Many women are denied access or control over vital resources such as bank accounts and loans, with almost 1 billion women excluded from financial services. Financial exclusion and lack of access to financial services also intensify women’s poverty.

Despite being more skilled and educated than ever before, women are still more likely to work in insecure, informal, or low-wage jobs, and are often underpaid for the same work as men. The International Labour Organization estimates that — worldwide — women, as an average, earn just 51 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

Economic sectors dominated by women are undervalued, underpaid — and even, in some cases, unpaid.

We know that when women are empowered financially, everyone benefits. The ripple effects of women’s economic empowerment can lead to improvements in children’s access to education and healthcare, result in reductions in gender-based violence and a decrease in poverty. Women tend to spend 80 percent of their income on their families’ wellbeing and education, and for that reason, resourcing women also helps pave the way for the next generation.

An additional $360 billion per year is needed to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment Microcredit and micro-enterprise development have extraordinary capacity to empower women and alleviate poverty.

Women’s economic empowerment is central to realising women’s rights and gender equality.

That is the Why of TIAW.