Archive for category: Women and Female Empowerment

information and Stories about woman and female empowerment.

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Raised Expectations: Gender Roles in Myanmar

gender roles in MyanmarPolitical change often brings a liberalization of public opinion on gender roles. On the surface, this seems to be the case in Myanmar. In 2010, the country held its first national election in 20 years, following half a century of brutal reign by a military junta. This election led to the release of democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and to her 2012 win of a parliamentary seat. Suu Kyi went on to lead the National League for Democracy to victory in the 2015 election, but the party resisted her proposed reforms. Since 2017, Myanmar has descended into internal conflict and waged genocide against its Rohingya minority. This continued violence disproportionately impacts women, impacting broader gender roles in Myanmar.

Women’s Experiences of Post-War Development

The European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes hosted a webinar entitled “Gender and Development in Myanmar” on June 17, 2020. During the webinar, Dr. Elisabeth Olivius shared her findings that post-war reforms may entrench gender disparities in Myanmar. The country has experienced a relative period of peace over the last 15 years. There has been an upsurge in state-led development projects in the past decade. These projects aim to ameliorate legacies of war, namely extreme poverty, but a lack of state provisioning has actually widened gender inequalities.

Dr. Olivius explained how unequal gendered divisions of wartime labor prevent women from taking advantage of development. They shape who wins and loses in post-war transformations. Domestic responsibilities make women less mobile and prevent them from taking advantage of new opportunities. In addition to tangible constraints, women’s wartime roles forced them to endure trauma, exhaustion, and stress without respite. Dr. Olivius recounted one anecdote: during the war, the men of one village fled to the jungle to hide, leaving the women to feed and pacify the occupying army.

Traditional values—often intertwined with a preference for authoritarian rule—perpetuate the conservative gender attitudes that keep women out of the public sphere. This is exemplified by how women’s informal labor in Myanmar also underpins its need for economic reforms. Burmese women perform work in the mining industry and through reproductive labor—the birth and rearing of children—without the benefit of state aid. Feminist groups have seen successes like the creation of a national strategic plan and the drafting of a gender violence law. However, nationalist groups have advanced a largely regressive agenda.

Poverty and Gender Roles in Myanmar

The extreme poverty brought on by wartime conditions also disproportionately impacts women. Women sometimes have to walk miles to procure resources for their families, according to Dr. Olivius. One report details local women walking for hours to draw water from the closest well. This well was in a dark and oxygen-lacking cave several hours from their village. Without childcare alternatives, the women had to bring their children with them on this journey. These women have since reported miscarriages resultant from the grueling collection trips. Addressing women’s poverty in Myanmar isn’t just about securing better-paying jobs; it must include treatment for emotional and physical depletion and harm.

Furthermore, Dr. Olivius stressed that ownership of land in the context of economic restructuring is gendered and contributes to insecurity for women. Without the necessary political reforms, women go unrecognized as landholders. This lack of government-sanctioned landownership makes women particularly vulnerable to land appropriation by outside groups. One Burmese woman lamented, “The local authorities do not even recognize the woman’s name, just only the leader of the family. The leader is a man, so nothing for women…Now they have no land to survive.” Women are not considered family leaders, despite the male migration and war that resulted in many female-led households.

Elevating Women in Myanmar

Gender roles in Myanmar must change beyond the point of one woman publicly working in politics. While the 2008 revisions to Myanmar’s constitution show promise, they do not include any specifics concerning women’s representation. Quotas in such situations often serve as a distraction and don’t necessarily lead to development, and the representation of individual women in politics is compatible with gender inequality and negative attitudes towards women’s rights.

Women’s rights need to be constructed by and for the women impacted. One necessary step is collaboration with indigenous sources to reimagine Buddhism as a conceptual ground for women’s rights. Professor Htun emphasized in the webinar that religiosity and conservatism are not linked in Myanmar. It is important that donors support groups like Musawah, which is “spearheading a global Campaign for Justice in Muslim Family Laws,” and creating a Muslim vision of women’s rights. Donors can also encourage autonomous, local construction, even if it is religiously oriented. Progress begets progress. As the country makes political and economic strides, gender roles in Myanmar must become more equitable.

– Annie Iezzi
Photo: Flickr

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Parboiled Rice: a New Hope for Women in Africa

women in AfricaA women rice farmers’ cooperative in Togo has tripled its output and improved the quality of rice produced by using parboiling equipment. They received this equipment from the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP). The corresponding increase in sales of rice has also increased household incomes, lifting women in Africa out of poverty and giving them the chance to send their children to school.

The World Bank reports that 69% of households in rural areas in Togo were living below the poverty line in 2015. Female-headed households are especially vulnerable, with 57.5% living in poverty, because women in Africa lack the same economic opportunities afforded to men. With equipment from the WAAPP, the Femmes Vaillantes cooperative in Anié, Togo, is fighting back.

Success of the Femmes Vaillantes Cooperative

The Femmes Vaillantes women’s cooperative began in 2007 with just 12 farmers. Through WAAPP training, the women farmers in the cooperative began using a rice transplanting technique that increased their output by more than four metric tons per hectare.

Parboiled rice is in high demand in West Africa, and watché, a popular meal whose main ingredient is parboiled rice, drives the market. Because of this demand, the women of the Femmes Vaillantes cooperative in Togo were well accustomed to the process of parboiling. However, they only recently acquired the equipment to maximize efficiency. Their previous method of parboiling was time consuming. According to Ebiro Kadokilah, the head of the cooperative, the old process resulted in the loss of three kilos of rice for every 100 kilos produced.

Now, the cooperative produces 800 kilos every week without any loss, tripling output. Increased profits have provided Kadokalih and the other members of her cooperative with the means to rise from poverty, for themselves in the present and even more so for their children in the future.

“I am a widow,” Kadokalih said, “and I am finally able to provide for my family. Most important, I manage to pay the education expenses of all my children.”

With the profits from added sales, the Femmes Vaillantes bought two hectares of land in Sevia, a nearby village, in the hopes of further increasing productivity. Kadokalih is even looking to build a parboiling center, which would create jobs in the area and provide greater income benefits to women in Africa and those in the cooperative.

Rice produced with the parboiling equipment is also more nutritious than what the women previously produced, providing surrounding communities that buy the rice with added health benefits.

The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program

The WAAPP was created in 2008 with the mission of increasing food security in West Africa through gains in food productivity and availability. In 2019 alone, the WAAPP increased rice, fruit and tuber production by 150%, helping make smallholder farms profitable. The WAAPP initiative has impacted more than 227,000 Togolese women as of January 2020 through its cooperative involvements.

The agricultural sector represents about 35% of West African nations’ combined GDP and employs 60% of the active labor force. Despite its integral role in the region, the agricultural sector in West Africa struggles with some of the lowest crop yields in the world. Lagging agricultural productivity stems from low-quality seeds and fertilizer, as well as a general lack of information about and access to agricultural technologies and best practices. The market itself suffers from underdeveloped farmer-market linkages and globally high transportation costs.

Overall, Africa is ripe with untapped natural resources. The continent uses only about 10 million of some 130 million hectares suitable for rice production. The WAAPP aims to change that, and women in Africa are helping further that cause.

Reaching Out Beyond Togo

Togo is one of four countries where the WAAPP, assisted by World Bank funding, has given farmers parboiling technologies and training, increasing both labor productivity and rice quality. The other countries involved in the program are Benin, Guinea and Niger. The World Bank describes rice parboiling as a growth industry, meaning that it shows promise for future poverty alleviation and economic development efforts in West Africa. Like Togo, Benin has recently felt the effects of this promise.

After receiving training, rice parboiling and other business-related equipment from the WAAPP, cooperatives in Benin have seen similarly positive trends in productivity, with rice processing capacity up 400% in two years.

“In the past, we had to get at least four women to manually sort a 100-kilogram bag, which took all day,” Bertin Adéossi, coordinator of the Framework Program to Support Agricultural Diversification in Benin, told the World Bank. “By comparison, the sorting machine we have installed produces 1.4 metric tons per hour.”

Between 2017 and 2018, sales revenues in this cooperative rose from CFAF 33 million (about $60,000) to almost CFAF 80 million (almost $145,000). The significance of that change shows in the lives of these women in Africa, who have gained from the parboiling industry and the work the WAAPP has done.

Togo and Benin are just two examples of how these improvements in productivity, efficiency and quality in the rice parboiling industry are invaluable to long-term economic growth in West Africa. As this sector grows, so do the communities that support it. And, as the WAAPP’s project spreads, women in Africa gain more opportunities to work their way out of poverty, lifting whole nations with them in their pursuit of a better life.

– Olivia du Bois
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

HIV Affects Women in Sub-Saharan Africa

Women Are Disproportionately Affected by HIV

Young women between the ages of 15 and 24 make up approximately 9.8% of sub-Saharan Africa’s total population, but they account for 20% of the region’s confirmed cases of HIV. While part of the reason why HIV affects women the most is due to basic biology and the fact that women are more likely to contract HIV, it also has to do with economic, cultural and legal factors present in sub-Saharan Africa.

Poverty and the Spread of HIV

The good news is that poverty is declining globally. The bad news is that extreme poverty is becoming ever more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where experts believe that 90% of impoverished people will live by 2030. A struggling economy warrants little room for government expenditures on healthcare and education, so not only are many poor people in sub-Saharan Africa not able to access affordable methods of HIV prevention and treatment, but they also do not receive substantial education on how to prevent its spread. Specifically, in this region, 70% of young women have not learned about the risks, treatments and preventions of HIV.

Without promising futures, it is not uncommon for young women to resort to transactional sex or early marriage for support. Both customs are associated with less condom use, sexual violence and multiple partners. Both transactional sex and child marriage often result in a significant age gap between partners. Evidence shows that HIV in men becomes more prevalent with age, so higher age gaps cause HIV to affect young women.

Cultural and Political Barriers

Gender norms that accompany older man/younger woman relationships also add how HIV disproportionately affects women. In order to feel masculine, men tend to assert their dominance by having many partners, refusing to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and not wearing a condom during sex. These practices reinforce ideals that perpetuate sexual health as a woman’s responsibility and are some of the reasons for why HIV affects women so significantly.

Culturally, there is much stigma surrounding premarital sex, having multiple partners and being a woman with HIV. There are many reports of unsupportive healthcare professionals, denial of service and miscommunication about results concerning HIV status. Coupled with the fear of horror stories of forced sterilization, forced abortions and forced virginity examinations, there are high barriers discouraging women from accessing the care they need.

Restrictive policies also make it difficult for young women to access information about their sexual health. In a study that received results from 110 countries, over half of the responding African countries required parental or spousal consent for women under 18 to receive HIV testing. Although these laws may be to protect children, it actually prevents young women from accessing sexual and reproductive medical care. For places that do offer HIV services, many are exclusively for married women with children, so most young women do not fit the criteria to obtain testing. Additionally, nearly half of the responding African countries reported having age restrictions for buying condoms.

Action Plan

The statistics look grim, but the World Health Organization’s five-year plan to reduce the number of HIV infections and deaths is in full swing. Its goals include increasing testing, eliminating discriminatory laws and creating larger global access to testing for sexually transmitted infections.

The plan includes five specific tactics the WHO intends to use, which cover assessing the situation, deciding which services to provide, how to provide these services, financing the efforts and implementing structural change. In the end, the WHO aims to end the AIDS epidemic by prioritizing preventative measures like wearing condoms and education about injection safety, allocate more resources towards ending gender-based violence and discrimination, introducing a harm-reduction intervention package and much more.

If WHO carries out this plan correctly, it will reach hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are young women residing in sub-Saharan Africa. It should also equitably deliver HIV services to those who are most in need.

– Rebecca Blanke
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Pregnant Women and Children In the Yemen Crisis

Pregnant Women and Children
The Yemeni Civil War began in 2015 and has become a humanitarian crisis, devastating families and communities. The conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels continues with no end in sight. More than 80 percent of the population, about 24 million people, lack food, health care and safe living conditions. Those who need assistance most are pregnant women, newborns and children.

Childcare and the Civil War

The civil war in Yemen prevents the most defenseless people in Yemeni society — pregnant women, newborns and children — from receiving life-saving medical treatment on time. At MSF’s Taiz Houban Mother and Child Hospital, the number of children and newborns dead on arrival at the location has doubled from 52 in 2016 to 103 in 2018. The most prevalent causes of death in newborns were prematurity, deprivation of oxygen known as birth asphyxia and severe infection.

Families struggle to find access to limited medical facilities and must navigate frontlines and checkpoints to receive care. Additionally, the Yemenis’ ability to access healthcare of any kind has dramatically diminished. Due to the declining economy that has devalued people’s savings, the vast majority depend on insufficient public healthcare.

Despite the conditions pregnant women and children during the Yemen Crisis are facing, several organizations aim to help these disadvantaged Yemenis receive the care they need.

Stay Safe Mama Project

The United Nations Population Fund, with help from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has launched the Stay Safe Mama project so that pregnant women in Yemen can safely deliver their babies. As a result, 300 health facilities have been enhanced with reproductive health kits, medicine and supplies for maternity units. The project also supports midwives in local communities so that pregnant women and children during the Yemen Crisis who don’t have access to a hospital can still obtain the care they deserve. Aisha, a 27-year-old, who fled the violence from her village in Hodeida and now lives in a small shack with multiple relatives and children, received healthcare through a center organized under the ‘Stay Safe Mama’ project.

“The care I received at the center was beyond what I expected,” Aisha told representatives from UNFPA. Aisha also said that she “had regular check-ups, and when it was time to give birth, [she] was not worried anymore. [She] gave birth to a healthy baby girl.”

Responsive Governance Project

The Responsive Governance Project (RGP), with the assistance of the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), provides instruction to improve the skills and knowledge of midwives. Additionally, RGP’s main priority is to provide pregnant women and children during the Yemen Crisis access to emergency obstetrical and natal care. Dr. Jamila Alraabi, the Deputy Health and Population Minister, states that the RGP has supported her agency and local health councils to improve maternal health policies.

In speaking with Jeff Baron from Counterpart International, Dr. Alraabi said that “no one can work alone, and no one can achieve success alone. It should be a partnership, and this is our hope in Yemen, that we will not have a woman die from preventable causes.”

UNICEF and Yemen

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides Yemenis access to health treatment and access to safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. As of August 2019, UNICEF maintained over 3,700 health centers and aided around 730,000 pregnant and lactating women by providing basic health care services. Additionally, 11.8 million children were vaccinated for measles and rubella, and 200,000 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition. Going forward, UNICEF’s efforts will focus on “strengthening systems, improving access to primary health care, as well as malnutrition management and disease outbreak response, including maintaining vaccination coverage.”

These three organizations are just examples of the efforts raising awareness and providing aid toward the Yemen Crisis. Children continue to be killed and injured during the conflict. Before COVID-19, 2 million children under the age of five were dying from acute malnutrition and in need of treatment. In addition to this, around 70 percent of the arriving pregnant women experience “obstructed labor, prolonged labor, eclampsia, uterine rupture or post-partum bleeding” and other life-threatening conditions. While the conflict continues, these organizations are making efforts that have helped many women and children in Yemen. 

– Mia Mendez
Photo: Flickr

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6 Things to Know About Obstetric Violence

Obstetric Violence
Of all topics concerning women, obstetric violence is one of the most taboo. Obstetric violence involves patients experiencing abuse, neglect or disrespect at the hands of their OB-GYN, particularly during childbirth. A study by the WHO which followed and interviewed over 2000 women pre- and post-childbirth in Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea concluded that 42% of respondents experienced discrimination or verbal or physical abuse. This abuse includes slapping, mocking, forced episiotomies and unnecessary medication or cesarean sections. Here are six things to know about obstetric violence.

6 Things to Know About Obstetric Violence

  1. Power disparities between doctors and patients discourage women from objecting to or speaking out against abusive practices. According to the Latin American Journal of Nursing, the unequal power relationships with patients leads to “the loss of the woman’s autonomy and her right to decide on matters related to her body.” As a result, women are prone to experiencing different forms of violence during labor and delivery care.
  2. Obstetric violence is not limited to pregnant women. It can occur during any OB-GYN visits and includes invasive practices, denial of pain, refusal of treatment, verbal humiliation and non-consensual touching. According to another study by the WHO, 49.9% of women in Ghana reported undergoing vaginal examinations performed without their permission.
  3. Specific groups of women are more likely to be mistreated than others. Ethnic minority, low income, unmarried, adolescent and migrant women are more likely to be mistreated by an OB-GYN. According to the WHO, “Younger, unmarried women were more likely to have non-consented vaginal examinations.” The midwives and doctors often justified abusive treatment as punishment for women they found “uncooperative.”
  4. Obstetric violence discourages women from consulting maternal health services or OB-GYNs. This could cause medical complications to go unnoticed and untreated, potentially leading to maternal or child mortality. Women who experience abusive treatment from medical professionals may also suffer serious complications, however. The abuse often leads to permanent emotional, mental and physical damage. It also presents a health hazard at the community level, as the prevalence of obstetric violence encourages the idea that such treatment is normal.
  5. Countries have recently started defining obstetric violence. In 2006, Venezuela defined it as the “appropriation of the female body and reproductive processes by health professionals.” Similarly, Argentina’s definition is “cruel, dishonorable, inhuman, humiliating threatening treatment by health professionals, causing physical, psychological and emotional harm to assisted women.” Defining mistreatment by health professionals in legislation is the first step to combatting it on a legal level.
  6. NGOs such as Make Mothers Matter (MMM) are fighting obstetric violence. MMM “works in synergy with grassroots organizations around the globe” to empower women. It recognizes the potential women have as leaders for change. The NGO places emphasis on the importance of proper treatment of women and mothers at the hands of their OB-GYN being crucial for child wellbeing and development. In addition, MMM exposes the dangers of obstetric violence and spreads awareness to bodies of governments capable of creating real change.

Obstetric violence violates fundamental women’s rights. Fighting it will involve recognizing the role gender inequality has in creating hierarchical dynamics between doctor and patient. Efforts by governments and NGOs to end mistreatment by OB-GYNs will improve the physical and mental welfare of women and children around the world.

– Mathilde Venet
Photo: Flickr

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The Role of Women During COVID-19

Women During COVID-19Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, women have assumed positions of leadership in several fields to fight the virus. Women work hard at home to take care of their families, while also constituting a majority of those on the front lines in the global healthcare industry. They are discovering innovative new ways to generate income through agriculture, and are even manufacturing masks in refugee camps. Here are a few of the many heroic responsibilities undertaken by women during COVID-19.

Women at Home

Worldwide, almost 22% of women care for their families through unpaid labor, while only about 2% of men provide this kind of care. As caregivers at home, women play a crucial role in maintaining the safety of their families and communities. This task goes well beyond managing others’ physical health; women cook, clean, supervise children and elders and gather resources like water and wood. In addition, with lockdown measures, kids and other family members are home more often, increasing demands on these women.

Women in Healthcare

During the COVID-19 pandemic, women have taken the lead in providing medical care for patients. Because women make up 70% of the global healthcare and social services industries, many women have now become essential workers and hold the huge task of caring for patients, often at the expense of their own safety.

Healthcare workers like Dr. Entela Kolovani of Albania have been treating patients day and night since the pandemic hit in March. Women in healthcare are juggling several roles as they take care of those who are sick while trying to avoid endangering their families. Women are working longer hours and facing new challenges every day. In describing her nurses, Dr. Kolovani said, “Their work never ends, from making up the beds of patients, to performing therapies, taking tests and filling in documents. I am so deeply grateful to them.”

Women in Agriculture

The role of women during COVID-19 is not just limited to the healthcare field. Globally, nearly one out of every three women are employed in the agricultural industry; women in rural settings have inspired their communities to take safety precautions and earn income through farming. For example, in northwestern China, women in rural villages are ensuring compliance with social distancing practices are met and learning the trade of pig farming to earn extra income for their families. One such woman, Yan Shenglian, is training other women in this trade and teaching them the importance of women in the agricultural sector during COVID-19.

In addition, women in Cote d’Ivoire worked with UNICEF and the World Food Programme to spread health and sanitation measures to other women farmers. Along with the work already being done to encourage efficient farming practices, women in these rural villages are prioritizing food security and safety during COVID-19.

Women as Refugees

Of those affected by the pandemic, refugees have been disproportionately impacted. Nearly 80% of refugees are concentrated in low-income countries, where access to proper sanitation and basic resources is limited. As nearly half of all refugees are girls and women, the effect of COVID-19 on women refugees is especially high. However, these individuals have also stepped up to fight the pandemic. In partnership with the U.N., Rohingya women in the world’s largest refugee camp have made more than 50,000 masks for distribution. This initiative involved almost 50 families with female breadwinners, allowing these women to bring additional income to their families and teaching lasting leadership skills.

Looking Forward

Women have stepped up to lead the fight against the pandemic in a plethora of ways. They are keeping communities safe while generating income. These are just a few examples of the many critical roles adopted by women during COVID-19; there is no doubt that their presence will continue to be instrumental throughout the pandemic and beyond.

– Anita Durairaj
Photo: Unsplash

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Bathrooms and Girls’ Education in Africa

bathrooms and girls’ education in AfricaIn the developed world, private bathroom stalls and toilets are largely taken for granted, especially within schools. The issues of period poverty and girls’ education in Africa do not seem like topics that would be intertwined. However, they are in fact completely dependent on one another. Most period poverty efforts focus on access to sanitary products. While this is an incredibly important component, bathrooms within schools are just as important. Without a safe space to change them, the work of providing reusable sanitary napkins cannot work. These two factors have to work together. Here are facts to know about the connection between bathrooms and girls’ education in Africa.

What is Social Infrastructure and Why Is It Important?

Social infrastructure refers to facilities that include education, health and youth services that promote a high quality lifestyle. It is created with the public good in mind, and the intent to provide better outcomes for peoples’ livelihoods. It impacts the connection between bathrooms and girls’ education in Africa directly. Buildings with a socially-minded design make children, and especially girls, feel safe, included and acknowledged. It will keep them coming back to those places. 

Research explains the positive impact of infrastructure on communities in Africa to the intersectional issue of girls’ education. It shows how infrastructure is more than just buildings and highways. Creating a physical space where girls feel safe is crucial to their personal and educational development. Focusing on infrastructure has been proven to create a more equitable society, especially within rural communities. This is due to the lack of accessibility to resources that are more likely present within urban areas. 

The Link Between Menstrual Stigma and Girls’ Education

Girls’ education in Africa faces many obstacles. This is largely due to gender stereotypes that are at the root of unsafe learning environments. Twenty-three percent of girls of primary school age are not in school, and that number jumps to 36% as they get older and enter secondary school. Menstruation is a factor in the connection between bathrooms and girls’ education in Africa. When girls begin to menstruate, they are faced with many barriers. These may include temporary social ostracization, missed school days and sexual violence by peers. 

One in ten girls misses 20% of school days because they cannot attend during their menstrual cycle. This largely due to the fact that – if they have access to sanitary products – they do not have a place to change them once at school. This discourages many girls from attending in the first place, and too many missed days ultimately leads to higher drop out rates because they cannot end up falling behind. 

Why Toilets?

Only 57% of primary schools within the world’s least developed countries have single-sex bathrooms. The good news is that countries such as Djibouti, Gambia, Ghana, Morocco and Mozambique have single-sex bathrooms in 80% of their primary schools. However, the work is far from complete given that some countries such as Eritrea only have these facilities in 27% of schools, and the lowest being only 9% in Senegal. 

The majority of sexual assault and rape incidents happen in school bathrooms because there is only one facility for all students with very little to no privacy. So along with embarrassment regarding using the restroom and changing their sanitary pads in front of male students, they feel incredibly unsafe walking into the bathroom. When girls do not have to worry about their hygiene and safety at school, they will be more likely to continue attending. Creating a safe environment is key to ensuring girls attend and stay in school. This can help break the cycle of gender disparity in education.  

Organizations Doing the Work

The state of girls’ education in Africa is being greatly improved by organizations that are funding initiatives and creating them. Taking notice of the connection between bathrooms and girls’ education in Africa can greatly aid these girls’ futures. The Global Partnership for Education partners with national governments to create “girl-friendly” sanitation facilities in order to improve girls’ education in Africa. Its grants to countries like Guinea and Cameroon enabled the building of separate bathrooms and water stations within schools. 

Programs like FRESH and WaterAid are coming together to ensure the creation of safe and healthy physical spaces for girls to learn. They are developing infrastructure plans that follow UNICEF and WHO guidelines. WaterAid established a list of components that should be a part of girl-friendly infrastructure. These include single-sex bathrooms with locks and privacy walls and any mechanism that can work as a disposal place for sanitary products. The availability of clean water within the bathroom is included in order to clean reusable sanitary napkins. It also includes a mirror (even if it is broken) so girls are able to check for any spots or stains before returning to the classroom. 

Why Should We Care?

The connection between bathrooms and girls’ education in Africa is a topic that deserves abundant attention. Everyone benefits from educated girls. When half of the world’s population is being excluded from equal educational opportunities it creates a greater human capital issue. The skills and talents of these girls might never be seen simply because they are unable to gain any upward mobility due to a lack of education. So on the next World Toilet Day, November 19, remember how something as simple as a private bathroom stall can make a huge difference in the life of a young, African girl. 

– Stephanie Russo
Photo: Flickr

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5 Improvements for Women in Togo

  Togo is a country in West Africa that borders Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin. The nation gained independence from France in 1960, and has a population of 7.89 million people. Despite the country’s success in phosphate production, more than 50% of the Togolese population lives below the poverty line. Togo is considered a “Least Developed Country” by the United Nations.

The extreme poverty that exists in Togo disproportionately affects women, as they are not granted equal opportunities for work and education. Togo ranks 115th of the world’s 129 countries on the Sustainable Development Goals’ gender index, which measures each country’s gender equality in terms of the sustainable development goals. These goals include access to education and health, among others, as well as addressing the prevalence of gender-based violence. Despite the many difficulties that still exist in almost every sector of daily life, there have been significant improvements for women in Togo over the past few decades.

5 Improvements for Women in Togo

  1. The maternal mortality rate decreased. The rate declined from 489 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 396 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. Togo’s decline in its maternal mortality rate is largely due to the efforts of nonprofits working to improve access to and the quality of healthcare. In a partnership with World Centric, the nonprofit Integrate Health provides training and education to nurses and midwives and employs Community Health Workers to provide health services on the front lines in Togo. The organization also improves the management and infrastructure of existing clinics and removes user fees that prevent many Togolese people from seeking healthcare. Across 13 clinics, Integrate Health intends to “perform 20,497 pre- and post-natal consultations and 2,862 facility-based deliveries.” Additionally, since Community Health Workers are predominantly women, Integrate Heath also provides economic opportunity and medical training for Togolese women.
  2. The adolescent fertility rate declined. The rate decreased from 130.17 births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 19 in 1985 to 88.69 births per 1000 in 2018. Togo is making significant strides in educating its youth about contraceptives, as 410,000 young people now participate in a sex education program. These are significant improvements for women in Togo. The Association Togolaise Pour Le Bien-Etre Familial (ATBEF) is a nonprofit organization that has been working in Togo since 1975 in the sexual and reproductive health sector. ATBEF aims to reduce infant and maternal mortality by organizing mobile health clinics and going door-to-door to discuss the benefits of contraceptive use. Additionally, ATBEF reached more than 870 villages in Togo that chose to sign onto protection charters that safeguard girls from gender-based violence, encourage them to finish school and teach village chiefs about the importance of educating young people about contraception. Since ATBEF began working in the Haho health district in 2011, the use of contraceptives doubled.
  3. Education for women increased while the overall fertility rate decreased. The steady decline of women’s fertility from 7.21 births per woman in 1980 to 4.32 births per woman in 2018 could be a result of increased education efforts. As women become more educated and countries become more developed, fertility rates decline. Although there is still a disparity between male and female literacy rates, female literacy rates increased from 38.5% of literate women over the age of 15 in 2000 to 51.24% in 2015. Additionally, youth literacy rates for females increased from 63.5% to 78.37% in 2018, indicating that younger women are receiving more education and may be less likely to have many children or to become pregnant as teenagers.
  4. Employment opportunities increased. In 2019, 88.79% of Togolese women were reported as self-employed. Additionally, Togo’s Labour law, passed in 2006, prohibits workplace discrimination based on gender and allows for up to 20 weeks of paid maternity leave with job security. However, husbands can still limit women’s choices to work and have control over their finances according to customary law. Nonprofit organizations such as CARE are working in Togo, and across West Africa, to empower women as participants in the economy. CARE’s Women on the Move program encourages women to join savings groups, in which women pool their savings and loan each other money to start businesses or to pay for healthcare and education. Women on the Move empowers women by educating them about their economic rights and mobilizes women across West Africa with a goal of improving their socio-economic status. The program aims to reach 8 million girls in West Africa by the end of 2020. As a result of influence from Women on the Move, the Togolese government planned to include savings groups in the national financial inclusion strategy.
  5. Child marriage decreased. Togo is one of the many countries in West and Central Africa to experience a decline in child marriage, with a 2% average annual reduction rate. Additionally, Togo has the third-lowest number of girls married between the ages of 15 and 18 in West and Central Africa. Although the government has committed to ending child marriage by 2030, 600,000 Togolese girls today are still married in childhood. To eliminate child marriage, the government will need to work to ensure that girls stay in school and are educated about their rights, as many girls are still taught that violence against them by their husbands is justified. Girls Not Brides, a global partnership with the mission of eradicating child marriage, works in Togo to develop country-specific strategies that encourage governments and communities to take action.

 

These five improvements for women in Togo depict the country’s steady progression toward gender equality. Togo’s improvements in healthcare, education and economic opportunities for women contributed to a higher female life expectancy, which rose from 54.29 in 2000 to 61.61 in 2018. However, Togo must continue to address the problem of child marriage, as it is still legal for families to marry off their daughters to receive a dowry.  Although the legal age for marriage is 18 in Togo, marriages can be arranged before the age of 18 with parental consent. There is still work to be done in Togo, to reform laws in order to give women more power over their marital choices and educate parents about the harm child marriage can have on young girls and their futures.

– Melina Stavropoulos
Photo: Flickr

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8 Facts About Women’s Poverty in Peru

Poverty in Peru
Peru has gradually reduced poverty over the past decade. Currently, approximately 6 million Peruvians live under the national poverty line in comparison to 16 million in 2004. This is remarkable progress in tackling poverty in Peru. Around 20.5% of Peru’s population lives in poverty nonetheless. Most of them are indigenous Quechua and Aymara communities living in the rural Sierra region. Despite their essential role in the economy, women bear the greatest burdens of extreme poverty in Peru. Here are eight facts about women’s poverty in Peru.

8 Facts About Women’s Poverty in Peru

  1. Women account for the majority of the population living in extreme poverty. In the Piura, Cajamarca, La Libertad and Apurímac districts, extreme poverty affects 25.7% of women. This is over three times the national average.
  2. In 2020, Peru scored 0.65 in the gender gap index, meaning that women are 35% less likely to have economic equality with men. In fact, 30.4% of women in Peru receive no personal income. Women who do receive personal income still make 30% less per month than men. Fortunately, Peru passed Law No. 30709 in 2017, prohibiting pay discrimination by gender. On July 1, 2019, The National Superintendency of Labor Inspection put the law into effect.
  3. Women are essential to Peru’s economy. The average rural woman accounts for 80% of her family’s labor force, working in agriculture, livestock and traditional household care. Women’s underpaid and underrepresented labor allows household men to search for temporary work.
  4. Women hold few influential roles in the workforce and politics, due to Peru’s traditional views about the role of women. This means women face higher rates of unemployment and poverty.
  5. Girls and women suffer from higher illiteracy rates than boys and men. Illiteracy among women in rural areas is 33.7% in comparison to 10.9% of men. In urban areas, where 7.4% of women and 2.4% of men are illiterate, women still face unequal opportunities in education. Organizations like Peruvian Hearts and the Sacred Valley Project give girls, especially those in rural areas, opportunities for further education in the form of scholarships, tuition and boarding schools.
  6. Peruvian women and girls often face violence and discrimination. Between 2009 and 2015, domestic violence and gender-based crimes killed more than 700 women. In 2006, 69% of women reported that they had suffered physical violence. These reports were higher in rural areas. In 2015, Peru adopted Law No. 30364 aiming to eradicate all forms of violence against women and family members. Over time, the implementation of Law No. 30364 has improved, leading to the creation of a Gender Justice Commission composed of women judges. Reporting domestic violence is now easier and safer. Groups like Ni Una Menos raise awareness about violence against Peruvian women. Last year, it organized a protest in Lima to demand justice and government action for victims of gender violence.
  7. Peruvian women face limited access to reproductive and maternal healthcare. Choices regarding birth control are slim, and resources are often hard to find or too expensive. The fight for reproductive rights is ongoing. In 2014, Peru issued national guidelines for legal abortions in the case of sexual assault. Therapeutic abortion has been legal since 1924, however, access was not secure until 2014. Increased spending on reproductive healthcare over the past decade has improved access to birth control and other contraceptives. Organizations in Peru like PROMSEX promote sexual health and reproductive rights through political advocacy.
  8. Environmental challenges impact women the most in Peru. Resources like clean water, energy and food are scarcer in rural areas of Peru. Since women secure these resources, they bear the pressures of environmental challenges. Taxing jobs like collecting firewood and gathering clean water are becoming even more difficult as resources become scarce. These burdens make families vulnerable, forcing women to put family before health. Additionally, women’s lack of representation in government denies them information and resources that mitigate the effects of climate change.

Hope for the Future

Gender inequality worsens women’s poverty in Peru. Recent legislation and activism have begun to bridge this gap and focus on women’s rights. For example, political representation for women is near 30% and growing. Economic equality is also growing thanks to Law No. 30609 that prohibits pay discrimination between genders. Additionally, reforms to domestic violence services have reduced crime against women in Peru.

Meanwhile, women’s rights organizations like Womankind Worldwide are partnering with Peruvian organization FEPROMU in efforts to educate women and develop leadership skills. The organizations Women’s Empowerment Coalition and Awamaki partnered in 2019 to build an artisan center in Huilloc. The women’s association can now weave and make textiles and train women for leadership.

Government reform and the activism of women’s organizations have allowed helped the women of Peru to climb toward gender equality. This progress should hopefully lessen women’s poverty in Peru.

– Dalton Dunning
Photo: Flickr

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Women-Owned Businesses Create Economic Security in Central America

Women-Owned BusinessesNonprofit organization Mary’s Pence is working towards a world of empowered women making changes in their communities. To get there, Mary’s Pence partners with grassroots organizations in Canada, the U.S. and Central America to provide funding and development programs for women-owned businesses.

Executive director Katherine Wojtan believes Mary’s Pence is different from other nonprofits because the organization not only cares for the individual women, but also oversees the sustainment of their small businesses. Mary’s Pence also values the idea of “accompaniment,” explained by Wojtan as utilizing the abilities of everyone to accomplish a long-term shared vision. This concept is applied to the organization’s execution of both the programs in the states and in Central America, focusing on improving the whole rather than the individual.

ESPERA

The program in Central America called ESPERA, or Economical Systems Providing Equitable Resources for All, was created almost 12 years ago. “Espera” is the Spanish word for hope, a fitting name for the life-changing program working with women in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

“This is very intentional, it is not about making individual women rich, but about ensuring all women have access to resources and skills to make their way in the world and earn what they need for a good life,” Wojtan said.

ESPERA aids women who were victims of domestic or gang violence or are single mothers struggling to make ends meet. By giving grants to grassroots organizations in struggling communities, Mary’s Pence creates community-lending pools which women can take loans from to start local women-owned businesses that generate income. To ensure success, the staff of Mary’s Pence teach the community loan management and help elect leaders to track the lending.

Gilda Larios, ESPERA team lead, grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico and worked with Central American refugees before starting work with Mary’s Pence. ESPERA funding gives back to the whole community, not just the women receiving aid. Instead of focusing on building credit, women realize the importance of circulating money and products.

“Their confidence grew – first they asked for a very small loan, and over time they asked for larger loans and grew their businesses,” Larios told The Borgen Project. “With their strength, they are role models for new leadership in the community.”

ESPERA and COVID-19

ESPERA has helped develop many small women-owned businesses that create jobs for their communities and generate income for struggling women. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put many of these businesses at risk as workers feared for their lives, but the ESPERA team responded fast, changing their focus from long-term development to responding immediately to the needs of the women.

As some women panicked about their businesses and the effects of the pandemic, the ESPERA team responded with a 12-week emotional wellness series, delivered via WhatsApp, and supported stores so they could keep reasonable prices for the communities. For women in the midst of paying back loans to the community-lending pool, their status is put on hold until they have the income to continue their payment.

Despite the support network ESPERA provides, the pandemic revealed some gaps in the system. It was challenging to ensure the safety of women experiencing domestic violence. The lack of access to phones and the internet made communication between communities and ESPERA leaders challenging. However, this time of crisis also brought the communities closer and proved the importance of working together through local businesses.

In her interview with The Borgen Project, Larios told of a woman named Aminta, who is in the ESPERA program in San Salvador, El Salvador. She transitioned from working in a “maquila,” or factory, to starting her own business sewing uniforms for local sports teams. During COVID-19, she also began sewing masks to help keep her community healthy. Success stories of women-owned businesses like this one propel communities into further financial security and empower other women to do the same.

Confidence and Creating Futures

Above all, ESPERA and Mary’s Pence hope to give women confidence in their own abilities to create the future they want for themselves and for their families. For Larios, the most rewarding part of working with ESPERA women is the “feeling of satisfaction and joy to see them embrace their possibilities and capacities that before they thought they didn’t have.”

Through ESPERA and their role in the creation of women-owned businesses, Mary’s Pence continues to change women’s lives by showing them the power they already had within themselves.

– Kiyomi Kishaba
Photo: Google Images