Archive for category: Women’s Empowerment

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Bridging the Digital Gender Gap

Digital Gender GapAs the world becomes more technologically advanced and digitally connected, access to technology remains an issue, especially in developing countries. More so, the digital gap between women and men continues to expand, with 300 million fewer women than men using mobile internet, creating a 20% gap. The lack of access to digital devices for these women means being denied essential services including employment opportunities, financial resources, educational resources and medical information. There are several global initiatives trying to bridge the digital gender gap between women and men.

Safaricom

In Kenya, women are 39% less likely than men to have access to mobile internet despite women making up 51% of the Kenyan population. Safaricom, a mobile network in Kenya, therefore created a partnership with Google to offer an affordable smartphone, the Neon Kicka with Android GO, compromising 500 megabytes of free data for the first month. The mobile network believes that empowering a woman empowers an entire community and focuses on the following three barriers: affordability, relevance and digital skills. The company ensured that the price point was the lowest it could be and featured important content including access to health information and educational content to highlight the smartphone’s daily relevance for women. Safaricom recognizes that many women are not familiar with Gmail accounts and therefore developed a guide covering the basics of smartphone use.

Novissi

Togo, a country in West Africa currently run by its first female prime minister, launched a digital cash transfer program called Novissi. Its goal is to provide aid to informal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering residents of three urban areas under lockdown. Many underserved women tend to be excluded from COVID-19 relief digital cash transfer programs launched by governments since they either do not have access to digital bank accounts or are uninformed. Through Novissi, women receive a monthly sum of $20, whereas men receive $17, to support the cost of food, communication services, power and water. The three additional dollars allocated to women account for the fact that women are more likely to be informal workers and take care of a family’s nutritional needs.

Wave Money

In Myanmar, Wave Money has become the number one mobile financial service, with 89% of the country benefiting from its agents. Since Wave Money deals with 85% of rural areas in the country, money enters and leaves from nearly every state and facilitates familiarity with the service. The financial service created a partnership with GSMA Connected Women to allow greater access to financial services for women. Through this partnership, women are encouraged to run Wave Money shops in Myanmar, providing them with extra income even if they live in very remote areas of the country.

Telesom Simple KYC Account

It can be challenging for women to acquire the identity documents necessary to open accounts with service providers. In Somaliland, Telesom created a simplified know-your-customer (KYC) account, allowing women that do not possess an ID to sign up for mobile money services. The service solely requires a name, date of birth, image and contact details, favoring accessibility and reducing the digital gap between women and men.

Equal Access International Partnership with Local Radio Station

In Nigeria, women and girls are denied access to technology due to the fear of moral decline that accompanies the widespread culture. Equal Access International recognizes the need to address societal norms for women and amplify women and girls’ voices. In an effort to do so, Equal Access International partnered with a local radio station in order to create a show that tackled cultural taboos and promoted women and girls using digital technologies. The episodes last 30 minutes and cover weekly themes including common misconceptions about the internet, internet safety and moral arguments regarding women and the internet.

Closing the Digital Gender Gap

Despite a digital gender gap that exists between women and men, organizations around the world are making an effort to foster a sense of inclusion and empowerment for women and girls to become familiar and encouraged to take on the digital world that is constantly emerging.

– Sarah Frances
Photo: Flickr

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Gender Equality in Ethiopia Makes Headway

Gender Equality in Ethiopia
Ethiopia faces many struggles, but the land where coffee originates from has many accomplishments as well. The continuous gender equality progression in Ethiopia is one of them. Gender-based roles constitute a significant part of the Ethiopian culture. It is also the primary reason for many families’ extreme poverty. However, through policy reform and promoting women’s political participation, noteworthy change in bridging the gaps between women and men is visible.

Policy Reforms Encourage Gender Equality in Ethiopia

Thanks to two reforms, research suggests that gender equality in Ethiopia is progressing. One reform is the Family Code, which was revised in 2000 with new developments. The re-evaluated version of the Family Code states that women receive equal rights throughout the marriage. This pertains to the entire term of their marriage, the duration of the divorce and after the finalization of the divorce. The revisions also note that the individuals must equally split all assets. As a result, the report states that women were less likely to involve themselves in domestic work. Instead, women found more sustainable employment outside of the household, which encourages their independence.

The second reform is the community-based land registration initiated in 2003. Ethiopia’s population has strong gender norms that tend to favor men and subordinate women in power roles. Research results show that as women migrate from the north of Ethiopia to the southern region, they tend to lose societal and household status. Women also have their “bargaining power” revoked from them, which can relate to property rights and ownership. However, this reform emphasizes the implementation of property rights for married women by creating “joint certification.”

A significant sign of independence in Ethiopia is property. However, men typically have land ownership in marriages. This reform opposes this gender-based norm in Ethiopia and allows women to access economic and political opportunities. When women own land, it increases their chances of earning money and controlling their own lives. Rules set by their husbands no longer have to confine them. They are also less likely to be victims of domestic violence. Ethiopian women who own property are significantly less likely to experience domestic violence within their marriages than women who do not own property.

Women’s Political Participation Rises

Women currently make up 37% of congress in Ethiopia. Considering only 22% of women represented congress in 2010, there has been significant progress ever since. However, the Ethiopian government’s values and trustworthiness will remain in question until women account for at least 50% of the parliamentary seats.

The country also needs to make political careers more accessible to women. The “motherhood penalty” requires women to attend to constant family duties and responsibilities, such as breastfeeding and always being present for the children. Endless motherly duties can hinder women’s potential political careers due to the amount of time it takes up. This is especially true if a women’s marriage is based on strong religious beliefs. Certain religious beliefs in Ethiopia tend to prohibit women from acquiring independence and hinder women’s decision-making abilities.

DCA

In Ethiopia, society perceives women as individuals requiring leadership from others and not as individuals able to lead. However, recent years’ progression contradicts that idea. The organization DCA (Dan Church Aid) emphasizes the idea of women empowerment. It holds and spreads the belief that every woman deserves fundamental human rights “economically, socially and culturally.”

DCA was created in 1995 to promote gender equality in Ethiopia. Since then, the organization has helped more than 3.2 million people in the world’s most impoverished countries deprived of everyday opportunities. Due to the continuous contribution of DCA and recognition from Ethiopia’s government regarding the encouragement of gender equality, the women of Ethiopia can seek more political positions and close those gender gaps within communities.

– Montana Moore
Photo: Flickr

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Entrepreneurship: Initiatives Help Yemeni Women

Help Yemeni WomenOn top of the constant violence occurring in Yemen, almost 13% of the population face unemployment. Most women in Yemen work as homemakers, but a 2012 study, Measuring Women’s Status in Yemen, shows that almost one in two women (47%) would like to start their own business. Initiatives in Yemen offer women free business training, skills training and loans to help Yemeni women generate an income.

The Small and Micro Enterprises Promotion Service Agency (SMEPS)

SMEPS came to Yemen in 2005 and works to enhance the lives of Yemeni citizens through the creation of jobs and skills training. SMEPS has taught Yemeni women the best growing, harvesting and post-harvesting techniques for coffee beans. Yemeni women helped create a coffee that entered the gourmet market at a premium price. SMEPS also helped coffee farmers in Yemen. The aim was to create business resilience by expanding the production of farmers through improving the value chain by using modern technologies and better farming methods.

In 2010, SMEPS partnered with The International Labour Organization (ILO) to provide business training for women entrepreneurs. ILO came to Yemen in 1965 and has created opportunities for citizens to rise out of poverty. In one year, the workshops targeted around 500 Yemeni women who had taken out a loan to either start a small business or expand their existing businesses. The second phase of the program aims to reach 2,000 more women. Results indicate that after the training courses, the women had a higher level of business knowledge and competence to start or improve their own businesses. Overall, the women improved their quality of life with the income they earned.

SPARK’s Agri-Business Creation Programme (ABC)

SPARK came to Yemen around 2012 to assist citizens in agriculture, helping them earn an income from their crops. SPARK created a program called Agri-Business Creation (ABC) to help agri-entrepreneurs through training, mentoring and business plans. The program has notably assisted Yemeni women in developing agricultural businesses. Four female-run businesses were awarded microloans to expand their business after the training they received in business skills from SPARK’s ABC program. The loans help Yemeni women to generate more products and expand their businesses. Besides seeing an increase in income, the success of their work contributed to a boost in confidence and a sense of independence in the women.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

GIZ came to Yemen in 1965 and assisted citizens with basic necessities and the provision of educational opportunities. First, GIZ helped Yemeni women develop businesses. Nearly 200 women attended training on how to develop a successful business idea and how to establish a business. Many women found prosperity in their new businesses and employed other women to assist them in their work. Secondly, around 300 women with existing businesses received additional business training via coaching. After the training, many women tripled their income and hired more women to work for them. Lastly, GIZ created opportunities for homemakers to sell handmade goods overseas. GIZ took handmade baskets made by Yemeni women to Germany and showed off their goods in exhibitions. This strategy helped 300 women in rural areas earn a steady income.

Although the raging war in Yemen has resulted in high unemployment, organizations like SMEPS, SPARK and GIZ offer programs and strategies to help  Yemeni women earn an income by developing entrepreneurial businesses.

– Samantha Rodriguez-Silva
Photo: Flickr

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An Effort for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Women's Economic EmpowermentA staggering 2 billion impoverished people worldwide, particularly women, face financial and economic exclusion. Females are the most impoverished in the world and women earn on average only 60-75% of what men earn. Investing in women’s economic empowerment plays a crucial role in reducing poverty and establishing equality between men and women.

Gender Equality for Global Economic Advancement

The 2017 National Security Strategy states that societies that empower women in their civic and economic lives are more prosperous and peaceful. Studies show that gender equality contributes to advancing economies and sustainable development as well as overall poverty reduction.

CARE defines women’s economic empowerment as the process by which women increase their rights to economic resources and power to make decisions that benefit themselves, their families and their communities. It is the transformative process that helps females move from limited economic power to possessing skills, resources and opportunities to compete equitably in markets and control economic gains. Women’s economic empowerment involves transforming the historically-limiting laws, policies, practices and norms through change and advocacy.

Discrimination and exploitation disproportionately affect women. Women often end up in low-wage jobs and fill very few senior positions. Without secure employment, women lose access to economic assets, such as land and loans, which limits opportunities to participate in economic and social policies. Furthermore, many women are responsible for the majority of housework, which leaves little time to pursue employment or other economic opportunities. On average, women devote between one and three hours more a day to housework than men and two to 10 times the amount of time a day to child, elderly and sick care.

Additionally, laws in many countries determine what jobs women can do or give men the right to prevent their wives from accepting jobs.

Call to Action on Women’s Economic Empowerment

In October 2020, U.S. officials and 31 U.N. Member States virtually signed the Call to Action on Women’s Economic Empowerment, which encourages countries to address legal restrictions regarding women’s economic participation. Predictions are that if an equal number of men and women participate in the global economy, the gross domestic product (GDP) could increase by $12 trillion by 2025.

Improved financial security means women can afford health care, purchase essentials for their children and play a leadership role in their communities. Typically, women who decide where, when and how to spend their money see improvements in their social and economic status. Financially independent women also increase the level of resources devoted to their children.

Girl Power and the Future

There is strong evidence showing positive links between women’s economic empowerment and health outcomes for women and their families. This includes benefits in nutrition, better family planning and decreased maternal and child mortality. Other studies have found that increasing the share of income for women may provide greater investment in children’s education and result in reductions in gender-based violence. Overall, women’s economic empowerment benefits not just women but the entire world.

– Rachel Durling
Photo: Flickr

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Kuli Kuli Empowers Women Moringa Farmers

Kuli KuliKuli Kuli is a company that sells products made from the moringa tree, a superfood that is high in vitamins, antioxidants, plant proteins and anti-inflammatory properties, with twice the nutrient value of kale. The company’s products consist of energy bars, tea shots and a variety of powders and smoothie mixes.

Kuli Kuli: Identifying a Need

Lisa Curtis developed a heart for those living in extreme poverty while serving briefly as a regional youth coordinator for the United Nations. This led her to volunteer for the Peace Corps in 2010 at age 22, which sent her to work at a community clinic in rural Nigeria. While there, she was introduced to a locally-grown energy source, moringa, and was impressed by both its healing properties and nutritional punch. She quickly saw how a moringa market could address not only the malnutrition issues of the people and villages she worked with but also provide business opportunities for local farmers.

Empowering Women Farmers

Moringa has restorative powers for the human body but it turns out that it also has potential for sustainable economic growth. Kuli Kuli addresses these needs simultaneously by working with small but high-quality farmers and establishing supply chains to foster economic growth and nutritional security in West Africa. Notably, most of the farmers that the company works with are women. In 2020, the company sourced moringa from more than 2,400 farmers across 13 countries, with the largest group being African women. The company generated $5.2 million for these farmers and helped to plant and preserve more than 24,600,000 moringa trees.

Not only does the company help these farms to scale up their businesses but it also provides training to increase the quality of their products and local use of the plant. Moringa is invaluable for farmers. It requires little water, provides restorative properties for the soil and overall is fairly easy to grow, especially in rural regions where the soil is untainted by industrial areas. The company founder’s ambitious vision seeks to eliminate gender inequality, income inequality, global malnutrition and extreme poverty.

Creating a New Market in Moringa

Since its launch in 2014, Kuli Kuli has dominated the market on moringa products. Though moringa grows naturally in parts of Asia, Africa and South America, the company was the first to introduce the superfood to the United States’ wellness market. By 2020, the company was selling products in 11,000 stores nationwide. According to Curtis, the company has averaged 100% growth every year. Some years do even better, as demonstrated by 2017’s Series A financing, which tripled its retail business, and 2019’s $5 million Series B financing deal with Griffith Foods and Kellogg. With this most recent investment, Kuli Kuli plans to expand into moringa ingredient products. Certainly, Griffith Foods’ 30-country chain is quite a catch for the young wellness startup.

Kuli Kuli’s success demonstrates the power of developing new markets in developing countries that expand into developed ones. Not only is the company empowering rural farmers and fighting malnutrition and extreme poverty in developing countries but moringa products are fast climbing the list of top green wellness supplements in the United States. By noticing this virtually untapped international market and being quick to capitalize on it, the company found itself supplying more than half of the U.S. retail moringa market by 2020, a mere six years after its startup.

– Andria Pressel
Photo: Flickr

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New Policies to Protect Women and Girls in Albania

New Policies to Protect Women and Girls in AlbaniaSince 2018, Albanian law has changed in ways that are finally giving women and girls more protection against violence. To respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic, various NGOs and the Albanian government have adapted once again to help survivors and victims. Here is how new policies in Albania are protecting women and girls.

5 Legislation Changes to Protect Women and Girls in Albania

  1. Law on Measures Against Violence in Family Relations: In 2018, important changes were made to the Law on Measures against Violence in Family Relations in Albania’s legal code. The most important changes involve how local law enforcement and courts should respond to reports of domestic violence. Police officers now must perform risk assessments after identification of the victim, report the domestic violence cases and issue preliminary protective orders. These preliminary protective orders allow the police to remove the perpetrator of violence from the residence before the court has issued an actual protection order. These new police obligations offer survivors more immediate help, instead of having to wait for the courts to react. Another important change in this law is the prohibition of the reconciliation procedure in court. This policy helps protect women and girls in Albania.
  2. Women’s Shelters During the Pandemic: On April 10, 2020, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection created a protocol that ensured women’s shelters in Albania would function undisrupted among the COVID-19 pandemic. This protocol designated the shelters for domestic violence protection as essential services, which means they must remain open and welcome any new survivors that come in. This is extremely important as the outbreak of the virus has increased the number of reports of domestic violence and violence against women in Albania. Shelters did not remain open and were not accepting women in need of help before the new protocol.
  3. NGO Services in Albania: One NGO in Albania, the Woman Forum Elbasan (WFE), is working extremely hard to adapt to the needs of women during the pandemic. WFE provides free services to survivors of violence, including social, psychological and legal help. WFE also works with police and health professionals in several municipalities of the Elbasan area of Albania to improve the help given to women by local institutions. A grant from the U.N. Trust Fund to End Violence against Women funds WFE. During the pandemic, WFE performed almost 300 virtual counseling sessions to survivors in just March and April. Virtual counseling and hotlines are one way that WFE adapted to COVID-19 restrictions, they also use social media to raise awareness about safety measures and protective equipment needed. WFE also operates emergency shelters for victims of violence that is kept clean and disinfected for anyone needing their services.
  4. Institutional Monitoring: Since 2018, the Monitoring Network Against Gender-Based Violence is lobbying, advocating and monitoring the legal and policy framework on ending violence against women in Albania. Established by UN Women, this network is now made up of 48 different organizations. Since being established, they have given numerous recommendations for changes to the Law on Social Housing, Law on Free Legal Aid and the Law on Measures against Violence in Family Relations. These institutions play a crucial role in acting as a voice for Albanian women to the government, police and court systems. The Monitoring Network works to protect and help the situation of women, which is not often on the forefront of the political or social agenda.
  5. Improved Data on Violence against Women: Albania’s latest survey on violence against women and girls, taken in 2018, engaged with service-providers, local governments and civil society organizations to create the most accurate dataset possible. This was the first time widespread consultations on the survey took place. To share the results of the survey, government ministries, municipalities, police forces and other organizations attended workshops on how to understand and use the new information. These workshops helped raise awareness of this significant issue. This new survey is especially important because most police and government surveys about violence against women produced a much lower amount of instances. The survey has also been used as evidence to promote new policies and laws on protecting women in Albania.

Although women and girls in Albania are still experiencing and at risk of facing domestic violence, these recent changes have given more resources to survivors and victims. The Albanian legal code and policies have also shifted to protect more women and girls in Albania, from written laws to the new socio-economic environment forced by COVID-19.

– Claire Brady
Photo: Flickr 

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Examining Women’s Rights in Guatemala

Examining Women’s Rights in GuatemalaA small country located within Central America, south of Mexico, Guatemala has one of the highest rates of femicide globally. At least two women are murdered every day. Femicide is a threat against women’s rights in Guatemala, where femicide results in the killing of women for the sole reason that the person is female. Guatemalan women experience physical, psychological and economic violence. Additionally, indigenous Guatemalan women experience dramatically higher rates of poverty, illiteracy and racial discrimination.

History of Women’s Rights in Guatemala

The history of women’s rights in Guatemala plays a large part in its legacy. Much of the violence against women occurring now stems from the violence committed during the nation’s 36-year civil war, which officially ended in 1996. Violence against women was used as a counterrevolutionary tactic, where routine rape was commonplace. Today, violence against women is just as commonplace within Guatemalan society.

Yet, not much is being done to protect women and women’s rights in Guatemala. With women representing 51.2% of its 15.8 million population in 2014, women’s rights in Guatemala is especially important. As it is, 99% of femicide cases are unprosecuted, further perpetuating violence against women. Guatemala made waves in 1982 when it ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). However, Guatemala has failed to promote this.

In 2008, Guatemala passed a law, establishing special tribunals and sentencing guidelines for violence against women. However, violence against women continues as well as flawed investigations, enabling to perpetrators and victims alike that women’s lives do not matter.

“Justice only exists in the law. Not in reality,” says Lubia Sasvin Pérez in an interview with New York Times.

Yet, there are efforts being made to protect women’s rights in Guatemala.

Initiatives Supporting Women’s Rights

Inspired by the United States’ movements like Me Too, Guatemalan women are organizing and demanding their rights. The U.N. Women Guatemala’s Program has aligned itself with the U.N. Women’s Global Strategic Plan 2014-2017, UNDAF Guatemala 2015-2019 and the legal and public policy framework for Guatemala to guarantee women’s rights.

The program aims to guarantee women’s rights by empowerment, specifically social mobilization and advocacy to ensure women achieve their full potential, in which women are able to take part in the economy through work and in decision-making processes. Another platform, USAID, aims to empower women through civic participation and improving access to economic opportunities, quality education, health services and justice.

There is still much to be done for gender equality in Guatemala. The government must come to understand women’s rights in Guatemala and must push to find the resources necessary to promote the alleviation of violence against women. There is a growing movement to provide justice and security for women in Guatemala; however, resources and support are needed to end femicide and promote women’s empowerment.

– Danielle Lindenbaum
Photo: Flickr

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Fighting Poverty With Soap Operas

soap operasGlobally, it is estimated that at least 150 million people, or 2% of the world’s population, are homeless, with another 1.6 billion people, or more than 20% of the world’s population, lacking adequate housing. However, at the end of 2018, 51.2% of people worldwide and 45% in developing countries used the internet. Almost 60% of households had internet access in their homes in 2018, which is up from less than 20% in 2005, and broadband access continues to grow with a penetration rate of 69.3 per 100 participants. A report by the International Telecommunication Union found that almost 80% of households had a TV by the end of 2012. This percentage is 69% in developing countries, while “virtually all” households in the developed world have TVs. More than two-thirds of households with TVs took digital signals in sub-Saharan Africa in 2016, and estimates report that TV penetration will reach 99% in 35 forecast countries by 2021. Especially in impoverished areas, soap operas available on television help people stay up-to-date with current events and employment opportunities while providing educational content that, rather surprisingly, helps people escape poverty.

Soap Operas Aid Impoverished Turkish Women

In a study by Ozgun, Yurdakul and Atik, researchers found that soap operas affect the self-perception of young women in the impoverished neighborhoods of Izmir, Turkey. The study found that the women viewed these soap operas as tools of information gathering without the emotional burden of heavier news. The study suggests that soap operas become women’s primary connection with the outside world, exposing them to consumer culture and marketing, which are useful skills to have when entering the workforce.

More profoundly, these women were often able to connect on a cathartic level with the characters in these soap operas who endured the same economic struggles but eventually could escape poverty. Some women noted that the soap operas reminded them of their difficult pasts, which prompted them to “review and assess” their current life conditions and deal with daily problems. The shows also revealed to the women what they lacked in life, whether it be a job or power, and exposed them to the affluent “other life.” This led some to feel dissatisfaction with their living conditions, prompting them to come up with solutions to improve their lives.

However, the study also reveals that while soap operas empower some women, they can also exacerbate poverty even more — some women try to mimic the lavish lifestyles of characters without the finances to do so. Thus, the authors suggest that it may be more impactful for television networks to showcase culturally accessible public programming with more informative, advice-filled narrative content to better reduce poverty.

Combating Poverty Through “Edutainment”

Similar to the suggestions of Ozgun et al., Bilal Zia and Gunhild Berg experimented with “edutainment,” or entertainment with an educational aspect, by working together with the production company of “Scandal!,” a popular South African soap opera, to incorporate financial education messages throughout the plot. Because making financial decisions can be challenging for impoverished populations that lack education in finance, “Scandal!” hoped to help viewers develop better spending habits through a subplot about debt and gambling.

Zia and Berg ran a study in which one group of people would watch this soap opera while a control group watched another show. The researchers found that viewers of “Scandal!” showed significant improvements in financial knowledge and behavior. Viewers of “Scandal!” started to borrow from others less and reduce unnecessary expenditures like gambling. Viewers reportedly connected with the main character of the show, and ultimately, made more economically-wise life decisions that could in the future help them escape poverty.

Fighting HIV with Soap Operas

In addition to increasing financial literacy, soap operas can also improve health and medical awareness among impoverished populations. A study in Nigeria found that people who watched the soap opera “MTV Shuga” were twice as likely to get tested for HIV and were overall more knowledgeable about HIV transmission. The show, which has been broadcasted in more than 70 countries, focuses on an impoverished woman and her HIV-positive lover as she navigates the complex reality of HIV’s impact on daily life.

The show, which is supported by organizations like UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, raises awareness of the dangers of risky sexual behavior, especially in regions like sub-Saharan Africa, which has approximately 1.5 million new HIV/AIDS cases each year. In addition to HIV testing, “MTV Shuga” also contributed to a reduction of chlamydia infections by 58% and a reduction of concurrent sex partners by 14%. The study reveals that edutainment like “MTV Shuga” is more influential and cost-effective than more traditional educational campaigns as it keeps people both entertained and informed.

Lowering Fertility Rates Through Soap Operas

A 2012 study by La Ferrara, Chong and Duryea explored the impacts of telenovelas, or Brazilian soap operas, on fertility rates in Brazil. A year after Rede Globo, the main telenovela broadcaster in Brazil, became available in municipalities across the country, the researchers found that fertility rates sharply declined. This effect was strongest for women of low socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom lack proper education regarding safe sex and childbirth.

Among the telenovelas analyzed, 62.2% of main female protagonists did not have any children while 19.8% only had one child. Data reveals that telenovelas contributed to the decline in the number of live births, particularly among women aged 30-34 from around 4.4 to around 3.2. The study concludes that these soap operas help mothers make more educated decisions surrounding raising a family, which could lead mothers to seek future employment or save monetary resources for child education.

– Noah Sheidlower
Photo: Flickr

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3 Organizations Ending Period Poverty in Guatemala

3 Organizations Working to End Period Poverty in GuatemalaPeriod poverty in Guatemala weighs heavily on the country’s women and girls. The lack of access to hygiene management education and proper sanitation tools forces young girls out of school for days at a time. As young girls grow up in Guatemala, they are met with a challenge. Specifically, their menstruation cycle. Not only is this a milestone in their personal lives but also a limitation. The lack of access to necessary feminine products forces girls to stay home for days. However, as technology evolves and resources are found, many organizations are working to end period poverty in Guatemala and beyond.

Days For Girls

Days For Girls commits the scope of its work to support young women throughout their lives. The organization begins this process by providing a Days For Girls Kit, education on proper self-care, training and general support for girls. Additionally, the group spreads awareness through global partnerships, mobilizing volunteer networks and working toward normalizing menstruation.

The DFG Kit consists of many necessary items for a woman’s period. All the products are reusable, easily washable and durable. In fact, users say the items can last up to three years. These kits have been made to use a small amount of water, dry quickly and keep women comfortable while going about their daily lives. Furthermore, Days For Girl also handmakes the kits and the bags they come in, giving them a touch of beauty and personality.

The impact of this organization is felt by many. Thus far, Days For Girls has touched the lives of more than 1.7 million females. The organization’s reach is spread across more than 140 countries, with more than a thousand teams and chapters. The organization also has a main office stationed in Guatemala, focused on growing the team and production.

GRACE Project (Guatemalan Rural Adult and Children’s Education)

The GRACE Project is a collaboration of groups in Southwest Florida. The project aims to educate, train and help employ the local Guatemalan women as well as women in Guatemala. The organization develops and performs workshops and home visits in which educational materials on reproductive health and local resources are provided.

In addition to education, the GRACE Project creates handmade menstruation kits. All the products are reusable, washable, and long-lasting. Included in the kit are fertility bracelets with instructions, hields for any leakage, flannel cotton pads, soap, a gallon bag for washing use and underwear.

The hard work of these volunteers speaks for itself. In the past year, 500 of the kits were given to women all over Guatemala. Along with these, the organization has also passed out 800 Reproductive Health Kits within Central America. The fertility bracelet included in the kit is especially empowering for women as it gives them the protection they need. Moreover, the bracelet is 85% effective as a life long contraception. The GRACE Project continues to grow production and delivery methods through workshops in Guatemala.

SERniña

Founder Danielle Skogen, a teacher, lived in Guatemala for three years. While teaching she began to notice a pattern. She found a need for health and sanitation education, in particular among the girls. Often, Skogen would watch girls drop out of school due to a lack of access to proper sanitary items and a lack of support from their community. Thus, she developed SERniña as an educational support program.

The SERniña program works with already established educational organizations to educate young women and help end period poverty in Guatemala. The organization teaches a range of topics such as:

  • Understanding Your Human Rights
  • Sexual & Menstrual Health
  • Financial Literacy
  • Goal-setting

In the workshops, teachers empower young women to be confident and take care of their self-care needs. All of the organization’s lessons are taught by trained local women who are certified staff for SERniña. Ultimately, the program allows for conversations and participation in a safe space with specific lessons focused on self-advocacy, self-care and overall self-love. As a result, the program has delivered more than 400 hours of workshops to 180 girls and counting.

The efforts of these three organizations play an important role in ending period poverty in Guatemala. Education, access to resources and support are needed to help young women develop higher standards of living as ending period poverty will result in more girls staying in school. As the work to end period poverty in Guatemala continues, the government and non-profit organizations must help support local organizations like Days for Girls, the GRACE project and SERniña.

– Sallie Blackmon
Photo: Flickr

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What to Know About Women’s Rights in Sweden

women's rights in SwedenWith the 20th largest GDP per capita in the world, the affluent Scandinavian nation of Sweden is often seen as the quintessential nation for equality and liberalism. With its strong history of leading reforms promoting social welfare in Sweden, the country ranks first in Sustainable Development Goal progress out of the entirety of U.N. Member States. Of these reforms, many work to increase women’s rights in Sweden with a focus on ending the gender disparities visible in many other Western nations.

Reforms in Sweden Ending Gender Disparities

Sweden has been championing gender equality for centuries. In one of the earliest known cases in Europe, the Swedish government granted women in Sweden suffrage in local elections in 1718. In 1842, girls could attend schools typically restricted to males only. Then, in 1919, women gained full voting rights in a movement led by suffragist Elin Wägner. Reforms would continue throughout the 20th century with the legalization of birth control and abortions in 1938, the passing of legislation for mandatory three months of paid maternity leave in 1955 and the abolition of joint taxation in 1971.

Most recently, the Swedish government outlawed gender discrimination in the workplace in 1980. Sweden further expanded on these laws through the passing of the Swedish Discrimination Act in 2009 and its expansion in 2017 that added protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities and religious minorities.

Female Representation in Government

Because of the centuries of reform, the advancement of women’s rights in Sweden is visible even at the highest levels of government. As of 2019, women make up 46% of the Swedish parliament and 50% of the cabinet, including the position of minister of gender equality that Åsa Lindhagen holds.

In comparison, women account for 23.7% of today’s United States House of Representatives out of a total of 537 seats. Women also make up only 20.8% of President Donald Trump’s 24-member cabinet.

Sweden’s almost even distribution between male and female government officials represents the sheer advancement of women’s rights in Sweden. In fact, Sweden now considers feminism part of the official government policy rather than just a social movement with gender equality being “central to the government’s priority,” according to a government statement.

Continuing Gender Wage Gap

However, despite these reforms, the gender wage gap, like in many other developed nations, still persists. In a 2018 study by the European Union on the gender pay gap in EU countries, data indicated that women earn 12.2% less income than men in Sweden for jobs of the same nature.

While this pay gap is significantly lower than the United States’ 18% or the European Union average of 14.8%, it is also significantly higher than the 5% wage gap in Italy and Luxembourg.

Many experts describe the presence of a wage gap in gender-equal countries as a paradox. It is unknown why this phenomenon occurs when the Swedish government takes many measures to assure women’s rights in Sweden, but experts assume that culture around gender norms and roles plays a part.

Sweden’s historic reforms and the committed government have led the nation to become one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. Mandating paid maternity leave, legalizing birth control and abortions and increasing women’s representation in parliament all contribute to this success. However, Sweden still struggles to close the wage gap between males and females even amid the ever-evolving policy promoting women’s rights in Sweden but is, nonetheless, still making strides in gender equality.

– Aidan Sun
Photo: Flickr