DAWN's analysis of the economic alternatives for women involved looking at global trends in military spending, the pervasive influence of the religious right and the economic discrimination that is practiced by governments against women everywhere. DAWN argues that economic development starts with women. They constitute the majority of the poor, the underemployed and the economically and socially disadvantaged in most societies. Furthermore, women suffer from the additional burdens imposed by gender-based hierarchies and subordination. DAWN recommended to project developers and funders that, if they intended to see the greatest return on their money, they needed to spend it on projects directly affecting women.
Men tend to spend more of their income on consumer items.
Therefore, if development projects start with women, there is greater net benefit to the community. There were many in Nairobi who took DAWN's vision back to the United States and other countries and began to put it to work. They did not have to look far to find their constituency in the United States. The ranks of the very poor in the United States are increasingly being filled with women from Third World countries. Popular myth has it that male workers make up the majority of the refugee population.