Click here to read on-going columns, addresses and articles authored by IPM's Executive Director, Joseph F. Cistone.

World poverty cannot be addressed without paying particular attention to the needs of impoverished women, as women constitute the majority of the 1.5 billion people who live on less than $1 a day. While both men and women in poverty have limited access to adequate health care, economic opportunities, and educational resources, women are further exploited by unequal gender rights which keep them dependent on the policies and individuals of patriarchal societies.

Women of the developing world are especially vulnerable to health risks, both from infectious diseases as well as a lack of access to reproductive health services. Each year, approximately 515,000 women die during childbirth, 99% of who live in the developing world. In order to reduce poverty amongst women and children, women must not only be guaranteed access to adequate reproductive health care, but also retain control to make choices about their own reproductive health.

In low and middle income countries women are particularly vulnerable to family violence, harmful traditional practices, trafficking and crimes against women in war and armed conflict. Due to social barriers and unequal gender rights, women are often excluded from participating in the political arena where decisions are made about the allocation of public resources. Women in conflict, post-conflict and transitional environments are particularly disadvantaged and marginalized from participation in their own development.

Traditional economic opportunities are limited for women of the developing world, as issues of inequity in land ownership, inheritance & property rights continue to serve as constant barriers. For example, women produce 80% of the total food supply in Africa and the Caribbean, and account for 50-90% of the agricultural labor in Asia, but own less than 1% of land worldwide. Women also face greater effects of free trade policies which rob poor countries of their labor and resources, without any financial or social investments made to the country.

Source: Womens Edge

IPM’s Women category of Projects focuses on one or all of the following initiatives:
• Women’s micro enterprise activities;
• Women’s health and nutritional programs;
• Women’s networks and educational activities;

Some of IPM’s most successful Women’s initiatives include:
• Mujer y Comunidad, Zaragoza, El SALVADOR
• Mujer y Comundiad, San Francisco Libre, NICARAGUA
• Dandora Women’s Forum, Dandora, KENYA
• Asante y Zawadi, Kayunga, UGANDA
• HuM, Ahmadabad, INDIA
• Women’s Re-Entry Network, Cleveland, OH, USA