Archive for category: Women and Female Empowerment

information and Stories about woman and female empowerment.

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The Secret to Combining Healthcare and Women’s Empowerment

The Secret to Combining Healthcare and Women's Empowerment|
For decades now BRAC, a Bangladeshi anti-poverty organization formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, has been providing a different approach to healthcare services.  While most health care around the world is provided by doctors and nurses in a hospital setting, BRAC has been using a door-to-door method of healthcare.  BRAC hires women to deliver primary health care or locally by visiting people at their homes without a doctor or nurse.   Not only does this create healthier communities, but it also elevates these women to a higher status in society and broadens the perceptions of the role of women in these rural communities.

These women join BRAC as frontline community health promoters.  After they receive training from BRAC, they travel from house to house in order to promote many health practices that we hold as staples in the Western world.  Among these is the adoption of contraceptives, identifying pregnancy, proper health while with child, and education about children’s health.  While there, the women also treat basic illnesses among family members.  Further training from BRAC allows these women to raise awareness about other diseases like hypertension and diabetes while giving them access to equipment such as blood pressure gauges and primary medicines.

This sort of medical service without a doctor or nurse is made possible by the fact that many diseases in poverty-stricken and developing areas is the result of simple ailments that do not need extensive medical training to diagnose and treat successfully.  One of the most significant examples of this is diarrhea.  According to the World Health Organization’s website, “diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old…Globally, there are nearly 1.7 billion cases of diarrheal disease every year.” These women can help stave off the malnutrition which results from diarrhea with simple oral rehydration solutions.

BRAC has evolved from a small relief organization in 1972 into the largest development organization in the world by enacting these types of strategies that utilize poor communities’ own human and material resources to create environments and situations that enable the poor to take control of their own development.  This community health program is a prime example of the best type of development strategy.  It does not consist merely of throwing resources at a community but empowers members of that community to take an active role in development.  This strategy holds even more impact because of its use of women as employees, as the empowerment of women is the key to overcoming global poverty, due to women’s large investment in their own communities.

– Martin Drake
Source: Huffington Post, World Health Organization, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
Photo: Global Voices

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Zainab Salbi and Women for Women International

Zainab Salbi and Women for Women International

This is a global humanitarian Zainab Salbi. She is an Iraqi-born humanitarian that founded the organization Women for Women International. Salbi has dedicated the majority of her life to helping women in war-torn countries rebuild their lives and their communities. Growing up, her father was Saddam Hussein’s personal pilot and her family was firmly in the clutches of Hussein’s inner circle. After an unsuccessful arranged marriage in America to avoid the clasp of Hussein, Zainab remarried and founded Women for Women International.

In 1993 the news of rapes in concentration camps during the conflict in Bosnia propelled Salbi to found an organization to help female victims of war. The organization provides economic aid, emotional support, job skills training, and rights education to empower women and stop the cycle of violence.

Women for Women International currently works in eight war-torn countries. The organization provides a one-year program for women to receive job and business training, enabling them to earn a living. This program helps women understand their rights and liberties and provides them with the opportunity to become leaders in their communities.

Women for Women International has mobilized more than 300,000 people in 185 countries to support female victims of war. Their support has provided assistance to more than 351,000 women through education, microfinance programs, and small business development, as well as other initiatives. Women for Women International has been able to distribute $108 million in direct aid to women.

Women for Women International works in four modules. They aim to help women sustain incomes, be aware of their rights, be educated as family and community decision-makers, and provide them with social networks and safety nets for support.

Zainab Salbi has founded a massively successful and vitally important international aid organization. Women for Women International places female empowerment and recovery at the center of its philosophy to create positive social change in the world.

– Caitlin Zusy

Source: Women for Women International Ted Talk Profile
Photo: Zimbio

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Design a Condom to Improve Contraception Access

Design a Condom to Improve Contraception Access
In 2013, 222 million women in the developing world still do not have access to modern contraception. That is 222 million women unable to responsibly plan their families; without the ability to control their own fertility, they are unable to plan a stable future for themselves.

In developing countries, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death for women. Responsible family planning would not only significantly impact maternal mortality rates, but would also provide the opportunity for millions of girls to stay in school and potentially lift entire communities out of poverty.

Global Poverty Project and Women Deliver have partnered to launch It Takes Two, a campaign focused on improving access to sexual and reproductive health information and services around the world. The campaign will use the Global Citizen online platform to extend its message and generate support. It Takes Two hopes to capitalize on the game-like atmosphere of Global Citizen’s points rewards system to attract a substantial crowd of supporters.

How has It Takes Two managed to turn modern contraception into a game?

Design your own condoms.

It Takes Two is sponsoring a contest in which participants submit a condom wrapper design by July 21st, and the 10 winning designers will receive free condoms featuring their personalized wrapper. Everyone who enters will have their design profiled in the It Takes Two condom gallery, and be entered for a chance to win tickets to concerts to over 70 participating artists such as Kings of Leon, Beyoncé, Tim McGraw or One Direction.

It Takes Two wants everyone, creative or not, to step up and help spread the word that everyone has the right to plan their lives because a woman’s choices shouldn’t be made for her based on her socioeconomic level or her country of origin.

– Dana Johnson

Source: Artist Direct, It Takes Two
Photo: Global Giving

Post-2015: A New Millennium for Women

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For U.N. members looking to affect real change in reforming the millennium development goals post-2015, one thing is clear: gender equality goals must be at the top of the agenda.

Many argue that a lack of attention to the pervasive inequalities that plague the developing world was the key limitation of the last round of millennium development goals (MDGs) that are set to expire in 2015. While the new set of MDGs now makes achieving greater equality a priority, some wonder if the goals will focus too much on income inequality while overshadowing issues of gender and other social inequalities.

Specifically, human rights advocates worry about the proposal to replace the current, specified gender equality goal with a less defined, overarching goal covering all “inequalities.” Female empowerment advocates disagree with the MDGs’ tendency to treat gender as merely one of the many inequalities that generate poverty. Rather, they say, gender is both the most pervasive form of inequality as well as the root problem that instigates other forms of inequality.

Despite its limitations, however, having the MDGs has proven useful both as a tool to hold governments accountable for their responsibilities to women, and as a line of defense against conservative forces in developing nations that threaten to reverse equality gains. U.N. leaders and stakeholders around the world should use this solid foundation to achieve further, more progressive reforms, like ensuring fairer access to employment opportunities and greater representation in decision-making positions in the public sector.

As it turns out, as rates of gender equality improve, so does a country’s overall well-being. Recent reviews have shown that countries with greater gender equality in employment and education were more likely to experience greater economic growth and human development rates. Thus, fixing the gender inequality problem can consequently help improve the socio-economic inequality problems without necessitating separate initiatives.

The same principle does not apply in the reverse, however. Economic growth does not necessarily contribute to gender inequality if the social structures needed to empower women are not put in place. Gender, then, seems to be the only standalone factor that intertwines itself with every other aspect of the complex issue of global poverty, and thus the issue that must be addressed and corrected before any other reforms can occur.

– Ally Bruschi

Source: The Guardian,Institute of Development Studies
Photo: The Business Finance Store

Fashion Fights for Rights

Fashion Fights for Rights
Fashion fights for rights. In April, a factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing over one thousand female seamstresses. The event brought women’s rights to the surface of many discussions. To raise awareness, the women’s empowerment initiative Chime for Change organized an event sponsored by Gucci called Sound of Change Live, focusing on fashion, music, women, and how they can intertwine. The concert featured many women’s rights advocates including Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Beyonce, to promote women’s rights to education, health, and justice.

About 50,000 fans attended the concert in person, and an estimated one billion more watched online to see how fashion fights for rights. The concert featured an interactive Twitter feed asking viewers’ opinions throughout the performance, which helped the event go viral. Sound of Change Live raised awareness of important women’s issues like domestic violence and education and was also able to raise $4 million for Chime for Change.

Sometimes the support of celebrities is necessary for action in places like Pakistan, where the voices and opinions of pop icons can grab the attention of the nation’s youth. Ultimately, more good is done once celebrity advocates for change because more people become aware of and get involved in the world’s most pressing issues.

– Katie Brockman

Source New York Times

Arab International Women’s Forum Holds Conference

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On May 22nd, a conference for the Arab International Women’s Forum titled “Young Arab Women Leaders — The Voice of the Future” was held at Birzeit University, the first university to be established in Palestine. The Forum was a particularly momentous occasion because it marked the first time the annual forum had taken place in Palestine in the organization’s 11-year history.

In an opening address, the Forum’s founder Haifa Al Kaylani, discussed the opportunity that this year’s forum had to empower women and youth in Palestine to ensure sustainable development in the region.

The Forum, which began as an idea in London, has flourished throughout the world. Its Board of Directors is composed of names representing companies such as PepsiCo, PriceWaterhouseCooper, and the Arab British Chamber of Commerce.

Addressing these influential people, Al Kaylani noted the wealth of Palestinian expertise and talent at the conference, citing again that the education and training of the youth is a necessary investment. She also commented that such important leaderships ethics would help women “take roles as leaders and job creators working towards the social and economic recovery in their communities and the region.”

Recently, AIWF made strides to expand digitally with the launch of its online forum, co-sponsored by PepsiCo. The topic of the most recent online forum was: “What impact has the rapid growth of technology in the last decade made on gender boundaries – societally, in the home and in the workplace?” Interested parties were allowed to enter the debate from the convenience of their laptops.

– Samantha Mauney

Sources: Wafa, Birzeit
Photo: AIWF

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Four Steps to Ending Child Marriage

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Ending the practice of child marriage is an important step in eradicating global poverty and improving global health. Countries that have a high rate of documented child marriages also rank high in infant and maternal mortality as well as perpetual poverty. Here are some key steps to ending the practice:

  1. Transform cultural norms; In many places, child marriages are considered acceptable no matter the age or age difference between prospective spouses.
  2. Establish community-based programs; Often, the groups that are the most effective in combating such issues are already rooted in the affected communities. Such grassroots efforts, when combined with enforced national laws and policies that prohibit child marriage can greatly decrease them.
  3. Increase education; Girls who have access to education are less likely to marry early than those with minimal or no schooling. Even girls who are married, however, should be to encourage their education. This will help to make them more qualified for any economic opportunities that may come their way.
  4. Provide economic opportunity; Many girls enter into marriage at a young age because of the dowry given to their family by their prospective groom. Young women are also sometimes forced into marriage by their families when they can no longer afford to take care of them, or when it appears that the groom’s family will be able to better provide for her. Thus, practices such as micro-lending, savings clubs, and job placement programs can provide other options.

– Samantha Mauney

Source: ICRW
Photo: Sulekha

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Berhane Hewan: Ethiopia Gives Girls a Future

Berhane Hewan: Ethiopia Gives Girls a Future
In 2004 the Berhane Hewan project was established in one community in Ethiopia to empower adolescent girls. The program is now considered award-winning by the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and has expanded into 36 communities in Northern Ethiopia. Child marriage is a major issue in the Amhara Region of Northern Ethiopia and the Berhane Hewan project seeks to educate girls about the dangers associated with early marriage and their rights as women. Almost half of the female population of this region is married before they are 15 years old and many girls are also deprived of the chance of attending school because their families cannot afford to send them.

Child marriage can lead to girls being forced to have sex at too young an age, which causes health issues including premature pregnancy, high infant mortality, and difficult or even dangerous births. It also has many psychological ramifications as girls are forced into marriages with older men whom they do not know and have the traumatic experience of being forced into sex as adolescents.

The Berhane Hewan program addresses the issues associate with child marriage at multiple levels. Community-wide talks are held that encourage everyone to participate and learn about the ramifications of early marriage and health issues associated with young pregnancies and STDs. The program also provides financial assistance for girls to encourage them to stay in school and avoid early marriage. Informal educational groups have also been established so that girls unable to attend school can still receive schooling.

Girls are becoming aware of their rights and leaving isolated lives to join an empowered community of women. Zufan Fentahun’s marriage was annulled and with the help of Berhane Hewan, she was able to begin attending school and supporting herself with the sale of several animals and keeping a garden. Almost 12,000 girls have become involved with the project in some capacity and there is the potential to reach many more as it continues to expand. UNFPA has passed the program over to the U.K.’s Department for International Development who has increased funding and has ambitious plans to increase the number of communities involved.

– Zoë Meroney

Source: UNFPA
Photo: Take Part

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Kenyan Girls Protected from Cervical Cancer

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Every year, approximately 275,000 women lose their lives to cervical cancer. The vast majority of these women live in developing countries where it is difficult to access the necessary healthcare, and where the ability to screen, diagnose and treat the life-threatening cancer is rarely available. However, the fight against cervical cancer in developing countries received an unprecedented boost when the GAVI Alliance announced recently that it had guaranteed a record low price of $4.50 per dose for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.

For the first time, the GAVI Alliance will make the vaccination available to girls of a school age on a widespread scale, and at an affordable price. The GAVI Alliance has already begun their vaccination program in Kenya where cervical cancer is responsible for the deaths of more Kenyan women than any other cancer. In the past, most of the HPV vaccine programs have only been available in richer countries despite the fact that the need for these programs has always existed in developing countries. Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, said that through their partnership with WHO and UNICEF, their support for HPV vaccines is “bridging the gap between rich and poor countries, enabling HPV vaccines to reach girls no matter where they live.”

The vaccine is distributed in three doses, and since Kenya has high enrollment rates among girls, schools will become the main centers for the HPV vaccines. With the support of community health workers, the treatment will also be available to girls who are unable to attend school, and who are often at higher risk of contracting the disease.

Seven other sub-Saharan countries will also receive support from the GAVI Alliance in the near future; Ghana, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. The GAVI Alliance estimates that by 2020, it will have immunized more than 30 million girls in 40 countries. In these countries, where access to diagnosis and treatment is seldom available, providing a preventative vaccine is the clearly preferred option. This news provides hope to millions of girls and women in developing countries who remain at risk of contracting cervical cancer.

– Chloe Isacke
Source: GAVI Alliance,Impatient Optimists
Photo: WUSC

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Mobile Technology for Women is a Global Development Must

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Closing the gender gap is high on the priorities of those working in global development and one way to accomplish this is through increasing the availability of mobile technology to women according to Patricia Mechael, Executive Director of mHealthAlliance.  In her years working in global health and development, she saw first hand the realities of poverty and gender inequality. The social status of women has a negative effect on their health and ability to care for their families. Problems such as maternal mortality and unintended pregnancies are often the result of poor maternal health care and poor gender representation in countries.

Mobile technology is working to reduce the gender gap and provide women around the globe a chance at a healthy life. Women who would force abortions to save themselves from another mouth to feed now have access to vital family planning information and commodities through the increase of mobile technology. While less than a decade ago, the mobile penetration rate was in the single digits among low-income nations, today reports indicate it stands at 89%.  The digital divide is shrinking between low and high-income nations, but women are still 21% less likely to own a mobile device compared to men. Millennium Development Goal #3 is to promote gender equality and empower women and providing them with mobile technology is a way to get closer to accomplishing that goal.

Beyond meeting MDG3, mobile technology is key in accomplishing MDG5, improving maternal health. The mHealth Alliance and the World Health Organization have worked to bring about mobile technology to improve maternal health. These projects use a variety of mobile technologies to provide everything from information about vaccines to improving access to essential medicine through reducing depletion of stock.

The advances in mobile technology have come a long way and will continue to be essential to promoting global development and accomplishing the MDGs.  In addition, Mechael is working with her company to come up with ways to further include women in the development and discussion of mobile technology and applications to serve and assist them.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: Forbes
Photo: WAHA