Women empowerment leads to holistic development of society

In the poverty-stricken families in developing countries girls are considered as economic predicament. That attitude has resulted in the widespread neglect to baby girls in Africa, Asia and South America. In many communities, baby girls are breastfed for a shorter time than boys so that women can get pregnant with a boy as soon as possible. As a result, girls miss out life-giving nutrition which weakens their resistance to disease. To fully appreciate the status of women in Asia, one must take into account the prevailing economic, social, and political institutions.  It would be obvious that the institutions have ill-served women and subjected them to inferior status in the society.  
Close to 100 million women in Asia are estimated to be 'missing' because of discriminatory treatment in access to health and nutrition, pure neglect, or pre-birth sex selection. In South Asia, more women die in childbirth - 500 for every 100,000 live births - than in any other part of the world except Sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants is as low as 18 per cent in Bangladesh, 19 per cent in Nepal, and 20 per cent in the Lao PDR. Many Asian women report experiencing physical violence from their intimate partners - 30 per cent of women in Viet Nam; more than 40 per cent in Bangladesh, Samoa, and Timor; and more than 60 per cent in Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
An extra year of primary school encourages girls to marry later and have fewer children. It also makes them less likely to experience violence and increases their eventual wages by 10-20 per cent. In Pakistan a half kilometer increase in the distance to school will decrease girls' enrolment by 20 per cent. In Afghanistan, Indonesia and several other countries, building local schools in rural communities has led to increases in girls' enrolment rates.
Only 30 per cent of women in Asia and the Pacific are in non-agriculture wage employment, with only 20 per cent in South Asia-the lowest among the world's regions. Unpaid work on family agricultural enterprises accounts for 34 per cent of informal employment for women in India. In the East Asia and Pacific region, output per worker could be 7-18 per cent higher if female entrepreneurs and workers were in the same sectors, types of jobs and activities as men, and had the same access to productive resources.
Across the East Asia and Pacific region, female-headed households own less land than male-headed households. Few women own farms despite the fact that 40 per cent of the region's women are employed in agriculture. Had women the same access to productive resources as men in agriculture, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 per cent which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 - 17 per cent.
Development experts have argued that women have the potential to change their own economic status, as well as that of the communities and countries in which they live. Unequal opportunities between women and men continue to hamper women's ability to lift them from poverty and gain more options to improve their lives.
Women's economic empowerment is increasingly viewed as the most important contributing factor to achieving equality between women and men. But economically strengthening women - who are half the world's workforce - is not only a means by which to spur economic growth, but also a matter of advancing women's human rights. Where women's participation in the labour force grew fastest, the economy experienced the largest reduction in poverty rates. If women own property and earn money from it, they may have more bargaining power at home. This in turn can help reduce their vulnerability to domestic violence. If the women have access to time-saving technologies - such as a foot-pedalled water pump or a motorised scooter - economic benefits can follow. These kinds of outcomes empower women to become stronger leaders.
Recognising women's rights and believing their ability are thus essential for women's empowerment and development. Females should realise their own capabilities and potentials which will strengthen their self image and foster them with confidence. Empowering women is the basic to the basics of human rights where a woman wants neither to beg for power nor search for power hierarchy to exercise power against others. This will bring in her self-confidence, which helps them obtain a voice and vote in household decisions such as domestic well-being like children's diet, education and health; economic decisions; and fertility decisions.
Female economic power also enhances the wealth and well-being of nations. Women who control their own income tend to have fewer children, and fertility rates have shown to be inversely related to national income growth. Women are also more willing than male counterparts to send daughters as well as sons to school. In turn, a woman's level of education affects her decision-making process when it comes to questions about contraception, age of marriage, fertility, child mortality, modern sector employment and earnings.
Napoleon once said, "Give me a good mother, I will give you a good nation". Education develops the skills, knowledge, changes the attitude and improves the self confidence. Education is the most important tool of empowering women with knowledge, skills and self-confidence. As women get the opportunity to go to school and obtain higher-level jobs, they gain status in their communities. Status translates into the power to influence their families and societies. Women can not defend themselves against physical and sexual abuse until they have the authority to speak against it without fear. Knowledge gives that authority.
In most of the countries of Asia, women in the young age depend on her father, in the middle age on her husband, and in the older age on her son. Thus a woman always depends on somebody for her livelihood.  Economic independence will free the women from this slavery.
Empowering women with the help of laws, education and employment will make society accept women as an equal gender like male. Empowering them will help use her full capability and mitigate the economic dependency of women. Boosting the morale and self-confidence of women, is the key to eliminate the inferior complex of her. Mostly males make the major decisions in the family. This makes women voice less and destroys her confidence as she feels less important in the family as well as in the society.
The UN Millennium Development Goals clearly points to multi-pronged approach to combat the issue.  It is obvious in the seven strategies out lined: (1) Strengthen opportunities for post-secondary education for girls while making commitment to universal primary education; (2) Guarantee sexual and reproductive health and rights; (3)    Invest in infrastructures to reduce women's time burdens; (4)    Guarantee women's property and inheritance rights; (5) Eliminate gender inequity in employment; (6) Increase women's share of seats in parliament and local government; and (7) Combat violence against women.
It is well-established that gender inequity resulting from discrimination and prejudice is impeding the forward move of the world community.  However, because of the work by many agencies and governments, women today appear to be better off. If the momentum continues, one can expect to see women enjoying equal status and moving the global community forward to a rate of unprecedented social, economic, and political growth.
The writer is lecturer at the Chittagong Independent University. [email protected]