In many countries around the world, women's rights are still limited. In some places the situation is even getting worse: since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, women's rights there have been increasingly restricted, and in Iran girls and women are protesting against the Islamic dress code. In some sub-Saharan African countries, almost a third of all girls are married before the age of 15 and in some countries less than 60 percent of girls are able to attend primary school.

Female empowerment stands for equal rights for girls and women in many areas of life: in education, in the workplace, in entrepreneurial activities, in land ownership and much more.

On March 1, 2023, Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze presented a strategy for a feminist development policy that aims to empower women. We ask: What is the role of women in the economy of the Global South? Are stronger women's rights a driver of economic development or rather a consequence of it? Can and should countries of the Global North directly or indirectly influence standards in partner countries? What opportunities and risks result from this?