The relationship between gender diversity and firm performance has been the subject of research inquiry for over three decades now.

The paper examines women’s economic empowerment in Asia, with a particular focus on South Asia.

In 1991, an article on the Maternity Care Program in Matlab, Bangladesh, reported a substantial decline in direct obstetric deaths in the intervention area, but not in the control area. The decline was attributed primarily to the posting of midwives at the village level.