Investing in Girls and Women

Pro Mujer was featured on stage at the opening of the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Introducing this year’s focus on investing in girls and women, President Clinton noted, “Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, and produce 50 percent of the food, yet earn only 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. Whether the issue is improving education in the developing world, or fighting global climate change, or addressing nearly any other challenge we face, empowering women is a critical part of the equation.”

CGI is part of a growing chorus who advocate directing aid towards women and girls as the most effective means to alleviating poverty. Pulitzer Prize winners Kristof and WuDunn note:

Aid appears to work best when it is focused on health, education and microfinance… And in each case, crucially, aid has often been most effective when aimed at women and girls; when policy wonks do the math, they often find that these investments have a net economic return.

As a new CGI member, Pro Mujer has made a commitment to serving 350,000 women by 2012, impacting the lives of their 1.7 million children and family members because we believe women are powerful agents of change capable of breaking the cycle of poverty. Our commitment to action encompasses four of the five CGI action areas. These include: Education; Global Heath; Poverty Alleviation; and Cross-Cutting Issues and Approaches.

We are very honored that our commitment was selected as an exemplary approach to addressing these global challenges. Pro Mujer was the only Latin American organization highlighted in the plenary session “Investing in Girls and Women”.

Watch a clip of President Clinton and Rosario Pérez, CEO of Pro Mujer at the opening plenary,

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPt0Y9ybwU]