Women are often not allowed to own property or keep the money they earn; as farmers they get the most marginal land and as workers they are trapped in the worst jobs for the least pay. More girls than boys are denied education.

Men still have a monopoly on decision-making at every level from village councils to national government, so even when policies are introduced to help the poor, they often ignore the needs of women.

Men’s power over women often costs women their lives. Women are more vulnerable to HIV infection because they are not able to insist on protected sex, even when they know their partner is infected. Men often use physical violence to reinforce their power over women and girls.

Yet despite all this, women are powerful forces for change, amazingly determined and resourceful in their fight to achieve a better future.

Every time a family has good food to eat and clean water to drink, every day that a child arrives at school or a sick person makes it to the clinic, it’s usually a woman who has fought for this small, daily victory over adversity.

The best way to end poverty is to strengthen women in their own struggles, helping them to unleash their own potential to change the world.