·         More than 70% of the 1.3 billion poor people today are women

·         Of the world's nearly one billion illiterate adults, two-thirds are women

·         Two-thirds of the 130 million children worldwide not attending school are girls

·         Women are often left to care for the children after a divorce, with minimal financial support

·         Many women and children are left homeless after a domestic fight

·         Women are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS in terms of the infection rate and care taking

·         In South Africa, every six hours a women is killed by a husband, boyfriend or ex-partner

·         Women in Southern Africa are mostly not economically empowered to leave a destructive relationship

·         In many regions of the world women spend up to five hours daily collecting fuel and water and up to four hours preparing food

·         In some African regions 60% of households are headed by women

·         Since the 1970’s, the number of women living below the breadline has increased by 50%, compared to 30% for their male counterparts

·         On the up side, girls have consistently beaten their male counterparts at school and university and are beginning to make serious headway in the workplace…