African Union Feminization of poverty Since the Beijing Conference, poverty of women is perceived and considered as a development problem. Beijing PFA presents the fundamental reasons for persistence of poverty and its weight on women: - lack of prospects and economic autonomy associated with limited access to productive resources, education, low level of participation in decision-making. - the little attention paid to analysis of gender equity in the definition of economic policies and plans, - social services that do not adequately take into account the specific situation of women, particularly in the distribution of paid labour and responsibilities within the family and the society, - vulnerability of women on the labour market for lack of qualification through discrimination, excess family burden, poor health due particularly to lack of access to health services and lack of information and decision on reproductive health and family planning. Financial Inclusion The provision of financial services (such as banking, saving and insurance facilities) at affordable costs to vast sections of disadvantaged and low income groups. It is argued that as banking services are in the nature of public good, it is essential that availability of banking and payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of public policy Fiscal framework The overall policy environment and policies that relate to the use of government spending to achieve various objectives. Fiscal policy specifically refers to government‟s management of its revenue (income and expenditure), and how this affects the economy and markets Fiscal policy is contrasted with monetary policy, which refers mainly to the regulation of the money supply (including interest policies and currency valuation), which is the function of the central bank Gender equality Equality between men or women or gender equality implies that equal conditions for all be ensured in order to enable them to fully exercise their rights and potential and contribute to the political, economic, social and cultural development of their society, while benefitting from the outcome. The concept of integration of the gender dimension into any action was clearly designed as a universal strategy for promoting gender equality in the Platform of Action adopted by the Fourth International Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. This notion underscored the need to ensure that gender equality was a priority in all areas of social and economic development. viii