Intentionality in gender investments

For example, it is estimated that by accelerating the progress towards gender equality, countries in Asia-Pacific could add US$4.5 trillion to their collective annual GDP by 2025³. An example of the intersectionality of the impact is investment in female hygiene products, as these products have both health benefits and positive social outcomes for women. In Sri Lanka, Sinidu is helping tackle period poverty⁴ by providing low-cost napkins to women as well as creating employment opportunities.^5,6 Poor women often use rags, leaves, and paper during periods. Imported napkin brands cost up to 500 LKR (US$1.40) and commercially produced napkins typically sell for between 100 LKR–140 LKR (US$0.20–0.30)⁷, thereby making them unaffordable for the average Sri Lankan woman⁸.

Furthermore, Sinidu sourced low-cost napkin machines and biodegradable raw materials, like pine wood pulp, from India to produce biodegradable sanitary napkins, which cost 60 LKR (~20 cents) a packet. In addition, Sinidu employs women for the manufacturing and sale of these napkins. This is also enabling a positive community shift in awareness regarding menstrual health. In low-income countries in which affordability is an issue and menstruation is a taboo subject, enterprises such as these are helping spread awareness regarding menstrual hygiene. Similar outcomes are evident in India, where Sakhi napkins⁹ and Project Baala¹⁰ provide low-cost biodegradable options, thereby making sanitary napkins accessible and affordable for women in rural India. In Pakistan, menstrual hygiene management (MHM) training helps women earn a livelihood while providing affordable and environmentally sustainable menstrual supplies to women in the community¹¹.

Research reveals that providing women with finance is not sufficient to empower them. This needs to be augmented with technical assistance, mentorship, and a supportive environment in order to ensure that outcomes are sustainable in the long-term to have actual impact.

Successful programs in the microfinance sector echo this sentiment. TYM, a microfinance institution in Vietnam¹², provides gender and business training to female clients. Since its inception in 1992, training in financial education, business management, and entrepreneurship has helped 120,000 women to successfully escape poverty and 7,000 women to become micro-entrepreneurs. Moreover, participation in this training has led to major improvement in the business skills of these women, as they learned how to manage their existing businesses and adapt to the demands of the local market. Further, when husbands accompanied their wives for these trainings, it positively influenced the women’s position within the household. Their husbands were able to see how they managed their businesses well, which created a more nurturing environment for the women at home¹³.

Similar results are evident in interventions that integrate the creation of livelihood opportunities and curbing violence against women. The One Community One Family project in Nepal recruited young married women, their husbands, and cohabiting in-laws to participate in a workshop series that combined the following three elements: a) gender transformative norms workshops, b) economic empowerment through the provision of start-up funding of US$150, and c) support through income generating activities (IGAs). In a year, families observed a twofold increase in profits and asset value. The level of food insecurity among women reduced by more than half, and borrowing food or money also reduced substantially. Further, young married women also reported fewer instances of physical violence.