MasterCard is dedicated to provide education and job opportunities for women,and help them improve their social and economic status.MasterCard's social responsibility programs in Asian-Pacific region include:Women training program for jobs and startups held in China in December 2011;Women training program held in Philippines;Rural-city development program in India,and "5 minutes to change the world" project in Singapore.The annual MasterIndex of Women's Advancement,which measures the socioeconomic level of women in relation to men,reveals an increasing recognition for women's empowerment in recent years.The Asian-Pacific region women are on par or better represented in tertiary institutions than their male counterparts.But women still are underrepresented among small business owners,and gender disparity exists in business as well as government leadership positions. <<