The role of corporate social responsibility in promoting women empowerment: A systematic review

With the evolution of the concept of CSR from a philanthropic responsibility to a strategic tool for inclusive and sustainable development, it has become an important tool for promoting women empowerment in the country. This review paper summarizes the current literature and explores the contribution of CSR projects to the economic, social and psychological aspects of women empowerment. The paper reviews and critically examines the evidence of the impact of corporate interventions like skill development programs, financial inclusion initiatives, entrepreneurship support, and community engagement on women's capabilities and decision-making authority, based on peer-reviewed studies, policy papers and theoretical frameworks. The review reveals that CSR efforts can be measured to have positive impacts on women's income generation, social participation and self-efficacy. The impact of these efforts can differ greatly, however, due to other contextual factors like program design, regional variation, institutional support, and stakeholder collaboration. The research also highlights some of the main challenges in current CSR activities: short-term orientation, compliance approaches, and the lack of a monitoring and evaluation framework. The paper concludes that CSR has significant potential to empower women but the transformative power of CSR can be realized through a participatory, context specific and long-term approach to CSR that is aligned with SDGs.