More than half the globe and half the world's population are in Asia and the Near East. Despite economic growth in the region, more than 800 million people live in poverty, accounting for two-thirds of the poor in the entire developing world. Seventy percent of the poor are reported to be women and, increasingly, they are heads of households. The status of women in Asia and the Near East is low. Worldwide, women live an average of 10 percent longer than men.
Female literacy is the lowest.
Nepal has the highest literacy gender gap in the world. Moreover, despite visible political leadership by women, it often does not reach the grassroots, except in countries like India and Bangladesh where quotas have been established at the local level for elected women. Members of the Gender Action Team provide gender attention to each SO team. Under strategic or special objectives for women's empowerment, these two Missions are focusing on a combination of synergistic interventions, including women's literacy and girls' education, legal rights, economic empowerment through microenterprise, and strategies to reduce violence against women. Mission strategies are reviewed from a gender perspective, as an integral part of the general strategic review process.