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Majority of extreme poor are female, OXFAM

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March 8, 2017

Majority of extreme poor are female, OXFAM

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The majority of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty are women and girls. Systematic gender discrimination is a major cause of poverty. Oxfam Canada believes that ending global poverty begins with women’s rights.

Women today:
•Make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population
•Comprise two-thirds of the exploited informal workforce
•Occupy only 20% of seats in the world’s parliaments
•Represent only only nine per cent of the police and 27 per cent of all judges worldwide

Yet women are the powerhouses of developing countries: they produce most of the food, make up a third of the official labour force and care for families and homes. Through decades of development work, we recognize that investing in women means investing in men and children as well.

Oxfam believes that improving the social standing of women is essential to change and development in any country. In many cultures around the world, women live in an environment where they are subject to violence and abuse at the hands of men, and do not have the ability to control their own lives.

See the link or go to www.oxfam.ca

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