As you know, I worked for many years in CIDA. I couldn't say this if I worked in the government, but today I can say that I could count on one hand the programs that have been really successful in reducing poverty and attending to some of the other problems.
Microfinance is a program you mentioned. That program has been very successful, despite having a lot of problems. I will not talk about the problems. Those problems are brought to the attention of the activists and the non-governmental organizations that implement them. Despite those problems, they have been very successful in doing exactly what you have brought up, which is self-esteem and awareness of ownership of what they can do.
I will give you the example of my own experience in Bangladesh. I had my first posting there in 1983, and I was there until 1986. Now I go back. I have a practical program offering field courses for our students from the University of Ottawa and I take them to practical projects, the projects that operate on the ground by non-governmental organizations mainly, because the government does not have the capacity to run these kinds of programs. They are supported by the government, but run by non-governmental organizations.
I was there when these programs started about 10 years after Bangladesh got independence. These are mainly women's gender-focused programs.
What I saw then with some of the programs that even we financed—and I will talk about it—and what I see today in the women is that the difference is several-fold. I can't even compare. The same women who most likely could not even talk to me—I speak the language and I am a woman—without putting their veils up are now in open public meetings in front of men, and this is a Muslim society. They are criticizing the government, the non-governmental organizations themselves, and the men.
For instance, talking about their seeking justice, BRAC, a very well-known organization, is asking them to complain at the court in the district. A woman said it was fine for me to say that she should complain at the district about gender violence, but her husband would come to know and he would kill her. What was I going to do about it? This shows that probably a lot is still to be done, and women still cannot do things on their own because of some of the social and cultural traditions and barriers, but at the same time, they have the courage to speak up.
This is happening with microfinance. They have the courage to speak up because they are able to earn an income, get a position in society, in the family, and earn dignity. This is extremely important.