Debt and women

[Blessed]

Debt and women

 

Poor countries' crippling debt burden has a particularly severe impact on women and girls. A new briefing paper explores how it is women who take on most of the extra burdens created by a debt crisis, and how debt cancellation needs to work for their benefit.

 

 

 

Jubilee Debt Campaign has worked with ActionAid UK, Oxfam GB and WOMANKIND Worldwide to produce a briefing (downloadable using the link on the right) which explores the impact of debt on women, using analysis, case studies and illustrative facts.

 

Globally, women and girls are more likely to be poor and disadvantaged. They are routinely excluded from decision-making at all levels, and have almost no independent control over resources: only 1% of the world’s land and property belongs to women. Despite this systematic discrimination, societies worldwide depend on the skills, work and knowledge of women to weather poverty: finding food to put on the table, caring for the sick, and bringing up the next generation.

 

Both women's disadvantages and this role in supporting families and communities and providing essential services are intensified in a debt crisis. Debt drains poor countries of resources, and places them further under the control of the international financial institutions, who often demand further cuts in public spending as a condition of loans or debt relief. It is women who lost out most from the loss of services, and who make up the shortfall by caring for others.

 

 

 

For instance:

When countries charge fees to attend school, girls are more likely to miss out on education than boys.

When healthcare and social services are cut, women take on the work of caring for the young, sick or elderly.

Where water privatisation reduces access to water, this can increase the workload of women, who tend to have the role of fetching water.

 

However, there is also some good news: where debts have been cancelled, spending on social services has increased, with clear benefits for women and girls. For instance:

The abolition of school fees by countries like Uganda, after they received debt relief, have hugely increased girls' attendance at school.

Bolivia and Mauritania have directed debt relief savings towards improving healthcare, including for pregnant women. There has since been a huge increase in the number of mothers with access to mid-wives and doctors.

Benin, Bolivia and Tanzania are among the countries that are using funds from healthcare to provide training on nutrition and family planning for mothers.

 

But clear problems remain. Many countries still have severe and unjust debt burdens; and policies around contraction, payment or forgiveness of debt - including conditions for debt cancellation - still ignore or even violate women's rights. The impact on ordinary women and girls is severe.

 

We are calling for governments to uphold the commitments they have made to women and ensure that agreements concerning loans, debt and debt cancellation do not violate their rights. Rich countries must immediately cancel all illegitimate and unpayable poor country debt, without imposing conditions from outside. And both debtor and lender governments must ensure that women play a full role in deciding how the funds released by debt cancellation are used and monitored.

 

Use the link on the right to download the full briefing.

 

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[Crystal_Clear]

Haye! waa kow!

 

what can i do to help! but am in debt my self.

[Blessed]

^Ax! I know the feeling babes. You need to go on a diet.

 

There isn't much we can do about third world debt but there's alot you can do for female relatives back home.

[Crystal_Clear]

I tried, jogging, running away, playing hide and seek, no luck! am still fat

[Blessed]

^LOl! You should start by cutting back and stop consuming all that pretty but unhealthy junk. And, the pounds will start to drop off.

[Crystal_Clear]

Kim I even considered getting a partner to help me shed these pounds off,but am not too good with commitment! I had few candidates who affored to help too,(I should never use my beauty)lol something holds me back.Friends suggested,some cardio,great strategy,and a laid out plan can solve my problem. what do you think?

[Blessed]

^A detailed health plan, is all you need. Although, I'd say that a focused partner would be a great asset, you'd need to consider other factors to make that work.

 

You can do it, if you put your back into it. All the best

[Crystal_Clear]

Tanag you!

 

have you been watching the news and that korean kid! allah my heart goes out to those kids and parents ! i been lately