 wealthier consumers. In India, Standard Chartered recently partnered with the International Federation of Netball Associations to build a program designed to use the sport to develop the life skills and self-esteem of girls between 14 and 16 years of age from families earning less than $2 a day. Piloted in Mumbai and Delhi, and currently being significantly expanded, the program includes an additional direct economic-empowerment component: a loan fund to help girls achieve their professional goals.
Private-sector companies, we’ve found, can make development investments in programs that help girls and women throughout their lives—from infancy through education, preparation for work, support in the workplace, and ensuring financial security. For each stage of women’s lives, we’ve distilled a set of high-impact actions, which range from offering prenatal care and infant vaccinations to providing onsite bank accounts ensuring that female employees control their income and retirement savings. Companies don’t have to go it alone: successful ones, we’ve seen, design and implement their investments collaboratively with the women they’re trying to help, nongovernmental organizations with relevant experience, and other companies with similar interests. They can create real benefits for everyone by creatively combining an interest in empowering women in developing markets with a strategic assessment of where doing so can help meet corporate goals.