http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/empowering_women_against_corruptionAs many as six Nepalese women die giving birth at home every day without medical equipment or supervision. Many of them are teenagers. A government programme offers small cash allowances to women who gave birth in hospital. It’s the kind of initiative that is desperately needed, and yet in one district local officials created lists of fake mothers, and pocketed the money themselves.
Nepalese women are not alone. Whether bribery, stolen state assets or sexual exploitation, corruption hurts women and girls around the world.
In the lead-up to meetings at the end of June on a UN convention to eliminate discrimination against women, it is time we recognise why and how corruption discriminates against women and girls differently than it does men.
Seventy per cent of the world’s poor are women and girls and corruption keeps them without jobs, education, healthcare, clean water and legal rights.
As the world looks beyond 2015 and new global development commitments to succeed the Millennium Development Goals, effective policies are needed to tackle the corruption that keeps women and girls trapped in a cycle of blocked opportunities.
Stephanie Doty
Women’s Issues Matter
August 9, 2014
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