I am choosing to share this with my readers. The FCDO has not yet announced the winner, therefore this is a disclaimer that I was and still am the author of this essay, I wrote this in late January and early February and am posting it on the 20th of May because I need to revise for my exams. 

Speaking of exams, I will not be posting any more content on this page until they are finished in roughly 4 weeks

It is crucial to economically empower women and girls in all of their struggles in the world, especially in emerging and developing nations. This is because of the multitude of challenges that they face on a daily basis, with their potential being severed by being forced to remain a housewife without sufficient funding to begin a venture or pursue higher education to unlock their boundless potential only 47% of women of working age participated in the labour market, compared to 74% of men (United Nations, 2020). Even in developed countries, there is a growing issue where some pregnant young women leave their education permanently as they are unable to pursue higher education to care for a child to provide for.

 

My solution to empower women and girls consists of a formation of an “International Women’s Wealth Fund,” (IWWF). The IWWF would be similar to Sovereign Wealth Funds, however it would be sponsored by various governments and private citizens across the world, while being managed by a diverse group of economists and financial experts. Therefore, will not require large investments from the UK. The money accumulated by the wealth fund would be invested in women-lead small businesses in order to provide them with the required capital they need to expand and resulting in the wealth fund making a profit while simultaneously promoting businesswomen. The profit would either be reinvested into similar businesses or would be given to women in need. The money should be used for education or other basic requirements such as hygiene as to promote women across the world to lead better lives. I believe that the organisation should function through a bottom-up approach. The fund would work with communities to promote women, especially in developing areas of the world. The fund will have the potential to economically empower millions of women. The fund will also be able to encourage women to pursue a career in the financial/economic sector. This is important as it is shown that in the finance sector, women have a miniscule representation in senior roles. As of July 2021, in executive committees across the UK finance sector, the average proportion of women was 22% (Yasmine Chinwala, 2021). The introduction of the IWWF would aid women in finance by showing the difference women in finance/economics could make.

 

If the fund becomes large enough, it could sustain itself with minimal donations as well as continue to support many women and girls across the world without the risk of government failure. This would be possible as it could function as a wealth management fund which would be able to provide for itself through its profits through investments. In a similar manner to most investment funds make money. Investment funds make profits based on their leverage, however, in this case the money that is used will not be leveraged or owed to anyone as these investments will function more as a charity than a traditional financial corporation. This idea has been tested and is possible, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is a stellar example of this, the deposits into the Wealth fund came from the abundant oil and gas reserves, however, the wealth fund managed to increase the value of the fund by over 100%. Most of it has been earned by investing in equities, fixed income, real estate, and renewable energy infrastructure (Norges Bank Investment Management, 2021). This shows that the IWWF is achievable.

 

There are two weaknesses in the idea, such as the number of countries willing to carry this task out and the proportional distribution of the wealth accumulated by the wealth fund. However, the IWWF would help maintain strong political and social ties between the nations that benefit from it and the investing nations, warranting investment, as well as an increase in the size of the nation’s financial sector as the fund would invest in those markets. Not to mention that wealth funds have been shown to lower inflation (Yael Selfin, 2011). And in a time such as now, where there is an inflationary threat, it might prove to be useful.

 

In conclusion, I believe that this would be the optimum method to economically empower women as this would lead to a sharp increase in female education levels, an increase in women entrepreneurs and an increase of feminist ideals in developing nations.

References

Norges Bank Investment Management, 2021. Norges Bank Investment Management. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nbim.no/en/the-fund/about-the-fund/
[Accessed 3 February 2022].

United Nations, 2020. The World’s Women 2020: Trends and Statistics. [Online]
Available at: https://www.un.org/en/desa/world%E2%80%99s-women-2020
[Accessed 28 January 2022].

Yael Selfin, R. S. H. G., 2011. The impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds on economic success. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pwc.co.uk/assets/pdf/the-impact-of-sovereign-wealth-funds-on-economic-success.pdf
[Accessed 8 February 2022].

Yasmine Chinwala, J. B. a. P. A., 2021. HM Treasury. [Online]
Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1004207/2021.07_WIFC_-_Five_year_review_.pdf
[Accessed 3 February 2022].