Project

*

innovation
FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
AND GENDER EQUALITY

Anju Malhotra Jennifer Schulte Payal Patel Patti Petesch

ICRW

International Center
for Research on Women
where insight and action connect

i n n o v a t*o n
i
FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
AND GENDER EQUALITY

THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER
FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN (ICRW)
HAS WORKED FOR MORE THAN
30 YEARS TO EMPOWER WOMEN,
ADVANCE GENDER EQUALITY
AND FIGHT POVERTY IN THE
DEVELOPING WORLD. ICRW WORKS
Anju Malhotra
Jennifer Schulte
Payal Patel
Patti Petesch

WITH PARTNERS IN THE PUBLIC
AND PRIVATE SECTORS AND CIVIL
SOCIETY TO CONDUCT EMPIRICAL
RESEARCH, BUILD CAPACITY AND
ADVOCATE FOR EVIDENCE-BASED,
PRACTICAL WAYS TO CHANGE
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS.

acknowledgments
ICRW gratefully acknowledges the Rockefeller Foundation for their
generous support of this research. The authors would like to thank their
colleagues at ICRW, in particular, Geeta Rao Gupta and Jeannie Bunton
for their insightful review of the research paper,
and Sandy Won for her editorial support and revisions.

© 2009 International Center for Research on
Women (ICRW). Portions of this report may be
reproduced without express permission of
but with acknowledgment to ICRW.

PHOTO CREDITS:
covers: ICRW/S. Pereira;
page 7: ICRW/D. Mahla;
page 8: ICRW/D. Mahla and ICRW/D. Snyder;
page 9: Worldview Images and ICRW/D. Snyder

DESIGN: DO GOOD DESIGN

i n n o v a t*o n
i
FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
AND GENDER EQUALITY

Anju Malhotra Jennifer Schulte Payal Patel Patti Petesch

executive summary
From the eradication of foot binding to foot pedaled water pumps, from the Pill to property
rights, innovation can transform women’s lives. Virtuous circles of change can be sparked
by women’s use of a seemingly simple technology; a shift in social attitudes about what is
possible for women; or increased access for women to economic opportunities, employment,
savings and credit.
More than at any other time...