Archive for category: Women and Female Empowerment

information and Stories about woman and female empowerment.

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How One 18-Year-Old Funds Education for Girls

education
Girl code: A universal language spoken by the women of the world. Right down to its core, however, it means that girls are “in this together.”

Mary Grace Henry has been up-to-date with the girl code’s core since before she was a teenager. At the young age of 12, with the sewing machine she requested for her birthday, Henry began creating reversible headbands for purchase and used the profits to help fund girls’ education in Uganda and Kenya.

Henry named her business Reverse the Course, with the hope that her reversible headbands would “reverse the course” of girls living in poverty. Now 18 and a soon-to-be freshman at the University of Notre Dame, Henry’s organization has sold over 16,000 hair accessories to support primary and secondary education for girls living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

The organization has reversed the course of many lives, saving girls from malnutrition, early marriage and female genital mutilation.

Since its founding six years ago, Reverse the Course has supported 66 girls and provided funds for 154 years of education fees, including tuition, textbooks and boarding costs. Henry’s most immediate goal is to reach 100 girls. Next, she’d like to develop an entrepreneurial program for the girls her organization funds to provide them with skills beyond education.

Henry firmly believes in universal quality education and 100 percent of her business profits fund education for impoverished girls. Her hair accessories are affordably trendy and of a worthy cause. Her efforts have reached four countries and 21 schools, and every student who boards is fed three meals a day.

Secondary education prevents early marriages and pregnancies and provides girls with the skills to build a sustainable life. According to UNICEF, child marriage rates in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia would decrease by 64 percent with secondary education. Education has the power to change and build lives.

Girls are in this together, and Henry is definitely a veteran to this notion. She provides girls with quality education to lift them out of poverty, giving them the tools they need to build a sustainable life. Who knew that in addition to transforming a hairstyle, a headband could also transform a life?

– Sarah Sheppard

Sources: Take Part, Reverse the Course
Photo: Take Part

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Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

women's_empowerment
With so many important social justice issues to be aware of, it is extremely helpful when the progress of several areas at once can be monitored with only one tool.

The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) ties together the importance of advancement in the agriculture sector and the involvement and empowerment of women in the same area.

The Index was developed jointly by Feed the Future, USAID, IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) and OPHI (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative) as a way of monitoring the success of the Feed the Future Initiative, and that is what makes it unique: The empowerment of women was not tacked on as a side note or as a positive subsidiary effect of the larger goal. Rather, the success of the Feed the Future programs depend on the equitable treatment and fair status of women.

The index debuted in Bangladesh, Guatemala and Uganda in 2012, with the intent to use it for further tracking of the influence of programs. While the tool itself is designed primarily to monitor and evaluate women’s empowerment levels, it is the crucial first step toward making a difference. Once data is generated about a problem, it can be approached with a better understanding of how to solve it, as well as increase awareness and support for fixing it.

So how is “empowerment” defined and measured?

Clearly, the concept is extremely personal. It is something that can be discussed in a very inspired but unspecific way. One Guatemalan woman, for example, said, “Being empowered means that the woman can do things too, not just the man.” To others, it is more about their position within a community. There are a lot of factors that affect what “empowerment” means to a person.

Do empowered actions count if they’re being encouraged, or even enforced, by an outside force? Is empowerment more of an individual or a collective concept? How can such a flexible idea be measured and expanded upon across such a vast range of cultures, ideologies and physical circumstances?

Answering this question is made easier by considering women’s empowerment in the specific context of agriculture. The Index is comprised of two parts: The 5 Domains of Women’s Empowerment (5DE) and the Gender Parity Index (GPI).

The 5 Domains of Women’s Empowerment are the following: role in the production of crops, access to resources, level of income, role in leadership positions and availability of time. Women are considered “empowered” if they meet particular thresholds in four out of five of these areas.

The Gender Parity Index measures the success and empowerment of women in agriculture relative to men living in the same households. A woman who is relatively empowered when compared to women in other countries, but not compared to her husband, will not rank highly on the Gender Parity Index.

The idea of using one index to measure progress in two separate areas might seem unusual, almost non sequitur. But research done by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Association (FAO) has shown that agricultural productivity increased by 20 to 30 percent when access to agricultural resources was equalized between men and women.

By tying important goals together and creating a way to monitor their progress, the WEAI is helping the movement towards shaping a better world.

– Emily Dieckman

Sources: Indiana University Bloomington, IFPRI, Feed the Future, USAID
Photo: IFAD

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Global Education Fund: Success in Kenya

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The quality of education and learning in Kenya is below that of what it should be, despite increases in student enrollment. Enrollment does not ensure attendance, and often times resources are not available to students to help them learn at the rate and level necessary.

The good news is that the Global Education Fund has implemented a program to address the quality of educational success in Kenya. With only 19% of sixth-grade students reading at the appropriate level, this program is much needed.

The program provides leadership training and scholarships for students living in Nairobi. A mentoring initiative for these students, the Young Leaders Program, was also developed from this project.

Global Education Fund scholars have achieved significant achievements: 100% of these students have completed secondary school, 86% have passed the national exam (compared to the average pass rate of 29%) and 55% have qualified for university courses.

The Young Leaders Program is unique because it combines the following components:

  • Scholarships for students who cannot afford to attend school
  • Leadership training
  • Mentoring for younger students
  • Experiential learning to increase career opportunities
  • Female role models for young girls
  • Community engagement

The Global Education Fund has worked with 140 high school students. Student progress is tracked and evaluated so that these students can have continued support throughout their development. This project is one example of many initiatives that can help break the cycle of poverty by securing quality education for young children.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: Global Education Fund 1, Global Education Fund 2
Photo: Extraordinary Journeys Africa

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Women Entrepreneurs Aim to Improve their Communities in Africa

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Three Entrepreneurs from Ghana, Cameroon and Rwanda are applicants to The Anzisha Prize. The prize aims to support young, African entrepreneurs who have created innovative change in their communities by addressing social issues or starting successful small businesses.

Twelve of the finalists win a free, week-long trip to South Africa to participate in entrepreneurship workshops and conferences at the African Leadership Academy campus near Johannesburg. The grand prize winners are then selected from the top twelve and receive $75,000 dollar prizes that will give their small businesses a jump-start as well as publicity.

In 2015, the organization selected winners from a pool of around 500 applicants. The amount of applications this year is a record—but only 27 percent of them were women applicants.

Despite the low number of women applicants, there are many women entrepreneurs in Africa. However, they are often forced into innovative solutions out of need, rather than a desire to do so. How We Made it In Africa described in an illustrative example, “This means that they might be self-employed by selling fruit on the side of the road, but the opportunity for them to grow beyond the informal stage may never present itself.”

African women usually lack access to education on financial and development skills; this is due to the fact that males are typically sent to school more often than females.

Still, the following Anzisha Prize women have overcome the odds and made positive, impactful changes in their communities through their entrepreneurial innovation.

Mabel Suglo: Assembling Shoes to Employ the Disabled

Mabel Suglo is a 21 year old woman from Ghana, a co-founder of the Eco-Shoes Project. The initiative helps disabled artisans assemble desirable, marketable shoes out of used tires and recycled clothing.

The Project began in 2013; today five people work for Suglo.

“There are millions of discarded car tyre stockpiles and waste materials in Ghana which pose an environmental and health hazard. Eco-Shoes rescues some of the millions of tyres and other material waste creating an environmental nuisance, to make fashionable and comfortable shoes.” said Suglo, according to How We Made it in Africa.

If Suglo wins the Anzisha Prize, she plans to invest in more sophisticated machinery to increase shoe output. She also wants to create an e-commerce site and give her workers improved training in technology.

Vanessa Zommi: Tea to treat Diabetes in Cameroon

In 2013, when Vanessa Zommi was only seventeen, she founded Emerald Moringa Tea in Molyko, Cameroon. The company treats the moringa plant, transforming the raw substance into a healthy tea that treats diabetes.

“The World Health Organisation’s research estimates 190 million people suffer from diabetes worldwide. This research further estimates that by the year 2025, there will be about 330 million patients in the world. Studies show that drinking moringa tea after a meal can ease digestion, and after two hours of intake, sugar levels in the body drop.” said Zommi, according to How We Made it in Africa.

Zommi plans to expand her company in the future; she currently employs six people and sales are limited to Molyko, Cameroon. She hopes the prize money will assist her in this expansion.

Chantal Butare: Milk Cooperative to help Farmers Sell

Chantal Butare, a twenty-one-year-old graduate of the University of Rwanda founded a dairy cooperative that aids farmers who produce milk in accessing markets.

Butare started the Kinazi Dairy Cooperative in 2012; she noticed farmers, especially women farmers, often struggled to sell all of the milk they produced.

The Cooperative, to date, has helped over 3,200 farmers. It employs twelve milk collectors who supply Rwanda and Burundi.

“My vision is to help eradicate poverty and hunger among vulnerable people in my community,” said Butare, according to How We Made it in Africa.

– Aaron Andree

Sources: Anzisha Prize, How We Made It in Africa
Photo: Clinton Foundation

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Chelsea Clinton Visits Haiti

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On July 28 and 29, Chelsea Clinton, the Clinton Foundation Vice Chair, visited Clinton Foundation-funded Haitian projects in Port-au-Prince to oversee agricultural improvement, health reform and female employment progress.

The Clinton Foundation’s slogan is “Partners in Haiti’s Future,” and the organization has definitely created many opportunities for the country to flourish in the present. The work of the foundation and its supporters has aided more than 85,000 farmers with new agriculture techniques. In addition, more than 350,000 people’s lives were bettered because of the organization’s social enterprises, and 9.9 million people have access to HIV/AIDS medication.

In total, the Clinton Foundation has helped raise more than $30 million for Haiti for its Trees of Hope program, Clinton Climate Initiative, Chakipi Acceso Distribution Enterprise, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and more.

Clinton visited Haiti to supervise the projects as well as inspire those who are being helped by the foundation. Clinton observed local artisans, posting an Instagram picture of herself holding a locally crafted doll with the caption “#ActionIsGreater through partnership and collaboration.”

This photo practices some of the Clinton Foundation’s guiding principles: “We’re all in this together,” and “The greatest good is helping people live their best life story.”

To further acknowledge these principles, Clinton hosted a meeting with the Clinton Foundation President, Donna Shalala, where the two discussed women’s success in the Haitian workplace and ways to create more opportunities for female employment.

Clinton said the implementation of new programs for the betterment of Haiti’s female youth is crucial to female empowerment and achievement.

“We need programs… to help close the gap, so that girls and young women who haven’t had the chance to get educated don’t live with the burden of illiteracy their whole lives,” she said.

During her stay, Clinton made it a point to visit local female-owned businesses to show support for successful female entrepreneurship. The business, Caribbean Craft, is supported by the Clinton Foundation where products are crafted and later sold in popular U.S. stores like Anthropologie and HomeGoods.

In support of other projects, Clinton visited the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership’s (CGEP) Acceso-Haiti depot. There, local farmers can store their peanuts for safe-keeping. The depot also serves to empower local farmers.

“Across Haiti, CGEP is helping more than 1,500 local smallholder farmers increase their peanut yields dramatically and better sort and store their peanuts,” Clinton said.

Because of depots like this, the Clinton Foundation has helped Haitian farmers grow higher yields of crops and improve market access. In turn, the organization’s help with agriculture creates greater opportunities for a healthy lifestyle.

To check up on the Foundation’s projects for better health in Haiti, Clinton visited Partners in Health’s Mirebalais Hospital. This hospital is the country’s top educational hospital because of the influence of one of the Clinton Foundation’s supporters, Paul Farmer.

Because of his commitment, Clinton said that the hospital employees were just as good as health workers in any developed country.

After leaving the hospital, Clinton said she took time to reflect on stories about the projects created by the Clinton Foundation in her heart. She said she feels confident that Haiti’s future is bright.

“I left with an even stronger belief in what’s possible in Haiti,” Clinton said.

The Clinton Foundation has many projects that have greatly benefited the people of Haiti, and the organization is continually editing and drafting plans to implement for the persistent improvement of the Caribbean country.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: ABC News, Caribbean Journal, Clinton Foundation 1, Clinton Foundation 2, Vogue
Photo: Jakarta Post

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Opening Opportunities for Mayan Girls

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The Population Council, along with partner organizations, created a program entitled Abriendo Oportunidades (Opening Opportunities) in order to support the development of young Mayan girls. To date, it has reached 8,000 young girls.

These young girls often live in more rural, isolated regions where access to school and health services is limited. This particular subset of the population in Guatemala tends to marry early without finishing their education.

Abriendo Oportunidades was designed to connect Mayan girls with mentors and provide them with leadership training and life skills. Locally trained professionals often facilitate the program in community girls’ clubs. Gender-based violence is also discussed in a safe setting to provide young girls with the knowledge and tools to stay safe.

An evaluation of the program in 2007 has demonstrated great success in opening opportunities for Mayan girls. All girls in the program have completed sixth grade, 97 percent of the girls did not become pregnant and 88 percent of the girls were able to open bank accounts. These achievements are important because these girls will have greater opportunities open to them in the future. For example, with financial security and education, they can better plan for the timing of children if they wish to have them later in life.

The program results also reveal a change in the attitudes of these young girls. Over half of the girls now wish to complete university and over 90 percent want to wait until later in life to have children. With greater confidence and leadership, these Mayan girls feel an increase in freedom and respect from their fellow community levels. The confidence these girls now have is one of the most important indicators of success. If young girls believe they can achieve education and important careers, they are more likely to be able to do so.

Abriendo Oportunidades has been adapted for communities in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua. Researchers have also further developed the program to be used with adolescent boys who need to learn just as much about gender-based violence and female empowerment.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: The Population Council, CNN
Photo: The Population Council

Obama Focuses on African Reform

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In a recent landmark visit to Africa, President Obama pledged to all African nations that the United States was planning on reaffirming its efforts to bolster all aspects of African reform, ranging from economic to social reforms. Obama’s visit bared a theme of hope for the future of all African nations, as the President visited extensively with the African Union in their headquarters located in Ethiopia.

“Africa is on the move,” was the slogan repeatedly used by President Obama throughout his time on the African continent. The ideology behind this phrase comes from the recognition of African reform in taking steps forward regarding technological improvements as well as economic developments. An article by the Guardian stated, “Politicians and entrepreneurs love to point out that the old stereotypes of war, famine and hopelessness have been replaced by some of the fastest growing economies in the world, as if they are the first to discover it.” Obama was quick to shed light on Africa’s new image in the 21st century during his time on the continent.

Homophobia across Africa was a big issue of conversation for Obama during his visit to Africa. The President made it a point to relate the topic of homosexuality in a social context to the African Union. According to the same article by the Guardian, “The president compared homophobia in Africa with racism in America.” Obama’s stance was one of progressiveness towards a typically close-minded group, but the President used his immense popularity in Africa due to his Kenyan roots to connect with the people. The media response to Obama’s message was extremely positive with many outlets beginning to call for reform on their own.

In addition to speaking out against homophobia, Obama also spent time championing for women’s rights. An article by All Africa was quoted as saying, “[Obama] added that Africa has to attach due emphasis to women and girls because unless girls are educated and given opportunity to be innovators, engineers, doctors, business women, it will be difficult to the continent to bring about change.” The President arrived in Africa to push an agenda that would help Africa as a whole rise up to a new level of social reform and is walking away with satisfaction.

– Diego Catala

Sources: All Africa, The Guardian
Photo: Flickr

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Vital Voices: Projecting the Voices of Notable Women

vital voices

Vital Voices aims to foster growth in the developing world. How? They partner with prominent women leaders in places such as Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. According to the organization, women leaders have helped and educated more than 500,000 other women and girls in their communities with the knowledge that they gained during their partnership.

A Unique Approach

Vital Voices invests in leaders. These women know what they need and what their communities need. The organization encourages their fellows to help their communities and other women leaders in their communities.

The organization focuses on three key aspects: human rights, economic development and political participation. Through these areas of focus, women can obtain fellowships, education and influence.

Human Rights

According to UNICEF, there were 3.7 million victims of human trafficking in Africa in 2014. Vital Voices wants to improve the justice system’s responses and victim protection responses. Partnering with legal and criminal justice experts in Cameroon and Uganda, the organization desires to combat this issue.

In Uganda, Voices partners with AEquitas and Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda. In Cameroon, Vital Voices partners with AEquitas and Vital Voices network members.

Economic Development

Women business owners face disadvantages that male business owners do not. Voices provides fellowships in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Women can learn how to grow their businesses and help their communities.

The fellowships allow businesswomen to learn more about leadership, finances and networking. This not only helps the businesswoman, but it also helps foster economic growth in her community.

Political Participation

According to Vital Voices, women only hold 19% of government positions internationally.

The organization is trying to strengthen women’s representation in the Pacific Islands. Partnering with New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and AusAID PLP, Voices empowers women to influence policy change that would increase women’s presence in the workforce.

The Impact

According to U.N. Women, an increase in women in the labor force increases overall economic growth. Vital Voices wants to help women help themselves. In addition, the organization realizes that women have a great impact on the growth of developing countries. Women’s empowerment is now recognized as a way to decrease global poverty.

– Ella Cady

Sources: UNICEF, UN Women, Vital Voices
Photo: Pop Sugar

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The BOMA Project Mentors Kenyans in Running Successful Businesses

The BOMA Project Mentors Kenyans in Running Successful Businesses

The BOMA Project works with women living in Kenya and other arid and drought-prone regions in helping them receive the resources, training and funds they need to start up their own businesses. Another aspect of the BOMA Project also helps Kenyan women pay for school, food and healthcare. Since 2009, 8,481 women have enrolled with the BOMA Project to successfully launch 2,651 businesses. In total, women who have enrolled with the BOMA Project have been able to provide care for over 42,250 dependent children.

The BOMA Project was started by Kathleen Colson after she was invited by a local elected official, with whom she attended Saint Lawrence University, to visit Northern Kenya. After many years of working as president of African Safari Planners and leading many excursions through Africa, she came to the conclusion something needed to be done to help those affected by drought.

When drought strikes, livestock die in herds, leaving families with no source of income, which in turn hinders them from being able to buy the food and supplies that they need to survive. After drought occurs, the men of the family leave the women and children at home to go find suitable grazing land. Oftentimes, women are left with no means for food or aid for up to six months. The BOMA Project works to train these women to find other sources of income from starting up their own businesses.

During her many trips to Northern Kenya, Colson met with village elders, faith leaders, local residents and community development workers to gain a true understanding of life in Kenya. While she spent lots of her time there listening to these people, she also focused on hearing what the women of Kenya had to say about life there. Her compassion was piqued by the struggles, challenges and failing solutions about which the Kenyan women spoke.

Colson and Kura Omar, her guide and translator, concluded training women to start and maintain their own businesses would help best alleviate poverty during droughts. Through the BOMA Project, they enacted the Rural Entrepreneur Aspect Project (REAP), which provides women with a two-year poverty graduation program that gives them a cash grant, training in the business and sustainability field and training from local mentors.

Once the businesses are earning profits, usually after six months, members of REAP work with BOMA representatives in establishing savings accounts to prepare for droughts in the future. The BOMA Project has successfully helped over 50,000 women and children in surviving drought season. By 2018, the BOMA Project hopes to double that to over 100,000.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: BOMA Project, Aid for Africa, Dining for Women
Photo: BOMANomad

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Groups Speak Out Against Helms Amendment

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Many organizations and individuals are becoming more vocal against the Helms Amendment. Passed by a conservative Congress in 1973 as a reactionary measure against the landmark court case, Roe v. Wade, the Helms Amendment denies women in countries receiving American aid the ability to get abortions with government money.

This amendment has received flack from both liberals and conservatives due to the denial of safe abortion options for women who are victims of rape during war. The opposition has grown a lot of steam world wide.

Before President Obama touched down in Kenya last week, the Kenyan government tore down a billboard that seemed to be politically motivated. According to reports, the billboard implored President Obama to utilize his executive action to help women who are victims of rape in developing countries.

After the Kenyan government took the billboard down, many were upset. Perhaps the government wanted Obama’s trip to his father’s country to be pleasurable and void of political dissonance.

Obama is not just receiving pressure to revoke the amendment abroad, but also at home.

Before his trip to Kenya, 70 U.S. non-government organizations called for Obama to visit health clinics in Kenya that attend to women’s’ health so that he can see for himself what the amendment is causing.

At the “Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice” in June, religious leaders requested that Obama use swift action to revoke the amendment. The support to revoke the amendment is not just from leaders, but from the majority of the American public.

BuzzFeed reported that 81 percent of people support a woman’s right to have access to an abortion in the case of rape or for the safety of the mother. Although this poll shows people’s views domestically, they can translate to the global stage.

Women living in countries rampant with a gang and terrorist violence are subject to rape. Because of the lack of protection the perpetrators have, the victims are oftentimes subject to sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy.

Due to rape being a tool of war, many from both sides express their disdain for the harsh bill. Perhaps the president will one day voice his opposition.

– Erin Logan

Sources: The Daily Beast, Buzzfeed 1, Gender Health, Buzzfeed 2
Photo: Woman Under Seige Project