As has been established in recent years, raising the social status of women has beneficial effects on poverty reduction. Equalizing power relations between men and women means overcoming the structural causes of social and political instability, avoiding social conflicts and fighting poverty more effectively.
The close correlation between greater equality and more effective poverty reduction is explicitly cited in the UN Millenium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals based on it (MDGs). MDG 3 is concerned with gender equality and empowerment of women. There are also clear links with other development goals: strengthening the rights of women, their access to resources and their negotiating position has an effect on reducing poverty at the household and macroeconomic level (MDG 1). The increased influence of women over important resources can benefit diet, education and health care for the entire family  (MDG 2, 4-6). According to studies, greater political participation by women also impacts positively on the pro-poor allocation of public funds. Education is of foremost importance for achieving the MDGs. A higher level of education has a positive effect on all aspects of development - from economic and employment opportunities to health to the sustainable use of natural resources.

Practical experience

GIZ has systematically mainstreamed gender equality as a multisectoral task. Specific activity areas are:

• Strengthening women's rights
• Measures against sexually-motivated violence
• Mainstreaming gender issues in poverty reduction strategies (PRS)
• Linking gender with MDGs
• Conceptual development of these and other themes.

The portfolio comprises about 25 projects, regional priorities being attached to Latin America, Africa and increasingly the Middle East/Central Asia.

Project examples

• Morocco
  Integration of the gender approach in Moroccan economic and social policy
  en-gender-mdg-morocco.pdf, 0.01 MB (English)