The G8 conference will focus on a wide range of issues ranging from international trade to health and food safety issues. Despite the diversity of the issues, civil society groups are proposing that most of these problems can be alleviated with a single solution: investing in women.

A non-profit alliance called Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) was among the groups advising the annual G8 forum.

Sylvia Borren, co-chair of GCAP, spoke at the summit about past successes. “We know that from microfinance and from many other examples; letting women suffer from the food crisis and the lack of health means not to build the fundamentals of sustainable economy,” she said.

While some current international policies propose bailing out strategies for failing corporations, GCAP advises building from the ground up.

Last year, the G8 policy recommendations included several provisions dedicated to women’s issues. The group estimated that investing in women’s health and preventing sexual and reproductive diseases will help poorer nations increase female productivity by 20 percent.

The most insurmountable problem is funding. 56 women parliamentarians from Asia, Africa, Europe and the G8 countries addressed a letter to the summit asking for this financing gap to be filled this year.

The groups, however, remain optimistic. “If we invest in women, many problems will be solved,” Borren told Inter Press Service.

G8: ‘Just Invest in Women’- IPS Gender Wire