Engaging Men for Women's Economic Empowerment

Promoting women's socioeconomic empowerment means increasing women's control over the resources and decisions that are important for their well-being. Achieving these goals requires engaging men, since men often have influence over the lives of women in t heir households and communities. This overview examines evidence on the effectiveness of three different types of approaches that have been tested: Adding an engaging men intervention to complement a program designed to support women's individual economic activities: Studies of these interventions show mixed results. Some have had success while others highlight the risk that this type of intervention could reduce women's autonomy; Complementing support for household production or consumption with programming that encourages cooperative management or joint planning: These types of interventions are promising, especially for increasing women's role in the management of household resources, although they have had limited impact on women's individual-level economic outcomes; and Encouraging men to recognize or enhance their wives' rights to ownership of important assets: There is very limited research available on this category of intervention, although available evidence is promising. Additional research in other contexts is necessary