Soundbites
“Female dividend” helps poor countries Note to developing countries: Want to stay poor? Then treat women poorly. That’s the message from researchers who say gender inequality leads to lower economic growth. “Countries that deny fair opportunities to women are hampering their potential for development,” according to Ruth Sunderland in the Observer. “Societies where women are treated well are more likely to be peaceful and prosperous.” Females, who make up the majority of the world’s farm workers, have been hit hardest by soaring food prices, she writes. Female inequality “results in less food being grown, less
“Numerous studies point to a strong correlation between gender equality in developing countries and economic growth. Call it the female dividend: money that finds its way into a mother’s purse is more beneficial to families and communities than the cash funnelled into a male wallet.”
income and more hungry children.” As the economic crisis has deepened, young girls are often pulled from school and sent out to work, making things worse. “Educating girls is an investment that continues to produce benefits down the generations,” Sunderland says. “Mothers who have attended school are more likely to recognize the value of learning for their children, as well as being more aware of health and nutrition, leading to lower maternal and infant mortality rates. Investing in a girl’s education can produce exponential rewards, but a poor country with uneducated women is likely to stay poor.
The Marketplace November December 2010
God’s hammer Faith without works is dead. Likewise, faith without work is dead. Work is the arena where faith proves itself to be true. I know from experience that rewards lie on the other side of getting up, running my two miles, cracking open the Bible, communing with the Father,
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Son, and Holy Spirit. When the alarm goes off, these are things not seen, for which faith is the assurance. I’m not dead yet — God is here, calling me in the buzz of the alarm. My vocation is His hammer, level, and awl. — Janie B. Cheaney in World magazine
Shouting NGOs Over time, I’m afraid I came to dislike part of the NGO culture, especially the Green groups. NGOs do a great job, don’t misunderstand me; but the trouble with some of them is that while they are treated by the media as concerned citizens, which of course they are, they are also organiza-
