The key to poverty reduction and development

It should be a no brainer that development in any society cannot occur unless all citizens are equally empowered. When gender bias is considered, it becomes glaringly apparent that most of the poor countries have inequality forced upon women. Women are actually more crucial to development than men. Women influence the whole family as the nurturer. So any foundation of developmental aspiration of poor Third world countries has to start with empowering women. The UNICEF report as quoted from The Hindustan Times confirm this crucial assumption:

"Gender equality and the well-being of children go hand in hand. When women are empowered to live full and productive lives, children prosper. This is the main conclusion of the Unicef report released on Tuesday in the Capital.

The State of the World's Children 2007 report says that the Millennium Development Goal 3 — promoting gender equality and empowering women — will reap the dividend of bettering the lives of both women and children and will also contribute to achieving other goals, from reducing poverty and hunger to ensuring universal education."