Archive for category: Women

Information and news about woman issues

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5 Active NGOs in Afghanistan

NGOs in Afghanistan
Throughout the world, countless nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are battling against abuses such as poverty, changing weather patterns and hunger. In Afghanistan, human rights abuses have been skyrocketing, and homelessness has become the new norm. More than 40% of Afghanistan’s population lives below the poverty line, in desperate need of help. Here are five NGOs Active in Afghanistan that are fighting these pressing issues.

5 NGOs in Afghanistan

  1. Afghan Institute of Learning: The Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) seeks to equip all vulnerable Afghans, particularly women and children, with the knowledge and abilities to take care of themselves. Through community-based programming, AIL is increasing access to high-quality education and health care, empowering communities to strengthen their populations. The objective is to lay the groundwork for effective health and education systems in Afghanistan that will serve the needs of the population both today and in the future. Through health facilities, educational institutions and training programs, AIL, which was founded by an Afghan woman and is primarily operated by women, reaches thousands of people every year.
  2. Islamic Relief: Dr. Hany El-Banna and a group of students established Islamic Relief in 1984 to address the growing famine in Africa. The organization’s initial endeavor was to help a farm in Sudan, and years later, it started to broaden its reach outside of Africa, providing immediate relief to people in Pakistan, Iraq and finally Afghanistan. Islamic Relief is committed to helping vulnerable people who are in need. It achieves this by raising money for local projects and providing essentials like food and clothing. It has also implemented development initiatives aimed at long-term capacity building for vulnerable populations.
  3. Women for Afghan Women: In order to serve the Afghan immigrant populations in New York, Women for Afghan Women (WAW) originated in 2001. Before introducing comparable programs in Afghanistan, it participated in community outreach initiatives all around the region. It now works to advocate for and empower Afghan women and girls in both the U.S. and Afghanistan. Women for Afghan Women has reached more than 1.6 million women since its founding through various activities and services. Every year in the U.S., on average, more than 8,000 Afghan women receive assistance from their outreach activities. Additionally, it has approximately 800 employees working in Afghanistan to support the execution of its initiatives there.
  4. International Committee of the Red Cross: Henry Dunant established the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863 to offer medical care to combat casualties. Years later, as World War I started to claim more lives, the ICRC increased its humanitarian activities across all of Europe. The organization persisted in offering assistance during World War II and is currently one of the most significant humanitarian organizations in existence. The International Committee of the Red Cross has helped thousands of Afghans since its foundation. For instance, it cared for approximately 50,000 injured patients in 2021. In its physical therapy facilities around the nation, the ICRC helped more than 79,000 patients in the same year. Furthermore, it has increased more than 49,000 people’s access to water.
  5. ActionAid International: Cecil Jackson-Cole established ActionAid International in 1972 to defend the rights of women most impacted by armed conflict, humanitarian crises and natural catastrophes. It started its first projects in Afghanistan in 2002 with the goal of ensuring that kids could go to school and get an education. Since then, the organization has established a number of programs that empower Afghan women and help them assert their rights. ActionAid International opposes social and cultural conventions that marginalize women and expose them to violence or discrimination. Additionally, it has advocacy, strategic and humanitarian programming capabilities to advance gender equality across Afghanistan. The organization provides training and tools to female leaders, empowering them to promote social change in their communities and advancing the rights of vulnerable women. ActionAid International has helped more than 100,000 people in five different Afghan provinces since its founding. For instance, it constructed a well in Afghanistan so that more than 1,000 local students could access safe drinking water.

Making a Difference in Afghanistan

In a country where the most vulnerable people face countless challenges, recognizing NGOs in that are making a real difference appears to be vital. These organizations work tirelessly to provide aid, assistance and support to those who need it most. 

– Jake Marks
Photo: Unsplash

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Helping Children and Women in Nepal

Women in Nepal
In 2015, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Nepal and surrounding countries, claiming the lives of thousands. This earthquake not only displaced millions but also plunged more than 1 million Nepali people into poverty. The most susceptible demographic, children and women in Nepal, bore the brunt of the impact. Many children found themselves orphaned, compelled to aid their remaining family members, which led to them forsaking school attendance and engaging in child labor full time. Among the tasks undertaken by many children was the labor of breaking rocks along the riverbed to sell the stones for monetary gain. After visiting Nepal and witnessing these circumstances, U.S. citizen Maggie Doyne made a commitment to help children and women in Nepal rise out of poverty.

About Maggie Doyne

Fast forward to 2008, when an 18-year-old American girl named Maggie Doyne, who had opted for a gap year after high school to travel, discovered a girl breaking rocks on the banks of a river in Surkhet, Nepal. This encounter prompted Doyne to establish a connection with the young girl and develop a friendship. Doyne proceeded to assist the girl by paying for the girl’s school books, uniform and school tuition fees.

The encounter with the girl prompted Doyne to contemplate the stark contrast between those who possess abundance and those who endure scarcity in the world. As time passed, Doyne extended her support to other disadvantaged children in Nepal. Doyne helped to send the children to school but soon recognized that some of these children required more than just access to education. The children lacked a stable and nurturing home environment. This realization compelled Doyne to take further action.

Kopila Valley Children’s Home

Doyne took action by using her savings to acquire a piece of land in Nepal. In collaboration with Nepali resident Top Malla and the support of the local community of Surkhet, Doyne brought Kopila Valley Children’s Home into existence in 2008. This establishment offers a stable and safe environment that now serves as the home for more than 40 children in Nepal.

Many of these youngsters come from backgrounds with profoundly distressing circumstances. They receive support not only from Doyne, whom they affectionately refer to as their mother, but also from a diverse group of caregivers they address as aunts and uncles. Doyne and her team have managed to deliver tailored assistance to these children. “Kopila Valley was born and soon blossomed into BlinkNow, a nonprofit foundation serving an ever-growing, ever-inspiring community in Surkhet, Nepal,” the BlinkNow website says.

Kopila Valley School

Eventually, Kopila Valley Children’s Home embarked on an expansion that included the establishment of Kopila Valley School in 2010. Currently, the school accommodates more than 400 students hailing from the neighboring community. Additionally, the school ensures that its students receive nourishing meals and access to health care services. The school infrastructure was upgraded to a “green campus” to place a focus on sustainability. For example, the implementation of solar power systems and the use of earthquake-resistant materials. Notably, all educators and staff members at the school are of Nepali origin and many other staff members are from the local community.

Kopila Valley Women’s Center

Kopila Valley has undergone further expansion, solidifying that it plays a fundamental role in the community it serves. In addition to the children’s home, school and health clinic, BlinkNow developed the Kopila Valley Women’s Center in 2013. This center is committed to empowering marginalized women in Surkhet by delivering vocational and empowerment training. With a mission to address issues like abuse, educational deficits and limited economic prospects, the center offers comprehensive assistance.

Many of the training participants are survivors of domestic violence and early marriages. The participants receive intensive instruction in valuable vocational skills like sewing, weaving and cosmetology. This training equips them to secure employment and undertake economic endeavors and enhance their overall livelihoods.

The empowerment courses also cover self-confidence skills, health and wellness, women’s rights, Nepali law, basic literacy, business and and maths skills. Trainees also have access to “counseling services, which provides mediation, legal support, and general stress and trauma care and management,” the BlinkNow website says. The Center’s influence reaches even further through its community workshops, fostering gender parity and women’s empowerment.

The training has enabled graduates to develop independent enterprises and cooperative endeavors. Beyond skill development, the Center fosters a nurturing atmosphere where women come together to heal, uplift and support each other. This nurturing environment catalyzes positive transformation within the community, effectively showcasing the profound impact of education and the formidable strength of women in Nepal.

BlinkNow has had a profound impact on children and women in Nepal. The work of Maggie Doyne and her team has helped lift many people out of poverty, allowing them to secure independence, strength and support.

– Ada Rose Wagar
Photo: Flickr

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Poverty and Gender-based Violence in Balochistan

Gender-based Violence in Balochistan
Studies by the government of Pakistan and donor agencies estimate poverty incidence in Pakistan using survey data. Over the past decade, these studies consistently show Balochistan as the poorest province, with its poor accounting for 10-11% of the country’s total poor population. Unfortunately, Balochistan is experiencing a challenge with gender-based violence and poverty. Here is information about the correlation between poverty and gender-based violence in Balochistan.

Harmful Customary Practices

Balochistan is full of harmful customs that adversely affect women and violate their rights. These include killings for honor, forced marriages, exchange marriages (where women are traded between tribes to settle disputes) and depriving girls of education. Poverty makes these abuses more likely to happen because it gives women less power and fewer choices.

According to police reports, in February 2022, over two days, three women and two men died in the name of ‘honor’ in the Jaffarabad, Mastung and Hub districts of Balochistan. In Jaffarabad, a man shot his wife and nephew dead. Meanwhile, in Mastung, unknown persons brutally slaughtered a married couple. In Hub, the second husband allegedly murdered his wife, Mah Jan. These honor killings show how common these kinds of crimes are in Balochistan. These unjustified killings are due to poverty, the lack of legal protections for women and traditional harmful beliefs that allow gender-based violence against women in Balochistan. The cases in February 2022 have brought calls for reform and justice to stop such tragic loss in the name of family honor.

Crisis of Missing Persons

The issue of missing persons in Balochistan also disproportionately affects women. Thousands of Baloch men have gone missing, allegedly abducted by security forces. Their grieving wives and mothers have been left in limbo, not knowing if their loved ones are dead or alive. These women, considered ‘half widows,’ face social stigma, economic deprivation, legal problems and severe psychological trauma. The unsolved missing person crisis further terrorizes and disempowers the province’s women. 

Sammi Deen Baloch has been protesting for 13 years since her father disappeared in Balochistan, one of more than 5,000 reported missing persons in the province. After the abduction of Dr. Deen Mohammed Baloch in 2009, 15-year-old Sammi began raising awareness about these enforced disappearances by Pakistan’s security forces. Despite abusive crackdowns on protests, Sammi continues to demand answers and justice for families like hers suffering from indefinite loss. Her brave activism symbolizes the plight of Balochistan’s ‘half widows’ and mothers whose loved ones have vanished, as well as the importance of accountability for the decades-old human rights crisis that has left thousands missing amid the region’s separatist conflict.

The Vital Work of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons

Organizations like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons provide affected families with legal aid, counseling and advocacy support. However, endemic poverty makes it difficult for women to pursue justice and healing. Economic dependence and lack of opportunity trap them in anguish and uncertainty.

Affected families formed The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in 2009 to pursue justice for Balochistan’s disappearance. Headquartered in Quetta, VBMP provides free legal assistance to help families file petitions and cases seeking information on missing loved ones. It also offers counseling and mental health support to traumatized families, particularly women and children. VBMP organizes protests, sit-ins and campaigns to highlight enforced disappearances and pressurize authorities. It has district committees across Balochistan to document cases and mobilize families. 

VBMP publishes reports to increase awareness of the crisis locally and internationally. It also assists impoverished families with resources for legal procedures and accessing VBMP hubs. Operating on donations and aid funding, the organization employs legal advocacy, activism, counseling and reporting to support families of the missing in Balochistan in their struggle for truth and justice.

Recommendations for Empowerment

Increasing economic empowerment among women is crucial. Income generation through vocational training, microfinance schemes, handicrafts cooperatives and cash-for-work programs can provide women with financial security. These enable women to avoid forced marriages, escape abuse and sustain themselves while searching for missing family members.

Communities and justice systems should engage to stop seeing women’s rights abuses as acceptable. Protecting women from harm, ensuring their safety through shelters and prosecuting abusers will create an environment where women can exercise their rights and seek justice.

Tackling endemic poverty and socioeconomic empowerment of women has to accompany legal-social reform to alleviate gender-based violence in Balochistan in all its forms. Holistic efforts addressing economic and cultural factors are needed to promote women’s rights, safety and development in Balochistan. 

– Asia Jamil
Photo: Flickr

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The Athlete Helping Australian Women and Indigenous Peoples

Australian Women
At the 2000 Olympics, Cathy Freeman ran once more around the track, after winning gold in the Women’s 400 m, draped in the Australian and Aboriginal flags — a historic moment for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Cathy Freeman’s legacy is a notable and influential athletic career, breaking barriers for Australian women and Indigenous peoples. Since retiring in 2003, her inspiring work as an Aboriginal athlete has continued through her philanthropic endeavors to help Australian women and those in the Indigenous community. 

Freeman’s Inspiring Athletic Career

Cathy Freeman’s athletic portfolio exhibits numerous outstanding performances in track and field. She has won multiple World Championships, gold and silver Olympic medals and four Commonwealth Games gold medals. In recognition of these performances, she earned the titles Young Australian of the Year (1990) and Australian of the Year (1998), is forever inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and wears the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Advocating for Indigenous Peoples

Post-athletic career, Cathy Freeman dedicates her efforts to the education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Her foundation, the Community Spirit Foundation, established in 2007, aims “to support children and their families recognize the power of education in achieving their dreams.” When the foundation began “more than 90% of Year 7 students living in Palm Island could not read or write at the minimum national standard, truancy rates were as high as 55% and less than 10% of students graduated high school.”

The foundation plays a key role in the lives of thousands of Indigenous children across four remote First Nation communities. In collaboration with local leaders, the foundation provides a suite of education programs for students at each grade level. These programs build confidence, teach goal-setting, increase resilience through education and provide positive role models appropriate to each community context. 

Since its inception, the foundation has been integral to improving access to education, inspiring a newfound sense of confidence as figures consistently reveal annual increases in year 12 graduation across all four partner communities. Of note, between 2017 to 2018 there was a 50% jump in Year 12 graduations. Furthermore, the organization is regarded highly as a recipient of the St. George Foundation Inspire Grant (2020), an investment in support of bridging the education gap in Indigenous communities. 

In addition, for several years, Cathy was an ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, as well as for the Victorian children’s charity, Cottage by the Sea. 

Freeman’s Legacy Continues

For more than a decade, the Community Spirit Foundation has extended its reach in providing access to quality, sustainable educational opportunities in rural Indigenous communities. In 2021, UNICEF Australia partnered with the Foundation, empowering Freeman’s vision and passion to “implement community-led, long-term partnerships with Indigenous communities, employing local people and working in a sustainable way.” The partnership bases efforts in the Aboriginal community of Woorabinda, where young people (under the age of 20) make up almost half the population and work to create sustainable educational and life opportunities.

Cathy Freeman continues breaking barriers for Australian Women and Indigenous peoples. As her work continues in her community, recognition of women in athletics and Indigenous communities expands to greater heights, creating opportunities in education, work and life.

– Emmalyn Meyer
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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The Chaiim Foundation: A Hope for Women Survivors of Trafficking

Women Survivors
Human trafficking is a grave issue that affects millions of women worldwide. It involves the illegal trade of women for various purposes, including forced labor, sexual exploitation and slavery. This crime thrives on the vulnerability of women, often targeting those from marginalized backgrounds or communities. Trafficked women experience unimaginable abuse and violation of their basic human rights. In 2020, India’s government identified 5,156 trafficking victims. In 2022, the figures increased to 6,622, accounting for kidnapping and drugging.

The fight against trafficking requires a multi-faceted approach that includes raising awareness, strengthening laws and law enforcement, providing support to survivors and addressing the root causes of this crime.

Multiple organizations are working to save the victims from the harsh realities of trafficking and provide them with a safe and secure future. One such organization is the Chaiim Foundation, which focuses on helping survivors to reintegrate into society.

About The Chaiim Foundation

Chaiim is a non-governmental organization located in Mumbai, India that aims to improve the lives of women who have survived human trafficking. Founded in 2013, the organization has been supporting victims who have experienced exploitation due to gender, caste and religious differences. Chaiim provides education and training programs to help survivors join leadership roles within its organization.

Women who have been rescued from vulnerable situations such as prostitution and human trafficking receive the opportunity to improve their prospects through education, vocational training, housing, life skills and other means. Chaiim offers weekly life skills classes to monitor survivors’ progress in dealing with mental trauma, while vocational training courses in areas such as sewing and beauty care are tailored to individual interests and the needs of the local job market.

Living circumstances have deprived many girls of educational opportunities. The Chaiim Foundation steps in to change this, providing access to subjects like math, English and computer skills, paving the way for higher education in the future. Presently, the foundation’s life skills and education program benefits 132 women survivors.

The Chaiim Foundation’s Clothing Business

Humanitarian is a sustainable clothing business that the Chaiim Foundation established in July 2013. It aims to directly support women survivors by providing education, health care, vocational training and housing. The venture provides employment opportunities for women who have escaped human trafficking. Customers can submit their designs and inquiries to the team, who will then provide a production plan with cost and time estimates. Once the plan reaches finalization, the manufacturing team begins cutting and sewing the product before packaging it for shipping.

Other Initiatives to Help Women Survivors

The foundation hosts awareness programs, seminars and workshops to promote the work and efforts of volunteers and women survivors. It also facilitates victims’ reintegration into society, helping them start anew with fresh opportunities and goals. Additionally, it is working on a new venture called “Daag,” which aims to create reusable sanitary pads. This project seeks to promote job opportunities and improve the health of women living in rural areas.

Looking Ahead

In India, efforts to combat women’s trafficking focus on investigations. However, rural women continue to encounter difficulties in this area. Thankfully, organizations like the Chaiim Foundation exist to assist survivors by providing essential support in the form of education, health care, legal aid and housing. These resources help to create a brighter future for those affected by this heinous crime.

– Gurjot Kaur
Photo: Flickr

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Supplying Women Mobile Phones in Africa

Mobile Phones in Africa
The number of people using mobile phones in Africa has been rapidly increasing in the past two decades, and this is mainly due to how vital phones have become to the daily lives of Africans. In addition to essential communication features such as phone calls or texts, mobile phones are also the current mainstream method for Africans to access the internet. However, there is a significant gender disparity in access to mobile phones and internet among Africans, and women are far more likely to lack access to mobile devices and mobile internet.

 The Explosive Growth of the African Mobile Phone Market

Just about two decades ago, mobile phones were an inaccessible novelty good to the overwhelming majority of Africans. In 2000, merely 2% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa had mobile phone subscriptions. However, over the past years, the mobile phone market in Africa underwent exponential growth. As of 2021, 84% of the same sub-Saharan population now have some form of mobile subscription.

In many African nations today, mobile phones have become more common than even basic resources like electricity. Mobile phones have also become the current mainstream method for Africans to access the internet with nearly 70% of African internet traffic coming from mobile devices alone.

The fast-growing usage of mobile phones in Africa is also due to the continent’s commercial profile, as mobile money and banking are immensely popular for consumer payments in Africa. In 2018, nearly two-thirds of all mobile money transactions were in African nations, and the total amount of transactions surpassed $25 billion.

The Gender Gap of Mobile Phones in Africa

However, despite the growing importance of mobile phones in the lives of Africans, there is also a huge gender disparity in access to mobile phone technology, and women are falling behind both in terms of mobile phone ownership and mobile internet access. As of 2021, there was a significant 37% gender gap in mobile internet use in sub-Saharan Africa.

This gender gap also extends to the type of mobile phone Africans own. African women are as much as 30% less likely than men to own a smartphone and are more likely to own older, basic mobile devices than men, according to the 2022 GSMA report. The smartphone gap shows how women are disadvantaged in accessing advanced technology and opportunities, as smartphones have greater utility and access to useful tools such as social media and mobile apps.

Smartphones4good Presents a Solution

Smartphones4good is a Finnish startup that collects used smartphones from developed nations through donations. The phones are refurbished and then leased to female African entrepreneurs at affordable prices. While many Africans do have access to basic cell phones, many have limited functionalities and cannot provide access to the internet. Moreover, purchasing a new smartphone is often too expensive to be a viable choice for underserved African women, according to the 2022 GSMA report. Smartphones4good focuses on closing the gender disparity of mobile phones in Africa by providing affordable internet access to African women and helping them access resources such as online sales platforms and social media networks.

 Looking Ahead

Since the early 2000s, mobile phones in Africa have rapidly become an essential item for most Africans. However, the persisting gender disparities in mobile ownership illustrate a clear picture of the additional challenges African women face in their lives. The efforts of Smartphones4good aim to close the gender gap in Africa’s mobile phone landscape and empower more women to break barriers by connecting with the rest of the world.

– Junoh Seo
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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5 Facts About the Feminization of Poverty

Feminization of Poverty
The “feminization of poverty” is the concept of social and economic factors that keep women disproportionately poor globally. It touches on how women experience poverty in more severe forms than men. It also looks into how poverty is on the rise among women.

Gender inequality is the most common form of inequality in the world, and as a result, it is one of the biggest barriers to alleviating poverty. The following are some important facts to know about the feminization of poverty in the world.

5 Facts About the Feminization of Poverty

  1. Millions of Women Live Below the Poverty Line: Estimates from U.N. Women reported that 388 million women and girls around the world would be living in poverty in 2022. For comparison, the study reported the number of men and boys in the same category as 372 million. It also stated the potential for the number to reach 446 million in a “high-damage” scenario.
  2. Women of Color are the Most Affected: Of the number of women living in poverty, 345 million are from Asia and Africa. This means the feminization of poverty spans across the axes of intersectionality such as race and ethnicity. But this does not stop at the global south, as women of nearly all races and ethnicities are more likely to face poverty than their white counterparts. In the U.S., 91.9% of women living in poverty are black, Asian, Hispanic, Alaska native or other races, while only 9% are white.
  3. Violence Keeps Women and Girls Poor: Women who have abusive partners or family members may be less likely to find work due to potential control issues. If they are able to find work, they may miss days and opportunities as a result of injury. For instance, in the MENA region, 35% of women experience domestic violence, resulting in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) accounting for a loss of 3.7% in the GDP, as women are also prevented from participating in labor. Women that are unable to work and earn a living have a harder time escaping their situation. Consequently, they continue to live below the poverty line.
  4. Women are More Likely to Get Low-Income Jobs: In the U.K. alone, a fifth of women are working jobs that are below the real living wage. This means that 2.9 million women are living below the living wage. In comparison, only 1.9 million men work low-paying jobs that place them below the living wage. Most recent estimates show that globally, women earn 16% less on average than their male counterparts. In Australia and New Zealand, the gender pay gap stands at 19.3%, and in India, it is 14.4%.
  5. Childbirth Impacts Career Progress: Less than one in five women in the U.K. return to full-time work within the first three years after childbirth, and 17% of women leave work completely after having children, compared to only 4% of men. This disparity in gender responsibilities results from various factors, such as poor maternal leave policies and the disproportionate burden of caretaking duties on mothers. This situation highlights how gender inequality affects a woman’s earning potential and ability to lift herself out of poverty.

Ongoing Efforts and Potential Solutions

Fighting gender inequality plays a significant role in ending poverty. U.N. Women, which emerged in July 2010, has a project dedicated to supporting women worldwide, training them to become entrepreneurs and start small businesses. UN Women has four strategic priorities that include helping women to participate in and benefit from governance systems, secure income and exercise economic autonomy. Its aim is to free women and girls from all forms of violence and enable them to contribute to building a sustainable world.

Other organizations like ActionAid and Forgotten Women are committed to delivering safe aid to help women out of poverty and crisis situations through training and awareness initiatives. In 2021, ActionAid spent £31.9 million on humanitarian and development programs globally.

There is still much work to do in the fight against female poverty. Nonetheless, several organizations are already working to provide women with the support and opportunities that they need to succeed. Supporting the ongoing efforts of active organizations, through awareness and community work, can potentially play a vital role in putting an end to the feminization of poverty.

– Safa Ali
Photo: Flickr

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Beauty Brands Contributing to Poverty Reduction

Beauty Brands Contributing to Poverty ReductionBusinesses can positively impact their communities and play a significant role in the global fight against poverty. Fenty Beauty, Rare Beauty and Charlotte Tilbury are some of the beauty brands contributing to poverty reduction.

Fenty Beauty

The brand Fenty Beauty works alongside the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF). This foundation supports and funds children’s education, health and emergency response programs worldwide. Fenty Beauty supports its work through donations and 100% of donations go directly to the foundation.

Rihanna, the creator of Fenty Beauty, details her motivation for ensuring that her brand gives back to those in need. “My grandmother always used to say if you’ve got a dollar, there’s plenty to share,” says Rihanna. The global superstar created the CLF in 2012 to honor her grandparents. The foundation focuses on assisting communities in preparing for and withstanding natural disasters. Notably, CLF aims to help the Caribbean become the world’s first climate-resilient zone.

By working to establish resilience among communities, the CLF helps prevent future poverty among residents due to natural disasters. Many of CLF’s projects take place in Barbados, Rihanna’s home country. Beneficiaries include the Westbury Primary School, which the CLF helped to upgrade to a Category 1 shelter to provide temporary emergency shelter to the community during natural disasters. The CLF also helped to renovate the school library and provide technology for research activities.

Fenty Beauty stands as one of the beauty brands contributing to poverty reduction by improving the lives of those in the Caribbean and preventing poverty from deepening through its climate resilience projects.

Rare Beauty

Rare Beauty,  founded by Selena Gomez, has committed to helping address mental health needs globally through its Rare Impact Fund (RIF). Gomez allocates 1% of all sales to the RIF. The beauty company also works with other philanthropic foundations to increase access to mental health services.

Gomez created the RIF because of her own struggles with mental health. The RIF “invests globally in the most innovative and promising organizations in the field of mental health.” The organization has given more than $1.7 million in grant support to organizations worldwide since launching the RIF in 2020. The RIF has worked in North America, the U.K., Europe and Brazil to help more than 150,000 people seeking support for their mental health needs.

A study by Lee Knifton and Greig Inglis says poverty can contribute to poor mental health through the invoked stress, stigma and trauma. Mental health issues can also deepen conditions of poverty. “Mental health problems can lead to impoverishment through loss of employment, underemployment or fragmentation of social relationships,” the study says.

Through its commitment to expanding mental health resources around the world, Rare Beauty established itself as one of the beauty brands contributing to poverty reduction.

Charlotte Tilbury

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, the cosmetic brand named after its creator, the British beauty entrepreneur and makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, partners with Women for Women International (WFWI) to establish itself as a brand contributing to poverty reduction.

WFWI invests in women who are survivors of war and conflict. By providing these women with social and economic skills, WFWI works to transform individual lives and those in the communities the women reenter. The organization works in 14 conflict-stricken countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In 2016, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty launched a collection of 12 lipstick shades, and to commemorate the product launch, the company pledged to donate more than $1 million to WFWI. In 2018, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty also supported WFWI on Giving Tuesday by donating 15% of all sales to the organization.

Looking Ahead

Beauty brands that take a stand against global poverty can significantly alleviate the immediate and long-term effects of this global epidemic. By providing resources, education and support to those in need, such brands can help address the root causes of poverty and empower individuals and communities to improve their own economic situations.

Furthermore, these efforts can create a ripple effect, inspiring others to get involved and generating greater awareness and advocacy for this critical issue. Beauty brands contributing to poverty reduction provide hope for a brighter, more equitable future for all.

– Brooklynn Rich
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Gendered Poverty by Empowering Women

gendered poverty
Statistics prove that poverty affects women more than men as women make up the majority of the world’s poor. The social structures and barriers in many, if not all, countries are the reasons for this accelerated rate of poverty among women. These barriers include gender wage gaps, the lack of access to decent working conditions and opportunities, the amount of unpaid work women do in their communities and households and the fact that their workdays are longer. Many organizations recognize these issues and are taking a stand against gendered poverty by empowering women.

The Importance of Empowering Women

It is important to include everyone’s needs in the fight against poverty. However, because poverty impacts women at an exacerbated rate, their empowerment and advancement in society create statistically higher rates of economic growth in countries where women are a priority. Across developing nations, women make up 40% of all farmers, yet they own as little as 1% of the land. When the narrative changes and women can own just as much land as men, crop yields have the potential to grow up to 10%.

Similarly, women and girls attend school at a much lower rate than men and boys. With just 10% more girls attending school, a nation can see its GDP expanding by about 3%. When women secure an economic opportunity that brings in an income, they tend to reinvest their earnings into their families and community. This means higher education rates, lower hunger rates, healthier family models (fewer child mortality, fewer unwanted pregnancies) and increased local economic growth.

U.N. Women Fights Gendered Poverty

The United Nations is currently making great progress by spearheading and promoting many projects around the world that focus on women first to eradicate poverty. U.N. Women recognizes that zero poverty is not achievable without dissolving gender inequality and placing women at the center of development efforts.

U.N. Women initiatives have benefited more than 100,000 impoverished and disadvantaged women in 29 districts in India. As the result of one particular project, “more than 30,000 marginalized rural women now manage worksites and are able to ensure wages are paid and demand their rights under pension, social protection and livelihood programs,” the U.N. Women website says.

Chars Livelihoods Program (CLP)

The chars of Northwestern Bangladesh, or riverine islands, are susceptible to destruction through flooding and erosion. Many people living on these chars suffer from poverty and are vulnerable to losses of assets and livelihoods due to floods and erosion.

One program that put women at the center of its efforts is the Chars Livelihood Program (CLP), which ran in various phases from 2004 to 2016 through funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID). The program sought to help families rise out of poverty by giving women of households living in poverty investment capital, intellectual resources and economic courses and by educating communities on gender discrimination. These actions led to women investing in long-term, sustainable income-generating opportunities and familial betterment and saw women becoming more participatory in the community and taking control of their independence.

The first phase of the CLP (CLP-1) operated between 2004 and 2010 on the chars of the Jamuna River. CLP-1 aimed to assist 55,000 of the most impoverished families and is estimated to have positively benefited more than 900,000 individuals.

Moving Forward

When countries find solutions to address gendered poverty, leaders can then start to eradicate poverty at the source. By giving women economic opportunity, social space and personal autonomy and empowerment, countries open up the globe’s playing field to a marginalized group that plays a significant role in global economic growth.

– Alexandra Curry
Photo: Flickr

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The Vulnerabilities of Afro-Colombian Women

Afro-Colombian WomenAs a marginalized group, Afro-Colombian women are more vulnerable to experiencing racism, discrimination, violence and poverty. For decades, these issues have led to the disempowerment and marginalization of these women. Afro-Colombian women are especially vulnerable to experiencing human rights violations, particularly sexual violence, due to multiple forms of discrimination based on their race, gender and low social ranking. Government estimates indicate that “72% of the Afro-Colombian population is in the country’s two lowest socio-economic strata.”

Poverty and Inequalities Impacting Afro-Colombian Women

According to a 2020 report issued by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Afro-Colombians, in general, inordinately lack access to food, health care, education, economic opportunities and other resources necessary to escape poverty and live an improved quality of life. Factors including civil armed conflict and gender inequality have compounded with racism to exacerbate the injustices that Afro-Colombian women, specifically, face.

Between 1958 and 2015, Colombia’s ongoing conflict internally displaced more than 5.8 million people, with women accounting for about 58% of these displacements. Women, in general, not only face higher risks of displacement and poverty but also of abuse and exploitation. These risks increase among Afro-Colombian women and women belonging to other marginalized groups.

Colombia is one of the most monetarily unequal countries in the world and 19.6 million people in Colombia (about 39% of the population) lived in poverty at $6.85 or less per day in 2021. While the overall rate of poverty in Colombia has fluctuated throughout the years and the country has noted poverty declines, marginalized groups did not experience this relief and some faced an increase in poverty. Rural populations, which consist of many Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities, had an increase in poverty from 2020 to 2021 (42.9% to 44.6%) while an estimated 1.4 million people “working in urban services and commerce” rose out of poverty in 2021 due to Colombia’s economic recovery.

In 2015, approximately 41% of the Afro-Colombian population lived in poverty in comparison to 27% of non-Afro-Colombian or non-Indigenous Colombians.

Lack of Access to Resources and Services

Certain factors, such as gender and racial discrimination, contribute to a greater risk of poverty among Afro-Colombians and exacerbate existing conditions of poverty. The racism that Afro-Colombian women face impacts every aspect of their lives and keeps them from accessing resources that would place them in positions of economic and social advancement. Research shows that nations can raise their GDP by US$2.1 trillion annually by dissolving racial income gaps.

When speaking with the United Nations Rapporteur in 2001, groups of Afro-Colombian women stated that they had little access to many basic resources, such as work and income, as a result of racism.

“Groups of women in Quibdó, where 85% of the population is Afro-descendent, indicated that most of the population lives in extreme poverty. Quibdó is the locality with the least water supply coverage in the country, 81% of homes have no sewage, illiteracy is up to 19% and maternal mortality rates are high,” according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

This lack of accessibility that is caused by internal national racism leads to the perpetual disenfranchisement of this community and causes them to live in the most impoverished cities. For example, the Choco region of Colombia is the most impoverished area of the country and approximately 85% of its population is Afro-Colombian.

Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombian Empowerment Activity (IPACE)

Several organizations and activist movements work toward empowering and helping Afro-Colombian communities. Among these is the United States Agency for International Development through its most recent plan: Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombian Empowerment Activity (IPACE).

Beginning in 2011, USAID has worked closely with Colombia’s Afro-Colombian population to promote inclusion and empowerment. In December 2021, USAID implemented IPACE, which is a $60 million initiative that connects with locally-led organizations to further their goals and elevate their voices on the national scale. IPACE’s mission is to help implement and uphold the 2016 Peace Accord in Colombia, specifically focusing on peacebuilding and inclusivity.

IPACE also aims to sustainably help economic development by providing training and job placements, risk management through emergency preparedness and services and diversity and inclusion support through acknowledging ancestral practices and building awareness of cultural differences. What sets IPACE apart from other initiatives is the commitment to a locally-led approach through an alliance of 10 partner organizations, all of which are either indigenous or Afro-Colombian. These organizations help IPACE lead and make decisions that are in the best interest of these populations.

Looking Ahead

Afro-Colombian women face multiple vulnerabilities as a result of marginalization and discrimination, which keeps them stuck in the depths of impoverishment. The intersection of racism, poverty and violence creates a cycle of inequality that the government and organizations must address at the root. Fortunately, organizations such as USAID and other locally-led groups are committed to changing the narrative and upholding the rights of Afro-Colombian women.

– Kellyjohana Ahumada
Photo: Unsplash