This discussion is about women's economic empowerment with a focus on the Pacific region. Panelists include Amy Luinstra, Senior Gender Specialist at the International Finance Corporation who has been involved with the recently established Business Coalition for Women in Papua New Guinea -- the first organisation of its kind in the Pacific; Joanne Crawford, Research and Policy Adviser at the International Women's Development Agency (IWDA) and; Amanda Donigi, Founder and Editor of Stella Magazine in Papua New Guinea.

Globally women earn less than men and are less likely to be employed: they are only half as likely to be in full time jobs and when they are, their incomes are on average 10-30 percent lower. Meanwhile the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report indicates that the share of women in senior management roles, worldwide, is only 24 percent. Published on Jun 30, 2014

Moderator: Auskar Surbakti, Journalist

Girls with little or no education are far more likely to be married as children, suffer domestic violence, live in poverty, and lack a say over household spending or their own health care than better-educated peers, which harms them, their children, and communities, a new report by the World Bank Group finds. Jeni Klugman is the Director of Gender and Development at the World Bank Group. In her current role, she acts as lead spokesperson for gender equality issues, and is responsible for promoting the institution’s gender and development priorities following the release of the 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development. Published on May 14, 2014

Emerging Women Live celebrates the rise of women leaders and entrepreneurs, and the movement towards a more integrated approach to success. The second annual Emerging Women Live Conference will be held on October 9th-October 12th, 2014 in New York City.

Registration here.

Partially blinded by an unknown illness aged 4 and sent out to work on the tough streets of Kano in Nigeria aged 9, Aisha Sani Abdullahi's life chances were not great. However, a chance encounter sent Aisha's life in a completely different direction.

Beautifully shot and musically lush, Aisha's Song is a touching and uplifting story of female empowerment from a part of the world where women are all too often overlooked.


Girl Hub is a strategic collaboration between the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Nike Foundation. Girl Hub helps transform the lives of adolescent girls living in poverty by unleashing their potential and empowering them with the assets they need to end poverty for themselves, their families, and their communities.

The film was made by Grain Media for Girl Hub and to find out more about some of the issues at the heart of the film please go visit their site.

President Jimmy Carter talks about his newly released book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power. 

To order the book from Amazon, click on the image or visit your local bookstore or library. Thank you.

A short video put together after attending the 2014 Annual Conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) in March, 2014 in Washington, D.C. As a chairwoman of the National Conference on Women in Public Adminsitration in 1975 and at the invitation of Nancy Foye-Cox and with support from Sally Gutierrez, I moderated a wisdom cirlce of women ASPA leaders, attended the keynote speech by Dr. Bernise Sandler, the "godmother of Title IX" and celebrated the award to Nancy Foye-Cox of the Marcia P. Crowley Award for service to the Section on Women in Public Adminstration (SWPA). It is the friendship of myself, Sally and Nancy which forms the wisdom of friendship in one's worklife and hopefully puts to rest once and for all the idea that women do not support other women at work.

Music, Frammenti, by Andrea Carri.

Jensine is an award-winning social media entrepreneur and international journalist is the founder of World Pulse, an action media network powered by 50,000 women from 190 countries. Jensine has pioneered World Pulse magazine, grassroots women's citizen journalism training, and an interactive website that enables women on the ground to speak for themselves and connect to solve global problems -- including those using internet cafes and cell phones from rural villages and conflict zones. With her finger on the pulse of women's voices globally, Jensine speaks around the world, appearing in media and on stages from NPR to TED. In his best selling book, "Half the Sky" New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recommends joining World Pulse as one of the top 4 things you can do in 10 minutes to support women globally.

Published on Apr 17, 2013

In a mock American Express ad created at a 1983 Center for American Women and Politics conference, Congresswoman Bella Abzug tells how she helped secure equal credit for women. Uploaded on Oct 14, 2009

In the poorest countries, gender inequities acutely limit opportunities for girls and women. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are among the most effective ways to combat poverty, hunger, and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable. 

IDA, the World Bank's Fund for the Poorest, has been working to expand girls' access to education and to create other opportunities for empowerment. As the largest source of concessional finance for low-income countries, IDA plays a critical role in investing in women's health and education and ensuring their equal access to economic opportunities. IDA is having a tangible impact on the ground in developing countries. Published on Oct 31, 2012

Breaking down barriers to gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship would create new sources of economic growth. For more info please visit the OECD site on gender here.

Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation.

Published on May 22, 2012