The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women (HERO)

Education is one of the most important enablers of girl power all over the world. And in a lot of ways, girls’ education has improved. The percentage of girls in school is on the rise globally compared to two decades ago. But there are still significant gaps, particularly in areas with high levels of conflict.  On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, host Reena Ninan speaks...

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, as it is in more than half of African countries. But public attitudes have begun to shift. According to Pew Research Center data from 2002, only 1 percent of Kenyan respondents said society should accept homosexuality. As of 2020, 14 percent believed homosexuality should be accepted. On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we follow the ke...

The battle against child marriage around the world seems to be gaining some traction. According to the latest UNICEF data, about 1 in 5 young women between the ages of 20 and 24 were married as children. This represents a 5 percent decrease from a decade ago.  The negative impact of child marriage is widely documented. Child brides suffer domestic violence more often, drop out of school in greater...

Family planning is one of the most economically important strategies for women and girls. Access to contraceptives can help women and girls get an education and participate in the workforce. Furthermore, it could reduce maternal deaths by as much as three-quarters, according to the United Nations Population Fund. But nearly 10 percent of women of childbearing age around the world have unmet contra...

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is back with an all-new season. This time, all our stories are about something that has been getting a lot of media attention lately: Girls. What do they really need to succeed right now? And how can we work with them to get there? For this first episode, we focus on an often hidden aspect of girls’ economic lives that has a significant impact: period produ...

Season 6 of "The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women" (HER♀️) launches Tuesday, March 12th. This time, we are focusing all our stories on girls. What are the real economics of girlhood? What are the hidden costs? And how could girls actually shake up the global economy? We visit girls preventing child marriages in India, advocates who helped legalize abortion in Benin, LGBTQ+ activists in Kenya,...

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to end gender-based violence by 2026, soon before the end of his term in 2022. With two years left before 2026, is Kenya still on track to fulfill the promises made to Kenyan women?  On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we talk to women’s rights activists who have pressed the Kenyan government to uphold its pledge to end gender-bas...

Uganda’s health ministry has launched a campaign to end yellow fever epidemics in the country by 2026. According to the CDC, about 30,000 people die from yellow fever each year, with approximately 90% in Africa. Infants and the elderly are most at risk. So the impact of this disease is more heavily felt by women, who are most often burdened with caregiving.  On today’s episode of the Hidden Econom...

The level of press freedom in Kenya media outlets is among the highest in East Africa, according to the most recent World Press Freedom Index. And Reuters’ research claims that trust in the news grew by six percent last year in Kenya, right after an election. However, there is still much work to be done when it comes to making newsrooms a safe place for Kenyan women. According to a survey from Wom...

Despite a global downturn for tech, 2022 was a record year for African startup funding. According to data from Partech Partners, Africa tech financing in 2022 was 4.5 times larger than it was four years prior. And Nigeria is one of the continent’s main tech hubs.  However, underneath this success story are less convenient truths – including widespread gender discrimination and financial impropriet...

Nigeria is increasingly important on the global stage. It is the sixth most populous country and has the biggest economy in Africa. It is also home to one of the world’s largest film industries and is a major oil exporter.  Despite these achievements, gender parity in its political leadership has declined. As of last year’s elections, women make up less than 4 percent of Nigeria’s parliament. Now,...

This season, host Reena Ninan and reporters across Africa will meet courageous women holding leaders accountable in various sectors, including healthcare, startups, and government. Specifically, we are looking at promises made about gender equality – and seeing if they have been delivered. For example, the government of Kenya pledged to end gender-based violence by 2026. And the ministry of health...

Season 5 of "The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women" (HER♀️) launches Tuesday, January 9th. This time, we are looking at promises made about gender equality – and seeing if they have been delivered. For example, the government of Kenya pledged to end gender-based violence by 2026. And the ministry of health in Uganda is trying to eradicate yellow fever. It is ambitious to make these kinds of ple...

Throughout this season, we’ve looked at how women are pushing back against legal, political, and cultural barriers to better themselves and their communities. And we’ve centered our conversations on the male allies who have made it their mission to fight gender inequities. For this final episode of our season, we’re looking forward and talking to women in power. And not just any women in power – l...

Kenya passed a number of gender reforms after a new constitution passed in 2010. It’s one thing to get the laws passed. But it’s another to get them implemented, especially in male-dominated sectors like fishing.  On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we’re looking at how Kenya’s legal reforms have created new opportunities for women in the fishing industry, such as the F...

Lynn Gitu is a program manager at the nonprofit IMPACT. They help decrease conflicts around natural resources in Africa and enable communities to benefit more from their local resources – rather than them getting stolen, for example, by armed militias. According to IMPACT research, Gitu says artisanal mining – or small-scale mining – accounts for about 90% of the minerals produced on the continent...

South Africa has the ignominious reputation of being the rape capital of the world and continues to battle an epidemic of gender-based violence. It is devastating for women and girls both physically and psychologically—but also economically. South Africa’s Mail & Guardian reports that the country lost about $2 billion in 2019 from the estimated costs of gender-based violence, including hospital bi...

Lesotho, a small, landlocked country located within South Africa, was ambitious about reaching gender parity at the turn of the century. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili in the 2000s and early 2010s, the country passed a number of gender equality reforms, addressing inequities in land ownership and marriage rights, among others.  Mosisili’s administration also imposed gend...

This season, host Reena Ninan explores the importance of male allies in advancing women’s rights and economic freedoms. The topic came up at FP’s 2022 Her Power Summit. There, Hana Brixi, the global director of gender at the World Bank, shared an anecdote from research the World Bank had conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. It found one group to be particularly effective in changing men’s and boys’ at...

Season 4 of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women (HER♀️) launches Tuesday, June 20th. This time around, host Reena Ninan and reporters across Africa are focusing on one theme: the role of male allies. When are they effective? Why are they doing this work? And how do they influence men and boys? We visit religious leaders in Kenya, interview a former politician in Lesotho, and talk to male alli...

One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is many more women have bank accounts than before. Around 250 million women in the global south opened a financial account for the first time to receive government assistance, according to analysis by the Women’s World Banking’s 2021 Global Findex Database. Also for the first time, the gender gap in account ownership across developing economies fell. But...

On today’s episode of HERO, the last show of the season, we look at how a Women for Women International program in the Democratic Republic of Congo worked with families to try to overcome longstanding cultural barriers to women owning land. We hear from a mother, father, and son who participated in this program. Also, Women for Women International’s country director in the DRC, Rachel Boketa, expl...

One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its resulting child care crisis, is that an increasing number of countries have passed legislation supporting the child care sector. These include Vietnam, Peru, Argentina, and Bangladesh. On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we will hear about Bangladesh’s efforts to increase access to child care, particularly for working...

Close to 20% of all domestic workers are migrant workers, according to the International Labor Organization. Most of these domestic workers are women and they are particularly common in Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia.  Kenya sends a lot of domestic workers to Gulf countries. More than half of the over 87,784 Kenyans employed in the Middle East since 2019 have been domestic workers. But many wome...

A lot of shea butter, which can be found in moisturizers and chocolate, originates from West and East Africa. According to the Global Shea Alliance, shea exports from African countries have increased about 600 percent in the last 23 years.  Most shea nut collectors are rural women. So, this should be great news for them. But because of the way the shea nut supply chain operates, most women are at...