Education for girls and women is a reliable route to economic empowerment and long-term change in the status quo. Building on the famous example of Bangladesh s Grameen Bank, schemes that establish revolving funds to give women small business loans are springing up in all regions. More than 20 countries have begun microcredit programmes that often link loans to social and health services, helping women to care for themselves and their children. The credit is used for such projects as livestock raising, opening small shops and paying school fees. More than 15,000 Cambodian women have obtained small loans, for example, and Viet Nam has seen a dramatic increase in school enrolment among daughters of borrowers.
Efforts are also under way to end traditional practices that violate women and girls.
A number of groups are beginning to have some success in persuading both men and women that FGM claims too high a price. Another hopeful sign is recent action by Canada and the US to grant political asylum to some women threatened by FGM in their home countries, thereby defining the practice as a legitimate criterion for refugee status. Political power is also crucial to women s empowerment. Although a female Head of State does not guarantee equal rights for her sex, women in positions of authority throughout political systems clearly have a beneficial effect, not least by the example they set. But there is far, far to go.