This lack of opportunity is due to a rigid caste system and because the traditional, male-dominated culture has not considered education a priority for people of low caste and women. Nepali Women Only 21 percent of adult women in Nepal are literate, compared to 61 percent of men. Yet women bear the most responsibility for the household. Weyerhaeuser's support is enabling CARE to teach hundreds of disadvantaged women to read and write who would otherwise have no access to education. Literacy improves people's' lives by helping them to improve their incomes and their social standing.
Illiteracy contributes to poverty.
While alternately, literacy ultimately fuels empowerment. Literacy is particularly important for women. Literacy gives women the tools to change their lives by helping them to understand and work to change laws.