In most regions of the world, women receive less formal education than men, and at the same time, women's own knowledge, abilities and coping mechanisms often go unrecognized. The power relations that impede women's attainment of healthy and fulfilling lives operate at many levels of society, from the most personal to the highly public. Achieving change requires policy and programme actions that will improve women's access to secure livelihoods and economic resources, alleviate their extreme responsibilities with regard to housework, remove legal impediments to their participation in public life, and raise social awareness through effective programmes of education and mass communication. In addition, improving the status of women also enhances their decision-making capacity at all levels in all spheres of life, especially in the area of sexuality and reproduction. This, in turn, is essential for the long- term success of population programmes. Experience shows that population and development programmes are most effective when steps have simultaneously been taken to improve the status of women. Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. More than 40 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserted that "everyone has the right to education". In 1990, Governments meeting at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, committed themselves to the goal of universal access to basic education. But despite notable efforts by countries around the globe that have appreciably expanded access to basic education, there are approximately 960 million illiterate adults in the world, of whom two thirds are women. More than one third of the world's adults, most of them women, have no access to printed knowledge, to new skills or to technologies that would improve the quality of their lives and help them shape and adapt to social and economic change. There are 130 million children who are not enrolled in primary school and 70 per cent of them are girls. Present book, in its comprehensive and compact form is an asset for scholars, researchers, social activists and general readers, alike.

Khalid Hijam is a freelance consultant, researcher, activist and NGO professional based in India with more than 17 years of experience in social sector documentation and public policy research. He holds MA and PhD in Political Science from the Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University. Since 2009, he has been working for the economic empowerment of informal sector women workers in South Asia. Hijam is the author of 12 books and many research papers published in reputed journals and magazines. He also serves as the Trust Council Member of 'Citizens Rights Watch, an international NGO based in UK.

Tarun Bahl holds Ph.D. in Sociology and Women Studies. He serves as a visiting professor for various universities across South Asia. His research interest areas are multicultural and cross-cultural issues, such as sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and social class and the emerging trends in feminist therapy, and sociocultural issues important in the treatment of women of color. He has contributed several articles on psychology of women, the psychology of gender, feminist psychology, women and society, and sex and gender. He has also won "Excellence in Graduate Education award for his outstanding contribution towards the student community especially in the higher education programs.