How can the Making Markets Work for the Poor Framework work for poor women and for poor men?

The market systems development (M4P) approach, with its focus on facilitating access for the poor to markets and services, offers a powerful framework for addressing access barriers faced by women and girls. However the approach, as defined by the M4P Guides funded by SDC and DFID, did not tackle women’s economic empowerment explicitly and has attracted criticism that it pays insufficient attention to the gender-specific systemic constraints faced by poor women and men.

The purpose of this discussion paper is to initiate and support a process for developing recommendations and guidance for better addressing women’s economic empowerment in projects and programmes. In order to achieve this purpose, this paper first describes the framework; follows with a review of gender and women’s economic empowerment literature and frameworks; presents an analysis of the M4P approach from a gendered perspective; and suggests ways that the M4P approach can tackle and provide evidence of women’s economic empowerment.

This paper is the conceptual note for a multi-stage process of development of the M4P approach including a e-discussion of SDC's e+i Network held on 19 March to 10 April 2012. See HERE the synthesis paper of this e-discussion and the follow-up stages of the overall process.