World Savvy Monitor

Approximately 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty in the world, subsisting on less than $1 per day.  Nearly all live in the developing world, and a full 70% are women and girls.  

Not only are women overrepresented among the world’s poor, but it is also thought that they experience poverty differently, and often more acutely, than men.  

• In least developed countries (LDCs), infrastructure for providing energy, water, and food is lacking; providing for these basic needs often falls to women.  

• In developing countries, poor women lack access to education, land, capital, and adequate health care.  

In this section:

• Factors Contributing to the Feminization of Poverty in Developing Countries
• Patriarchal Traditions and Colonialism
  
• Modernization and Globalization
  
• Structural Adjustment Programs
  
• How Countries Stack Up: The GDI
• Women and Anti-Poverty Efforts in Developing Countries
• Trends
• Beyond Gendered Poverty: Helping Women as a Societal Investment
• UNDP Gender Equality Strategy
• The Millennium Development Goals
• Microfinance

Next:  Women and Poverty:  Factors Contributing to the Feminization of Poverty in Developing Countries