Gender Targeted 3rd World Aid Enhances Growth

In providing international aid to developing countries, many different philosophies and techniques have been implemented and monitored. Food aid, small-scale loans, health care, and other programs are in progress world-wide with varying degrees of success. For example, food aid in Somalia in recent years was unsuccessful due to widespread corruption and assistance to AIDS victims in some African nations is blocked by cultural barriers in addition to corruption. Nonetheless, developed nations realize the need to provide assistance and will continue to do so even if the results are not always predictable.

Recent studies, however, appear to indicate that gender targeted aid consistently produces much better results than aid that is not portioned for specific distribution to women. According to research by the Institute for Policy Research and Analysis for Dialogue, although in developing countries women are disadvantaged due to traditional gender inequality, giving special attention to female-headed households and women provides significant economic benefits. In fact,

". . . if Sub-Saharan Africa had the growth in the gendered ratio of educational attainments of East Asia, economic growth would have been 0.5% points higher, and that the differential in education and employment opportunities between men and women served to reduce annual per capita growth by 0.8% points."

As controversial and contentious the findings may be, they clearly indicate that those countries that deny equal rights to women are tying themselves to a future of poor economic development. Gender-targeted international aid produces significantly more positive economic growth than aid provided without a gender focus.