§ 22. Mr. Geraint DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department is taking to provide greater economic empowerment of women in the developing world. [100369]
§ Clare ShortWomen bear the brunt of poverty, but they also hold the key to its eradication. We are strongly committed to getting more girls through school, and working for improved opportunities for women.
We are supporting numerous projects and programmes which are seeking to make credit available to poor women, to provide them with non-financial support to starting and building small and medium enterprises, 580W and removing obstacles to women's access to land and other assets. Our work in support of women has been the subject of a recent inquiry by the International Development Committee of this House, and it has just published an informative report on the work we are doing in this area.