Archive for category: Gender Equality

Committee for Women’s Rights in Monaco Integrates App-Elles

Women’s Rights in MonacoThe Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights in Monaco introduced the ‘App-Elles’ mobile application on September 21. This app aims to enhance personal security and combat domestic violence in the principality.

With one-third of its residents being millionaires and a lack of income tax, the principality does not track poverty rates. Economists state that due to the high wealth of Monaco’s residents, poverty is nonexistent. But that does not mean every citizen of Monaco is ultra-wealthy. Monaco, with a population of approximately 9,000 native Monégasques and limited housing options in its small 1-square-mile area, faces unique circumstances. The nonexistent poverty rates have led the government to prioritize social programs for the benefit of its residents.

The Committee for The Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights

The Sovereign Order of Monaco created the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights on October 25, 2018. The goal of this committee is to promote gender equality and combat all forms of violence against women. The Principality of Monaco and its Prince, Albert II, consider women’s rights an important issue. It is a core priority since Monaco accepted the United Nations and the Council of Europe’s conventions on women’s rights and protection. 

Female Abuse

The Committee for Women’s Rights in Monaco conducts an annual report with Monaco Statistics to track key data on the abuse of women in the principality. In January, the report’s findings showed that there was an increase in abuse against women. The number rose from 23 in 2021 to 33 in 2022 and approximately half were cases of physical abuse. While there hasn’t been a significant increase in the number of cases, this data aims to emphasize the importance of protecting women’s rights in Monaco. It underscores the need to take necessary measures to address and prevent domestic violence.

While the laws are helpful in criminalizing domestic violence within the courts, the Committee wanted a resource for victims and witnesses to use. The Committee partnered with the Resonantes Association to integrate “App-Elles” into Monaco’s emergency response network.

App-Elles

“App-Elles” was originally launched in 2015 to bring all of France’s resources and emergency contacts into one place for easy access. The app is currently available in 15 countries and has multiple languages available. This integration of the app into Monaco’s emergency landmark represents a significant step in Monaco’s commitment to protecting women’s rights and ensuring their safety within the principality. 

This app aims to help victims and witnesses of domestic violence call for assistance when they require it. The app gives users quick access to all of Monaco’s emergency contact numbers and resources. Additionally, the app can quickly alert trusted relatives and geolocate users during a crisis. 

Other services that the app provides include sound recordings starting from the moment the user triggers an SOS alarm. The recordings and geolocation tags are stored on a secure server for 15 days. If users want to keep these recordings, then they must download the files. These recordings are admissible as evidence in Monaco’s courts.

On September 26 and 27, the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights in Monaco and the Resonantes Association conducted workshops to introduce the app to the residents and educate them on how to use the application to its full potential. 

Looking Ahead

“App-Elles” represents one of Monaco’s many initiatives in line with its commitment to advancing women’s rights and addressing violence against women. Monaco’s legal framework has been structured to criminalize acts of violence against women. The incorporation of “App-Elles” into Monaco’s emergency network offers crucial resources and evidence for individuals facing domestic violence during moments of crisis. Should this application prove effective in the coming years, it could serve as a model for other countries seeking to integrate similar tools into their emergency networks across Europe and, potentially, on a global scale.

– Komalpreet Kaur
Photo: Unsplash

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Makeup Brands Helping Women in Poverty

Makeup Brands Helping Women in PovertyOn average, more women across the world live below the poverty line than men, facing the same issues with poverty as men with an added layer of gender-based violence to further it. Recently, different beauty organizations have stepped in to help these women. Makeup brands helping women in poverty across the world are creating and working with organizations like Project Beauty Share and the L’Oréal Fund for Women. 

These brands not only provide women with money and resources but also help to protect women from domestic violence and other issues that women face. Many of these brands do this by setting up good education systems within developing countries which help to provide young women with the education they need to provide for themselves. 

Project Beauty Share 

Project Beauty Share is an organization that was founded in 2010 with the goal of helping women by donating previously owned, but unused, makeup products to women in poverty. It was founded by a makeup artist after discussing with a client how many makeup products she buys and never uses, giving her the idea to create an organization that donates these products to homeless women and women in poverty. 

Makeup empowers women because it is a form of self-expression. It allows women to express all sides of themselves and show their own uniqueness, something that many women who are struggling with poverty do not have the luxury of doing. Makeup can help people to feel prepared, empowering them as a result. 

Project Beauty Share is currently funded by over 100 agencies that are helping to support women across the world. Some of these companies and organizations are SMILE, Ronald McDonald House, The Salvation Army and more. Project Beauty Share is a great example of an organization that is independent of the makeup companies that are helping women in poverty, and helping these women instead of actually providing makeup to them. 

Makeup Brands Helping Women in Poverty

  • L’Oréal has set up the L’Oréal Fund for Women, a charity based on helping women who are in poverty to get back on their feet and preventing violence against women. The fund was started in 2020, hoping to empower women through education. Because of this, similar to what the brand Tatcha has done, L’Oréal has funded many charities and organizations that work to set up schools for women in developing countries. 
  • Tasha has set up schools to fund girls’ education in multiple countries, like Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos and more. The brand has done so continuously over the past six years, funding over five million days of schooling for girls across the world. 
  • Burt’s Bees is another brand that has given back to the women in the countries from which they source their products. The company uses shea butter sourced from West Africa to make its famous lip balms, and, in return, donates both money and resources for the improvement of the lives of women in the country. As of 2021, they have planted billions of wildflower seeds in order to restore the bee population in West Africa and have donated over $1 million, in both grants and products, to better the lives of over 14,000 women there. 

Final Thoughts

Makeup companies like L’Oréal, Tatcha and Burt’s Bees are helping to empower women living in poverty across the globe. These brands are not only offering financial assistance and resources but also tackling the root causes of gender-based violence by promoting education and empowerment. These endeavors highlight the potential for corporate resources to make a profound impact on women’s lives, breaking the cycle of poverty and violence.

– Allison Groves 
Photo: Flickr

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3 Beirut Projects Supporting Poverty Reduction in Lebanon

Poverty reduction in LebanonIn 2020, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, was devastated by a huge explosion. The impact resulted in over 200 casualties and 7,000 injured persons. The explosion made an estimated 300,000 people homeless. The youngest victim was just 2 years old.

The tragedy is “one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history,” and Beirut’s infrastructure suffered greatly. Around 50% of the country’s health centers were deemed unusable. The World Bank estimated at least $3.8 billion in damages. Since the explosion, Lebanon’s economy has struggled. The country’s GDP declined by approximately 2.6% in 2022. The country has one of the lowest revenue rates globally, at 6% of GDP in 2022.

Amid political and economic instability, poverty in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut, is rising. In 2023, around 80% of civilians were living in poverty. This poverty rate is almost double the rate from before the Beirut explosion. In 2019, the poverty rate in the country was 42%. In Beirut alone, an estimated 25,000 households live in extreme poverty. More than ever, poverty reduction in Lebanon is critical. Thankfully, the country’s strife has prompted many community projects supporting rebuilding the country.

Espace Fann

In 2019, just over 59% of Lebanese civilians enrolled in higher education. However, as the country’s economy declines, education opportunities are in crisis. Annual tuition fees have drastically increased, from LL885,000 ($58.90) in 2022 to LL12 to 13 million ($798.60 – $865.15) in 2023.

This economic decline and increased tuition fees inspired Nour Tannir and Yasmine Dabbous to develop Espace Fann. The project is based in Beirut and provides a creative space for residents. According to their website, the group offers ”art education and design classes to young and mature talents. While we focus on design thinking and skill building, our aim is to encourage creativity, sustainability and healing through the arts… At Espace Fann, we offer university-level art education, including courses and workshops, at affordable prices. Our instructors help students learn new skills, develop their creativity and launch new careers in the arts.”

The initiative developed in 2019, but the NGO Stand for Women aided Espace Fann after the blast. The Lebanon-based charity supports women’s economic freedom and gender equality and aids the women’s workforce across the Middle East.

In January 2022, the unemployment rate in Lebanon was 29.6%, almost a third of the population. Espace Fann tackles poverty in Lebanon by providing participants with skills to support employment. The affordable courses include website design, self-branding and promotion, filmmaking and various art courses.

The “BERYT” Project

The Beirut Housing Rehabilitation and Cultural and Creative Industries Recovery Project, or BERYT, is alleviating poverty in Lebanon by focusing on re-establishing housing for Beirut residents. U.N.-Habitat and the World Bank lead it. The project supports people in Beirut through four main objectives. To begin, BERYT contributes to restoring damaged buildings with “heritage value.” It also offers support in renting and offers grants for cultural productions. It also focuses on “project management and capacity building.” Concentrated efforts will be in areas within 5km of the blast’s center. Within these neighborhoods, buildings that housed more economically challenged families will remain a priority.

Matbakh El Kell: The Community Kitchen

Another aspect of poverty in Lebanon is food insecurity. In 2023, the U.N. estimates that 1.4 people in the country face food insecurity. This data includes high rates of malnutrition. 28.3% of women between 15-49 have anemia. In addition, low birth rates affect over 9% of infants.

Matbakh El Kell: The Community Kitchen is just one of many projects tackling food poverty in Lebanon. The kitchen serves over 2,500 meals a day, completely free. The project is in the blast epicenter and was developed due to the 2020 tragedy. Meals are for a range of vulnerable demographics. This demographic includes impoverished families, the elderly, hospital outpatients and orphans. Souk El Tayeb, a company founded in 2004, developed the kitchen. The company aims to support local cuisines and produce while uniting communities. Souk El Tayeb also oversees many farmer’s markets, further aiding the local economy.

The 2020 Beirut explosion was a tragedy many Lebanese citizens will carry with them for a lifetime. However, the disaster has seen various innovative, community-based projects focused on poverty reduction in Lebanon.

– Bethany Brown
Photo: Flickr

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Progress Report on Women’s Rights in Lesotho

Women’s Rights in LesothoThe status of women’s rights in Lesotho has seen slow but gradual improvement. Progress has been made in areas such as domestic abuse, poverty, sexual violence, economic opportunity and access to health care. Government initiatives, paired with NGOs and international institutions, have been the main driver towards achieving equality for women in Lesotho. 

Background on Lesotho

Lesotho is a landlocked country located in South Africa. The former Basutoland won independence in 1966 from the United Kingdom and recognized itself as the Kingdom of Lesotho. A constitutional government was then instituted in 1993 after a brief span of military rule. It acquired a semblance of political stability following the constitutional reforms in the late 1990s. 

Lesotho is classified as a lower-middle-income country. In 2022, 34.7% of the population was experiencing poverty, living on only $2.15 per day.

Definition of Women’s Rights

Women’s rights involve issues such as freedom from sexual violence, the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to education and to own property. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (U.N. Women) is the U.N. entity committed to empowering women and promoting gender equality. Their vision of equality involves the following:

  • Elimination of discrimination against women and girls.
  • Empowerment of women.
  • Achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian actions and peace and security. 

The Current Status of Women’s Rights in Lesotho

Internationally, Lesotho ranks very low on women’s rights. According to the Human Development Report 2021/2022, the country ranks 144 out of 191 worldwide on gender equality. As a result, women are more likely to live in poverty than men due to discriminatory practices that limit their employment opportunities.

Women in Lesotho face high rates of domestic abuse and sexual assault. A survey in 2018 reported that 16.5% of women ages 15–49 were victims of physical and/or sexual assault from a current or former partner within the last year. 

A lack of quality health care services is a major issue. With little access to necessary medical procedures, women become susceptible to high infant and maternal mortality rates. An underdeveloped health care sector also weakens the official capacity to mitigate virus outbreaks. Women in particular are disproportionately affected by HIV, as 27.3% live with the virus, compared to 17.4% of men.

Lastly, women are politically underrepresented in local government. Lesotho’s population was measured at 2.3 million as of 2022. Although women make up 50.7% of the population, as of February 2021, women held 23.3% of the seats in parliament. 

The Progress

Despite these ongoing issues, the status of women’s rights in Lesotho has improved. Regarding women’s health, the rate of infant and maternal mortality is decreasing. This is a direct consequence of the 86.6% increase in health care professionals attending live births.

The government has also passed legislation to enhance the status of women’s rights in Lesotho. In the last two decades, the government has passed The Sexual Offenses Act, The Anti-Trafficking Persons Act and the Local Government Elections Act, the latter of which sets a quota for women’s representation in local government.

The recent growth of the garment industry has had a major impact on poverty reduction. Currently, the garment industry produces 20% of the country’s GDP. While many men in Lesotho travel to South Africa to work in mines, it is women who find employment in clothing factories. Women make up 80% of the factory workforce. Such job opportunities mean women no longer have to rely solely on a man’s ability to provide.

To further reduce poverty the World Bank has adopted the Country Partnership Framework 2024–-2028 for Lesotho. This strategy focuses on three long-term outcomes:

  1. Increasing employment via the private sector by improving the enabling environment for micro to medium enterprise growth, fostering private investment and job creation.
  2. Enhance human capital outcomes by raising the quality of education/health/social protection.
  3. Strengthen climate resilience by optimizing natural resource allocation and increasing access to climate-resilient infrastructure.

Conclusion

Lesotho is still struggling with high rates of HIV/AIDS and relatively low gender inequality. Yet clear progress has been made on women’s rights. These improvements serve as a sign of hope that greater swaths of the population in Lesotho are experiencing longer, more stable and more enriching lives.

– Nicholas Jaramillo
Photo: Pixabay

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7 Facts About Gender Equality in Lithuania

Gender Equality in Lithuania
Lithuania ranks ninth in the world for gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2023. Here are seven facts about gender equality in Lithuania.

7 Facts About Gender Equality in Lithuania

  1. Women’s Day in Lithuania: Women’s Day in Lithuania is celebrated annually on November 2. It marks the day in 1918 when Lithuanian women received the right to vote. To acknowledge the momentous 100th anniversary since women gained suffrage, the capital city of Vilnius put up several female-inspired pedestrian crosswalk lights in 2018 in place of the traditional male symbol.
  2. The Effects of COVID-19: The spread of COVID-19 had a disproportionate effect on men’s and women’s involvement in household tasks. In particular, 2021 saw 57% of women in contrast to 13% of men in Lithuania holding the sole responsibility of childcare. This 44% divide exists as one of the larger gender gaps throughout the European Union (EU). Similarly, in 2021, 70% of women in comparison to a significantly lower 8% of men reported holding the responsibility of household caretaking duties. These duties were also more strenuous for women as 16% of women devoted more than four hours a day toward chores compared to 5% of men.
  3. The Gender Pay Gap: The gender pay gap still persists in Lithuania, despite the country being recognized for equality. Reports indicate that women earn approximately 14% less than men. In addition, according to the State Social Security Fund Board in 2021, women-dominated sectors still see a disparity in pay with their wages generally being lower than their male counterparts. Gender statistics provided by CreditInfo Lithuania also underscore 72 out of 81 professional fields in Lithuania where men traditionally earn more than women. While these statistics can be impacted by complex features including childcare leave and the number of men and women in an individual sector, it is evident that the country can do more to address this gap.
  4. Violence Against Women: Violence against women ranging from domestic abuse to femicide is a crucial matter to address throughout the EU with 788 women killed by a partner or relative across 17 member states in 2020, according to the European Institute for Gender Equality EIGE). Additionally, 13 women from Lithuania contributed to that total. To address violence against women, in June 2013, Lithuanian officials signed the Istanbul Convention — a human rights treaty dedicated to tackling violence against women. However, the convention remains unratified which demonstrates the need for more action to combat violence against women in Lithuania.
  5. Female Prime Minister: Lithuania elected the first female president of Lithuania in May 2009, almost a century after women had gained the right to vote. However, even the first national election in 1920 saw women alongside men occupying positions of power as parliamentarians. Currently, female politician Ingrida Šimonytė acts as the prime minister of the nation. Furthermore, female politicians Aušrinė Armonaitė and Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen represent the Freedom and Liberal parties respectively.
  6. Gender Equality: Among the member states in the EU, Lithuania received a score of 60.6 out of 100 in the 2022 Global Gender Equality Index. The country’s highest scores in the index lie in the fields of work, a measurement of fair access to employment and work benefits between men and women, and health, which compares gender equality in access to quality health services. For the aspects of work and health conditions, Lithuania received scores of 73.9 and 82.7 respectively. However, in other indicators such as time, which measures the sum of time between men and women dedicated to domestic tasks, Lithuania scored only 50.6.
  7. The Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men: For years, the Lithuanian government has enacted legislation to address gender equality. The Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men was adopted in 1998 and the Law on Equal Treatment came into place in 2005. These laws worked to “forbid any discrimination – whether direct or indirect – on the grounds of sex.” Moreover, lawmakers amended these laws in 2016 and reflected changes including a ban on the priority given on the basis of gender, a prohibition on requiring job candidates to disclose personal class and familial information and a bar on discrimination against women as a result of pregnancy, childbirth or nursing.

Looking Ahead

While Lithuania is one of the top countries for gender equality, it still has some room to improve. With the continued efforts of the Lithuanian government, women’s rights should see even further improvements in the years to come.

– Katrina Girod
Photo: Flickr

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Education for Marginalized Girls in Afghanistan

Marginalized Girls in AfghanistanEducation for marginalized girls in Afghanistan is an opportunity that is often missed out on due to the government’s discouragement of women’s participation in public life. Particularly in rural communities, as women experience fear over who will marry them if they are not living up to the ideals of a woman, the pressure to conform to the traditional expectations of being a woman in society is held in high regard. A consequence of this is that marginalized girls in Afghanistan are more likely to drop out of school or never attend in the first place. 

The Mission To Improve Education 

In 2012, the U.K. government established a commitment to improving young girls’ lives around the world through education. These projects are funded by U.K. Aid and reach out to the most marginalized communities across the globe, including rural communities in Afghanistan. 

One of these projects, set to finish in September of 2023, is called Steps Towards Girls’ Education Success (STAGES). Across 16 provinces in Afghanistan, in 1078 communities, the STAGES project has supported 24,830 marginalized girls as U.K. Aid aimed to improve education for marginalized girls in Afghanistan through community-based classes. 

The Success of STAGES

The project has succeeded so far in establishing 1,411 community-based classes in Afghanistan. To improve the quality of education as a whole and ensure that girls continue their education, U.K. Aid has implemented several elements to the project. One significant element of this is mentorship. The program has built an environment where confident, more assertive students take part in activities while supporting more timid, weaker students. This mentorship is encouraged during extra-curricular activities such as creative writing and debating. 

A 2017 report on the success of STAGES in its first five years found that while this helped improve the self-esteem and attendance of the weaker students, the program also developed valuable leadership skills in the mentors. 

In extension to this, the STAGES project has given out grants to young girls from marginalized communities to have the opportunity to train to be a teacher by attending Teacher Training Colleges. So far, this has helped 1,995 young women enter teacher apprenticeship programs.

To continue education of high quality, the project ensures teachers are well trained and have implemented regular in-school teacher training lessons. The teaching practices promoted in these training sessions focus on how education must be accessible and inclusive to everyone, despite gender or disability. 

In addition to community-based classes, the STAGES project has supported 587 government schools in terms of improving academic facilities and school infrastructure.

So far, STAGES has seen great success in improving and sustaining education for marginalized girls in Afghanistan. STAGES will continue to fight for better education until September 2023 with these three goals in mind: 

  1. Support 5145 more students to complete their lower primary education (up to grade 6). 
  2. Continue the maintenance of 235 educational facilities. This will be carried out through monitoring in classes and establishing school management councils. 
  3. Undertake professional development for 358 teachers. 

Looking Ahead

The denial of women’s access to education in Afghanistan is still prevalent in many communities, but projects such as STAGES make the fight a little less daunting for young women who want to go to school. Projects like this are a key component to the improvement of education for marginalized girls in Afghanistan and thus, the improvement of the prospects of Afghanistan. 

– Poppy Harris 
Photo: Flickr

The Progress of Women’s Rights in Namibia

Women’s Rights in NamibiaThe Southern African country of Namibia is taking significant steps to ensure gender equality. The Namibian constitution has focused heavily on reparations for women’s rights, specifically recognizing the discrimination females have faced. Namibia currently has in place more than 90% of the legal framework to promote gender equality. These efforts at advancing women’s rights in Namibia have paid off: Namibia ranked eighth out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 in terms of gender equality, with a score of 80.7, standing as one of just two African countries placing in the top 10.

A Closer Look at the Global Gender Gap Report 2022

Though Namibia’s 2022 ranking is noteworthy, the country has actually dropped rankings, moving from sixth place in 2021 to eighth place in 2022. In the area of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Namibia has slightly regressed, moving from 19th place to 20th place. In Education Attainment, Namibia has notably progressed from 34th place to 30th. The country ranks the same as last year in terms of Political Empowerment (19th) but excels in Health and Survival, ranking first in both 2021 and 2022.

The World Bank’s Women, Business and Law index, which measures how laws impact female economic participation and progress, has scored Namibia a high 86.3 out of 100 in 2021, which is higher than the average score in sub-Saharan Africa.

The above report says, “When it comes to laws affecting women’s decisions to work, laws affecting women’s pay, constraints related to marriage, gender differences in property and inheritance and laws affecting the size of a woman’s pension, Namibia gets a perfect score.”

In terms of improvements, the report says, “When it comes to constraints on freedom of movement, laws affecting women’s work after having children and constraints on women’s starting and running a business, Namibia could consider reforms to improve legal equality for women.”

Education and Other Indicators

According to the Global Gender Gap Report, in terms of educational attainment, Namibia ranks first in terms of enrollment in primary education and tertiary education, but there are no gender parity outcomes listed for secondary education. However, data from the World Bank indicates that the gross secondary school enrollment rate for girls in Namibia improved since 1990 and stood at 70% in 2007. For males, this rate was lower, standing at 61% in 2007.

The report also notes that Namibia has never had a female head of state and females hold just 14% of seats in the upper house of parliament.

According to data from U.N. Women, the number of employed women in Namibia living under the international poverty line exceeds that of men (10.7% versus 7.7%). Additionally, in the adult population, females account for more than 70% of those experiencing severe food insecurity.

Sister Namibia

Sister Namibia is a local organization working toward upholding women’s rights and empowering females in Namibia by “amplifying women’s voices.” The organization was founded in 1989 in Windhoek, Namibia, and has raised awareness on matters impacting women and other marginalized groups through its publications.

Sister Namibia’s focal areas are law and justice, gender-based violence and harassment, health and wellness, education and employment, among others. Sister Nambia also involves itself in and publicizes key events aimed at upholding human rights. Through its work, Sister Namibia hopes to spur change.

The organization’s publications provide pertinent information about the updates of women while building a community for women to share their stories and art. Sister Namibia has supported women’s rights in Namibia for more than 30 years and provides important resources and services Namibian women can utilize for assistance in several areas, such as mental health.

Looking Ahead

Namibia’s implementation of its first national action plan on women, peace and security, which is to run from 2019 to 2024, stands as one of the frameworks ensuring advancements in women’s rights. Doreen Sioka, Nambia’s minister of gender equality, says Namibia aims to reach gender parity in the country’s 2024 elections.

Namibia has seen much progress in the area of women’s rights. And with continued efforts and commitments, women’s rights in the country can strengthen even further.

– Kathryn Kendrick
Photo: Flickr

The Organization Empowering Girls in Ethiopia

Empowering Girls in EthiopiaParticipating in sports has long been seen as a way to increase self-confidence and resilience in aspects of life that go well beyond physical exercise. This belief is evident at Girls Gotta Run, a women-led organization, working to empower girls in Ethiopia through running.

Running Culture

In Ethiopia, long-distance running has been a part of the culture for more than six decades. Since Abebe Bekila won Africa’s first Olympic gold medal in the running marathon at the 1960 Olympics Games in Rome, East Africans have dominated the international distance running scene. The top five finishers in the 2023 London Marathon in both male and female categories were from Kenya or Ethiopia.

Just as many in the U.K. aspire to become soccer stars, children in Ethiopia dream of making it to the Olympics, following in the footsteps of athletes like Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele, who are considered idols and have won 10 Olympic medals combined.

For many, running offers a potential escape from poverty. This is because of the value of winning medals and the financial rewards that come from securing a contract with a major sports brand like Adidas or Nike. Such opportunities enable athletes to support their extended families and enjoy better living conditions or lifestyles in the city.

The Challenging Path to Sporting Success

While there might be fairy tale endings for the very few who succeed at the highest level of the sport, the path to Olympic glory is far from certain and often fraught with difficulties for many others. A documentary titled Town of Runners released in 2012 and filmed over the previous four years shed light on these very difficulties, focusing particularly on the challenging circumstances that ambitious young female athletes from a rural town in the Arsi Highlands had to endure in their bid to become successful athletes. These young women had both the belief and determination to succeed, but lacked equipment or facilities and encountered opposition from the biased traditional beliefs around womanhood.

Gender Inequality in Ethiopia

As of February 2021, women occupied about two out of five seats in the Ethiopian parliament, highlighting Ethiopia’s progress on the road toward gender equality. Nonetheless, there appears to be room for more progress, as there is a need to change harmful long-held beliefs and traditions about the role of women.

Girls Gotta Run strives to reduce the school dropout rate and empower girls in Ethiopia. If girls are able to finish their education, they are less likely to be forced into early marriage and early pregnancy. The World Bank revealed that universal secondary education for girls could virtually eliminate child marriage.

A few reasons why girls drop out of school as they enter adolescence include:

  • early marriage and/or pregnancy
  • increased responsibilities at home
  • increased costs of schooling
  • food insecurity
  • limited access to hygiene facilities
  • sexual harassment and assault
  • gender bias

The mission of organizations like Girls Gotta Run is to highlight and work to break down these barriers to becoming a successful athlete and in doing so, provide girls and young women with the life skills that will help them find their way in life beyond the world of running. Even those who never make it to the realms of success as professional athletes will have still gained skills that empower them to thrive as adults.

How Girls Gotta Run is Empowering Girls in Ethiopia Through Running

The organization’s work takes place in the local community, with girls taking part in four distinct programs that focus on education, running, life skills and savings and entrepreneurship. Currently, this work happens in two localities: one in Soddo, a city in south-central Ethiopia, and another in the small town of Bekoji in the Arsi region. The Arsi region is famous for its runners who over the past 30 years, have won more than 16 Olympic middle-distance and long-distance titles. So far, Girls Gotta Run has served over 275 women and girls, while also impacting at least 1,100 people through both the Soddo and Bekoji programs.

Girls who attend these projects train together three times a week. They also receive sports kits, as well as healthy snacks to help with their training. However, running activities serve more as a tool for empowering Ethiopian girls in a way that helps them think about what they might achieve beyond running.

Looking Ahead

Girls Gotta Run is empowering girls through running, providing them with education, life skills and entrepreneurship training. The organization’s work goes beyond athletics, equipping young women with the tools to thrive in life beyond the running track. By addressing barriers such as gender inequality and the risk of early marriage, Girls Gotta Run is helping girls in Ethiopia build self-confidence, resilience and brighter futures.

– Almaz Nerurkar
Photo: Flickr

Confronting Period Poverty in Morocco

Period Poverty in MoroccoFrom adolescence to middle age, women around the world are on their period for a quarter of every month. Cumulatively, that means a woman will spend 10 years of her life actively menstruating. A woman’s ability to persist in normal activities during this decade holds serious implications for her emotional, intellectual and economic well-being.

The Ripple Effect of Period Poverty in Morocco

In Morocco, more than 6 million people do not have access to basic goods making it exceedingly difficult for young women from low-income families to afford menstrual supplies. This lack of access to pads, coupled with deeply-rooted social stigmas and a general lack of puberty education, causes girls to miss several days of school every month.

Gaps in school attendance cause girls to fall behind, experience a lack of intellectual confidence and sometimes even drop out. The ripple effects of an incomplete education are vast, including vulnerability to child marriage and child labor and reduced chances of future social mobility.

Cultural Stigma Perpetuates Period Poverty

Many communities, including Morocco, suffer intense cultural stigmas surrounding menstruation. A pervasive misconception is that women should not bathe while they menstruate, which not only can cause health issues but can exacerbate shame —dissuading girls from going out in public while on their periods.

A lack of transparent education regarding menstruation allows for these fallacies to survive from generation to generation. As of 2021, Morocco had a population of about 3 million adolescents and young girls and “half of them were shocked to get their first period,” according to Morocco World News.

A Moroccan woman shared her experience about her first period with UNFPA, stating, “I told my mother. She gave me an old piece of cloth and refused to buy me sanitary napkins and forbade me from eating dinner that night.” The woman continued to reflect on menstruating under the pressures of social stigmas, admitting, “I felt I was an outcast. My period every month became an unbearable hell.”

New Era Epitomizes Civil Efforts to Fight Period Poverty

New Era, a Moroccan social movement, is confronting rural period poverty head-on by distributing menstrual underwear and pain medication to women in Casablanca’s Sidi Moumen community. In partnership with the Oum Kaltoum Foundation, the organization provides supplies to women who cannot afford or do not have access to hygiene products. As of November 2021, New Era had distributed over 300 pairs of menstrual underwear to women in Ouinskra, a village located 50 miles outside of Marrakesh.

New Era not only disseminates period supplies but runs community discussions to help quell misconceptions and stigmas that amplify the harm of period poverty in Morocco. “At first, women were intimidated, but within minutes, people became more animated, raising multiple questions, which really helped us in the process of raising awareness,” New Era co-founder Nada Chaddadi told Morocco World News.

Period Poverty Reduction Through Project Soar

Maryam Montague first founded Project Soar in 2013, another campaign fighting period poverty in Morocco. Similar to New Era, the organization has a goal to distribute feminine hygiene products and hold workshops to deconstruct social stigmas. The organization has 28 operating chapters across the country.

Project Soar provides young Moroccan women with reusable menstrual kits that last three years with the hopes that school-aged girls will feel confident and comfortable attending class while menstruating. It has also collaborated with Morocco’s Human Rights Council (CNDH) and UNFPA to run menstrual education workshops throughout Morocco, according to Morroco World News. Project Soar’s empowerment workshops have reached 3,543 teen girls throughout Morrocco.

A young woman who participated in the Project Soar education initiative explained she had trouble playing sports since she did not know if she would have leaks when doing certain moves. “However, now I can say that the Be Girl period kit that Project Soar provided me in Module 3: Body helped me to somehow face this fear and live a normal life,” she concludes.

 Looking Forward

As organizations like New Era and Project Soar launch campaigns confronting period poverty in Morocco, the nation’s mentality surrounding menstruation is rapidly shifting. On May 28, 2021, Morocco celebrated its first-ever World Menstrual Hygiene Day, supporting the international tagline, “Build a world where no one is held back because they menstruate.”

Period poverty in Morocco has been increasingly receiving recognition and treatment as a source of social struggle and gender disparity that deserves earnest attention.

– Elena Unger
Photo: Flickr

NGOs in El Salvador Helping Women

NGOs in El Salvador Helping WomenWomen in El Salvador face a myriad of challenges, including gender-based violence, poor living standards and unequal treatment in education. Underscoring the severity of the situation, in 2021, El Salvador had one of the highest rates of femicide in Latin America and the world, with a reported 2.4 cases of femicide per 100,000 women. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), women and girls between the ages of 15 and 29 years face the greatest threat of femicide. In response to the issue, a number of NGOs in El Salvador are helping women to avoid violence and discrimination.

NGOs in El Salvador Helping Women

  • Women of Hope: In 2021, the nonprofit organization Salvador’s HOPE launched a project called Women of Hope. This initiative tackles increasing rates of sexual and domestic violence, kidnappings and disappearances among El Salvador’s women and girls by providing counseling, resources and abuse and safety training. Working in collaboration with local churches and NGOs, Women of Hope aims to promote “Worth, Value and Dignity” among vulnerable women.
  • The Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA): The GEA is a Global Partnership for Education (GPE) project that supports girls and young women in a number of partner countries. The first of these to access the GEA and its funding was El Salvador in June 2022. The country received a $15 million grant to advance gender equality in education from early childhood to adolescence and strengthen the girls’ education focus of the government’s “Crecer Juntos” (Growing Together) policy for early education. For instance, a GEA research project found that 70% of test booklets across four key subjects promoted domestic and familial roles for girls while overlooking women in professional careers. Hence, the GEA is serving as an initiative that focuses on developing gender-sensitive learning materials and reform assessments so that teachers can more accurately assess the gender disparities in their classes’ results. The World Bank’s “Growing Up and Learning Together: Comprehensive Early Childhood Development” program and the “Nacer, Crecer, Aprender” (Be Born, Grow Up and Learn) program of the Inter-American Development Bank are lending further support to the initiative.
  • LibrES: For an El Salvador without Gender-Based Violence: Arizona State University has launched a five-year project, “LibrES: For an El Salvador without Gender-Based Violence,” in an effort to reduce rates of gender-based violence in El Salvador. With $35 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), LibrES works in San Salvador, San Miguel and Santa Ana. These cities have the most recorded cases of gender-based violence in the country. LibrES collaborates with local organizations and plans to serve 3,000 Salvadorans, train 1,000 people to promote gender equality and female empowerment and facilitate more than 100,000 interactions through its public campaigns by the time of its conclusion in December 2027. Furthermore, many of ASU’s schools are collaborating to support women in El Salvador. The Thunderbird School of Global Management, for one, is training staff to introduce its DreamBuilder curriculum, which helps women worldwide launch or refine their own businesses. The university’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law is also working with Salvadoran prosecutors to make the country’s legal system a safer place for survivors of gender-based violence.

Looking Ahead

Despite the injustices that they face, the almost 3.5 million women living in El Salvador today are gaining growing support in the fight against violence and educational inequities. Local, national and international organizations are working to raise awareness regarding issues that affect women, These organizations also work to provide protection and opportunities for the many women who are victims of gender-based violence.

– Martha Probert