That’s because everybody needs clean water but only women can die in childbirth (currently one every minute). So decision makers choose to help the most number of people.

But this is shortsighted policy. Women are the caregivers for both young and old. If children get health care it’s because their mother’s have ensured it. And women are the ones who send the children to school.

When women are left without resources, they cannot access family planning services to limit their families, have limited access to skilled birth attendants during childbirth and cannot invest in the well-being of their families. Just as an example, if the women who want to plan their childbearing had access to contraceptives, 1 in 3 deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth could be avoided.

Between $5.5 billion and $6.1 billion in additional funding is needed by 2015 to substantially improve maternal health. It’s hard to imagine that will happen in this economy.

Women are drivers of development – yet the poorest women pay the highest price with their health, well-being and ultimately their lives, particularly in a time of financial crisis. Investing in women’s health is an investment in their wellbeing, their family’s wellbeing and their community; yet again this year over half a million women and girls will die unnecessarily in pregnancy and childbirth, tens of millions more will suffer illness, injury and disability.

The World Bank states that investment in family planning can reduce maternal mortality by 40 per cent. Likewise, meeting the unmet need for family planning will reduce maternal morbidity and the burden of disease and illness caused by sexual and reproductive ill-health.

Health is a human right and cornerstone of social and economic development. No one should die or suffer from preventable causes for lack of basic health services. Yet, support for population and reproductive health programmes has significantly declined as a percentage of overall health aid, from about 30 per cent in 1994, to just 12 per cent in 2008. This global crisis further threatens much of the progress made towards improving the health of poor women in poor countries during those years.

Yet even current levels of investment in sexual and reproductive health from national and donor governments are threatened by the current crisis. Girls count and women matter, yet too often they are overlooked. Now is the time to increase our efforts, not decrease them, otherwise the escalation in poverty and the impact on both present and future generations will be dramatic.

An investment of $10 billion annually could save three of every four women who are dying. And just think what that could mean. Just consider what women deliver. Not just babies!

Around the developing world, women operate most of the small businesses. They are workers who deliver firewood and water, immunization and health care. They bring home income. They bring home food. 90 percent of the labour for growing rice in Southeast Asia is done by women. Eighty per cent of Africa’s food is produced by women. And it is the women of Africa, who carry on their heads or in their arms two-thirds of all the goods that are transported anywhere on the continent. Not trucks or planes, but women.

Women are the economic heart of the developing world. But their rights and their health are neglected. This has to change. Women need to be treated with respect and dignity, they need to be healthy, and they need to be able to plan the number and spacing of their pregnancies. If they are able to do this, they can make sure the family has enough income to give each one enough food, clothes, education and medicine. This would be a gain, not just for themselves, but for their families, communities and nations. Investment in women really pays off.

–Visit the Women Deliver’s Blog: Daily Delivery

Click here to view the embedded video.

WomensTrust, a microfinance operation founded by Dana Dakin, afforded me the opportunity to document their projects. She was highly motivated and approached microfinance in a very holistic way, attending to healthcare and educational needs in the community as well.

Most grants are given to aid women in their entrepreneurial efforts. The grants can be divided into basic categories that provide goods and services to the local community: women receive grants for baking breads, preparing cooked food and drinks, sewing clothes, selling charcoal, and offering hair styling services.

At first glance, the economy of Pokuase appears essentially as a barter economy. But the process of receiving a loan and paying it back has a profound psychological impact as well.  The small loans that these women receive, allow them to grow their businesses and the difference between earning $2 a day and $2.50-$3.00 a day can be enormous and the sense of hope and confidence that it instilled in women were quite apparent. However, when the price of fuel and food rose precipitously, all the small incremental gains of income disappeared. A barter economy doesn’t have the potential to grow very much and there is no buffer for economic uncertainties.  I don’t intend to imply that microfinance is a bad idea; on the contrary, in normal economic times, it makes a big difference in women’s lives and even in an economic downturn, it still gives women the very important intanit was the scholarshipgible qualities of hope and support.

So here was the really the most inspirational part of  the WomensTrust program- it was the more than one hundred scholarships that girls received girls enabling them to attend schools and continue with their education.  Statistics have shown that education, and educating girls in particular, is a vital component to economic development and long-term reduction in poverty.   In a speech to his fellow Ghanaians in the early 1900s, the visionary educator, Dr. J.E. Kwegyir Aggrey, declared, “The surest way to keep a people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family.”

Girls’ education is a vital key to lasting development.  Even in the grip of the global financial and jobless crisis the business case for continuing to invest in girls’ education is beyond question. To quote a report on poverty reduction written by the World Bank:

“Women’s economic empowerment is essential for economic development, growth, and poverty reduction—not only because of the income it generates, but also because it helps to break the vicious cycle of poverty.”

The spirit, determination and eager and open minds of these young girls stirred me with optimism: one can only imagine the possibilities and potential they have to change the future.

The book, “Capital of Hope” is the visual documentary of my experiences documenting the WomensTrust program. For a pdf preview of the book, please use the following link:

http://www.tuschmanphoto.com/pdf/CoH_Book.pdf

The book can be purchased on http://www.blurb.com.

Direct link is http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/748382

We echo the words of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the Observance of World Population Day: In the midst of the worst global economic crisis in generations, we must find the most effective ways to continue progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. There is no better path than the focus of this year’s World Population Day:  Investing in Women and Girls.

No one knows yet what the full scale of this global economic crisis will look like. We do know that women and children in developing countries will bear the brunt of the impact. What started as a financial crisis in rich countries is now deepening into a global economic crisis that is hitting developing countries hard. It is already affecting progress toward reducing poverty.
Policy responses that build on women’s roles as economic agents can do a lot to mitigate the effects of the crisis on development, especially because women, more than men, invest their earnings in the health and education of their children. Investments in public health, education, child care and other social services help mitigate the impact of the crisis on the entire family and raise productivity for a healthier economy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Protect the Gains Achieved

Investments in education and health for women and girls have been linked to increases in productivity, agricultural yields, and national income — all of which contribute to the achievement of the MDGs. Investments by governments worldwide have raised school enrollment rates, narrowed the gender gap in education, brought life-saving drugs to people living with AIDS, expanded HIV prevention, delivered bed nets to prevent malaria, and improved child health through immunization.