TOPICS IN THE BOOK The Gender Gaps in Challenges Facing Farmers in Improved Bee Keeping: Case of the Maasai Community in Trans Mara, Narok County, Kenya Gender Gaps in Decision Making Power in Households: Case of Improved Bee Keeping among the Maasai Community in Trans Mara, Narok County, Kenya Making Microfinance Work for the Poor: Experiences of Women Slum Dwellers in Ghana Land Ownership as Symbol of Gender Power Relations in Gusii, Kenya: A Historical Perspective Teenage Pregnancies and Girls Education Capabilities in Nzambani Ward Kitui County in Kenya: School and Community Perspective

Despite recent advances in important aspects of the lives of girls and women, pervasive challenges remain. These challenges reflect widespread deprivations and constraints and include epidemic levels of gender-based violence and discriminatory laws and norms that prevent women from owning property, being educated, and making meaningful decisions about their own lives--such as whether and when to marry or have children. These often violate their most basic rights and are magnified and multiplied by poverty and lack of education. This groundbreaking book distills vast data and hundreds of studies to shed new light on deprivations and constraints facing the voice and agency of women and girls worldwide, and on the associated costs for individuals, families, communities, and global development. The volume presents major new findings about the patterns of constraints and overlapping deprivations and focuses on several areas key to women s empowerment: freedom from violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, ownership of land and housing, and voice and collective action. It highlights promising reforms and interventions from around the world and lays out an urgent agenda for governments, civil society, development agencies, and other stakeholders, including a call for greater investment in data and knowledge to benchmark progress.

"The 2012 report recognized that expanding women's agency - their ability to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities is key to improving their lives as well as the world. This report represents a major advance in global knowledge on this critical front. The vast data and thousands of surveys distilled in this report cast important light on the nature of constraints women and girls continue to face globally. This report identifies promising opportunities and entry points for lasting transformation, such as interventions that reach across sectors and include life-skills training, sexual and reproductive health education, conditional cash transfers, and mentoring. It finds that addressing what the World Health Organization has identified as an epidemic of violence against women means sharply scaling up engagement with men and boys. The report also underlines the vital role information and communication technologies can play in amplifying women's voices, expanding their economic and learning opportunities, and broadening their views and aspirations. The World Bank Group's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity demand no less than the full and equal participation of women and men, girls and boys, around the world." -- Publisher's description.

This research report explores different organisational structures and social and cultural services from a gender-equality and women’s empowerment perspective. More specifically, it examines how access to social and cultural services can facilitate women’s participation in economic and political life. The producer organisation business model provides advantages in creating job opportunities and access to markets for women, positive spill-over effects in both household and group businesses, and access to social services such as vocational trainings, childcare and maternity leave – all of which support women to participate in the labour market on a more equal footing with men.