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Small loans offer glimmer of hope to poor women: UN

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA, March 7 (Reuters) - Small loans could help millions of poor women create jobs, support their families and narrow the gender gap, United Nations and banking experts said.

According to International Labour Organisation (ILO) data released on Friday, there are now 1.2 billion women working around the world, some 200 million more than a decade ago.

But the female share of the global work force has been stuck at 40 percent over the same period, with relatively few women employed in North Africa, South Asia and other poorer regions, the U.N. agency said on the eve of International Women's Day.

"Remaining outside of the labour force is often not a choice but an imposition. It is likely that women would opt for remunerated work outside the home if it became acceptable to do so," it said in its Global Employment Trends for Women report.

Many women are held back from employment because they lack adequate education or training, because of child-rearing and other family duties, and because of cultural obstacles ... more

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