The UK Aid Strategy commits that throughout all its development spending the government will continue to prioritise the needs of girls and women and the most excluded people. A strong focus on gender and inclusion is essential for achieving the Prosperity Fund’s primary purpose of delivering inclusive growth and poverty reduction. Gender equality and women’s economic empowerment are key drivers of inclusive growth. It is estimated that $12 trillion could be added to the world economy by 2025 through greater female economic empowerment. Prosperity Fund programmes tackle barriers to prosperity for women and excluded groups, taking opportunities for addressing gender and other inequalities by:
ensuring compliance with the International Development (Gender Equality) Act: programmes must consider gender issues in their interventions. As a minimum, they must not exacerbate gender inequality, and are required to report annually on their performance
identifying poor and excluded groups, such as rural women, youth, people with disabilities, and aspiring to be ambitious by promoting empowerment (building assets, capabilities and opportunities) and transformation (addressing systemic barriers to economic empowerment)