If you are going to read one book this year, make it Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It is a an extraordinarily clear and comprehensive statement of the costs – economic, social and moral – of the oppression and mistreatment of women around the world.
For those of us interested in economic development issues, Kristof and WuDunn also make the best case I have seen that poor countries that allow half of their human talent to be wasted are very likely to stay poor. No amount of official, big ticket aid is going to overcome the costs of oppressing women. On the other hand, it really doesn’t take much external support to unlock the incredible power that women can bring to an economy.
Probably the best point that Kristof and WuDunn make is that we cannot dismiss the mistreatment of women as merely a local “cultural” matter that is unchangeable and must be accepted. Slavery existed as an open and accepted institution for thousands of years before a few 18th century Britons decided that it had to stop. We don’t have to accept awful circumstances just because they have always been awful.
Read the book. Be inspired. Make a difference. http://www.halftheskymovement.org/.
