Webinar on Women, Poverty, and Corruption
“Theme: Breaking the Chains: Women, Poverty, and Corruption in the Quest for Inclusive Development”
Across the Global South, and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, women continue to bear the brunt of poverty and corruption, two interlinked forces that reinforce systemic exclusion and undermine inclusive development. As highlighted in the World Bank’s Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2024, progress in poverty reduction has stagnated, with women in vulnerable communities facing disproportionate impacts due to structural inequalities and governance failures.
Corruption not only restricts access to essential services such as healthcare, education, and justice, but it also perpetuates gendered power imbalances. According to Transparency International’s Gender and Corruption Priority Page, women experience corruption in distinct ways, including gender-specific abuses like sextortion, and are often excluded from decision-making spaces where accountability mechanisms are shaped.
The intersection of gender, poverty, and corruption demands urgent attention. As the IMF’s 2024 analysis of over 150 supported programs reveals, macroeconomic reforms can either mitigate or exacerbate gender inequality depending on how they are designed and implemented. Without intentional gender-responsive governance, anti-corruption efforts risk reinforcing the very disparities they aim to dismantle.