Browse by Theme: Women's Economic Empowerment

There’s an inescapable buzz around the role of business in international development. Everywhere I go—from Bangladesh to East Africa, from the flurry of activity of the UNGA or CGI in New York to the WEF Annual meeting in Davos—it’s a topic that has risen to the very top of the development agenda.

To be clear, CARE welcomes this long-awaited energy and momentum. But business still has a long way to go, particularly when it comes to understanding the importance and specific needs of women—both as customers and as critical participants in supply chains.

After the annual meeting of the world’s largest and most important body for agreeing international food and nutrition security policy, Larissa Pelham questions on World Food Day whether NGOs really have a voice in the process.

Perhaps, you're hoping to break into the development sector, or you are looking for a career change from the private sector? Maybe you want to build your CV while completing your post graduate studies or want to learn more about the world of microfinance and influencing policy makers? If so, an internship in the Advocacy and Policy Team at CARE UK might be just what you are looking for. Here are five reasons why we think you should apply:

The leaders of the G8 came to the UK over a month ago and David Cameron hosted a ‘Hunger Summit’. While the summit did pledge up to $4.15bn (USD) to tackle malnutrition did it take the opportunity to boost public investment in the small holder farmers that feed a third of the world’s population?

Debate on the possibilities at the base of the pyramid (BOP) is ubiquitous; nonetheless, too often regulated to a post-script is that frequently when we refer to the BOP what we actually mean is women at the BOP.  It’s time to stop discussing the BOP as a single, homogenous entity and start looking more specifically at what it will mean to engage with women as producers and as consumers.

Apart from some notable exceptions, the most oft-cited evidence for the business case for gender equality tends to focus disproportionately on large, western companies in the formal sector. Far less visible are examples that demonstrate why companies should-or how they can- act on Women’s Empowerment Principle 5: “implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women.”