The Third Billion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Third Billion was the term used to represent the approximately one billion women in both developed and industrialized nations whose economic lives were stunted, underleveraged, or suppressed, and who could have taken their place in the global economy as consumers, producers, employees and entrepreneurs.[1]
Approximately 870 million women who have been living or contributing at a subsistence level entered the economic mainstream for the first time as producers, consumers, employees, and entrepreneurs by 2020. In the following decade, this number could conceivably pass 1 billion.[1] The economic impact of these women is expected to be at least as significant as that of the populations of China and India that exceed one billion. The term, the “third billion” was coined by Booz & Company partners DeAnne Aguirre and Karim Sabbagh from their analysis of this emerging population published in May 2010.[1]
The Third Billion Campaign
On February 1, 2012, The Third Billion campaign was launched by La Pietra Coalition.[2][3] The Third Billion campaign aimed to unite governments, NGOs, corporations, youth and others to provide these women with the necessary tools—ensuring access to legal protection, education and training, finance, and markets—to reach their full economic potential.[4] The campaign aimed to help prepare and enabled women who constituted The Third Billion, who had the potential, yet lacked the resources, to compete in the global economy.