Archive for category: Women’s Empowerment

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4 Facts About the Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect

The Nike Foundation’s Girl EffectAround the world, many young girls are without access to basic health and educational resources. Research has shown that gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives are key to alleviating global poverty. Over the years, organizations have developed across the globe committed to providing such resources in order to improve the quality of life for millions. One of those organizations is The Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect. This organization is a creative nonprofit working where girls are marginalized and vulnerable.

4 Facts About Girl Effect

1. Girl Effect has been in operation for 12 years. The Nike Foundation launched Girl Effect in 2008 at the World Economic Forum. According to its website, “The Girl Effect is about the unique potential of adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves and the world.” Nike designed the organization to inspire the most influential leaders in the world to get girls in vulnerable nations on the global development agenda and help increase the drive of resources to them. Girl Effect also aims to create media resources for girls around the world in order to increase their access to resources surrounding education and healthcare. Through partnerships with prominent organizations and creating branded media content, Girl Effect has provided millions of girls access to life-saving information.

2. It uses media and the internet to reach girls in developing nations. Girl Effect creates branded media for girls around the world that helps to “navigate the pivotal time of adolescence so they can make positive choices about their health, education and economic future.” Girl Effect currently operates seven different digital programs to reach girls around the world; Chhaa Jaa, Ni Nyampinga, Springster, TEGA, Tujibebe, Yegna and Zathu. The Chhaa Jaa program, which means “go forth and shine” in Hindi, is a “digital-first youth brand that inspires, informs and equips girls in India with the right skills and confidence to navigate adolescence.” These resources include helping girls access information about sexual and reproductive health, how to negotiate with parents about their choices for continuing their education, and how to prepare for their first job. Tujibebe is a program that was born from Tanzanian culture and is a mobile-based brand focused on helping provide adolescent girls with information and resources they need to make positive choices about their future. This includes how to finish their education and setting up their own small business.

3. It partners with numerous organizations to share its message. Girl Effect has worked with organizations from a variety of industries, from nonprofits to social media networks, to help effectively spread its message to girls across the world. One of the largest nonprofit organizations that it partners with is UNICEF. Together the organizations support and promote the Ni Nyampinga program in Rwanda. Through this partnership, UNICEF and Girl Effect have been able to make Ni Nyampinga a nation-wide movement with 80% of the population of Rwanda aware of it, which is almost 6.6 million Rwandans. Another prominent partner of the organization is Facebook. Through the use of Facebook’s Free Basics platform, which provides people with full access to services on their mobile phones, Girl Effect is able to promote its Springster program on a worldwide scale. Through this partnership, Facebook and Girl Effect have been able to reach over 12 million users in the past year alone. The program is available in over 50 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, the Philippines and Indonesia. A few additional Girl Effect partners include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi and Mastercard Foundation.

4.  The Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect made great strides reaching developing countries. Since its introduction in 2008, Girl Effect has been able to reach millions of girls in developing nations to provide education and resources. In India and South Africa, its online chatbots have responded to over 1.2 million messages asking for advice on sex and healthy relationships. It has helped connect over 15,000 girls in India with efficient sexual and reproductive health information and services online. In Malawi, girls who read Girl Effect magazine are 32% more likely than non-readers to go to a medical provider and receive their first dose of HPV medication. In Indonesia, those who have seen Girl Effect’s digital nutrition campaign are 32% more likely to make healthier food choices than those who did not view it.

Girl Effect Closes the Gender Gap

Since its beginning, The Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect has helped to create media for girls around the world to provide resources on how to improve their education, healthcare and well-being. For years, the world has struggled to include girls in the many advances that have been made in healthcare and education. However, organizations like Girl Effect help to close this gap.

– Sara Holm
Photo: Flickr

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Kudumbashree: Creating a Future for Indian Women

Future for Indian WomenIn 1997, a Kerala state project, recognizing the significance of channeling a significant, often underutilized demographic, began Kudumbashree, a widespread and comprehensive program that seeks to vastly reduce poverty and empower women at the same time. In a state of about 35 million people, Kudumbashree set out on a path to establish local, self-functioning levels of organization that could bring women together, provide access to resources regardless of education, economic status or caste and connect a willing workforce to new and old professional options, opening the future for Indian women across entire regions. In Malayalam, the local language of Kerala, Kudumbashree comprises two unique words, that when combined, translate to “prosperity of the family.” The structure, scale and significance of an enterprise like this is widespread and compelling, not just for one state in India but for an entire country and global community.

Kudumbashree: History and Goals

Kudumbashree is more than just one specific government program; rather, it is also a particular umbrella for cooperating efforts that fall under the jurisdiction of a unifying task force proposition known as the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM). Kudumbashree and SPEM are interchangeable and the second has largely evolved into the first. By one definition, Kudumbashree is a charitable society; by another, it is a facilitator for work. All these descriptions are because of the fundamental and indispensable goal of a budding institution that secures a future for Indian women and their families. Though it may be ambitious and certainly easier said than done, Kudumbashree unabashedly seeks to “eradicate absolute poverty from the State over a period of 10 years.” Even if this goal has not been met yet, a significant amount of resources, community structures and cooperative dynamics have been put into place that brings Kerala closer to success every year.

Programs, Practices and Plans

A little less than half a century ago, Kerala’s poverty levels were at 59.74%. As of 2011 to 2012, that percentage dropped to 11.3%, less than half the national average. A wide range of factors led to this drastic and fortuitous decline and focused public attention and effort have been key among them.

Kudumbashree utilizes the role of the public in a particularly localized, community-centered way, as evidenced by the principal three-tier system the program uses. The three levels in the framework, in order of smallest to largest in terms of local duties, are “Neighborhood Groups,” “Area Development Societies,” and “Community Development Societies.” These hierarchies build upon each other and provide for different prioritizations of tasks.

For instance, Neighborhood Groups are small units with typically less than 30 women members. They meet frequently and are essential in the disbursement of microloans, which the members often save and distribute among themselves. At district-spanning Community Development Societies, more administrative concerns are paramount, such as directing state-financed aid or liaising with governmental bodies. A future for Indian women among Kudumbashree means support and access, not only from the local bodies but from fellow female members of their community.

The Future for Kerala’s Women

At over four and a half million Neighborhood Group members, Kudumbashree spans villages, towns and cities, but more importantly, with every notable award and new business enterprise, it raises greater national awareness. With agribusiness ventures alone, Kudumbashree boasts 778 units serving communities and expanding constantly. The future for Indian women is diverse and full of opportunity, and thanks to initiatives like Kudumbashree, the future is locally-led and integrally focused on the capacities of all people, regardless of gender.

– Alan Mathew
Photo: Flickr

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Cafe Femenino Foundation Empowers Women

Cafe Femenino FoundationEstimates place women’s involvement in coffee production at as high as 70% of all the labor, making women an integral part of the coffee industry. However, women face high levels of gender discrimination within the industry in terms of access to “land, credit and information”, resulting in lower incomes and crop yields when compared to men. The Cafe Femenino Foundation looks to change this.

Cafe Femenino Foundation

Noticing the inequity, Garth and Gay Smith founded the Cafe Femenino Foundation in 2004 to empower women working in the coffee industry. The nonprofit organization provides grants to women’s coffee collectives in nine countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Sumatra. The grants can be used for a vast range of initiatives including food security, income diversification and health, to empower women socially, politically and economically.

Food Security Initiatives

Cafe Femenino Foundation provides grants to combat food insecurity in multiple countries’ coffee-growing regions, which also helps women earn extra income. In Peru, training sessions teach women how to preserve fruits to prevent spoiling and extend the period during which they can be eaten. Preserved fruit can also be sold at markets when the supply of fresh fruit is diminished, allowing the women to sell for higher prices. Women who participated in the training sessions went home with 10 cans of each fruit they preserved, which is credited with helping lower rates of child malnutrition in the regions.

Similarly, in the Dominican Republic, Cafe Femenino Foundation grants supported women’s coffee collectives to start growing passionfruit and breed both cows and goats. Passionfruit is used in many foods and drinks, making it popular among the women themselves and at the markets. Since 2009, more than 200 women and their family members have benefitted from access to passionfruit. The goat and cow breeding initiatives provide women with milk and meat to feed their families and to sell for additional income. As of 2013, almost 30 women participated in the animal breeding programs.

Health Initiatives

In Colombia, grants have been given by Cafe Femenino Foundation to the COSURCA coffee cooperative to improve women’s health through kitchen remodeling. Since kitchens are traditionally women’s spaces, they are often not remodeled and are constructed of poor materials with dirt floors. The kitchens of 18 women have been remodeled as of 2013 to include outdoor ventilation that prevents smoke inhalation and running water to improve cleanliness and hygiene.

Cafe Femenino Foundation has provided similar grants in Peru to improve health conditions by improving stoves. The new stoves decrease smoke inhalation and respiratory illnesses that occur as a result.

Women’s Empowerment Initiatives

Also in Peru, Cafe Femenino Foundation grants have supported the building of community safe spaces, called Casa Cafe Femenino, for women in multiple coffee-growing communities. These spaces provide women with opportunities to meet and talk in places that are not “borrowed from the men”, promoting women’s independence and agency. Casa Cafe Femeninos are also able to act as temporary shelters for women facing domestic violence. As of 2013, these spaces benefitted more than 800 women from two coffee collectives.

Cafe Femenino Foundation also supports the education of women. In Peru, the nonprofit helped five women complete training to be promoted to the role of internal coffee inspector, giving these women more power within the coffee industry. In the early years of the nonprofit, a grant provided scholarships for 600 girls, all of who were the daughters of coffee producers, to attend school.

Equality in the Coffee Industry

The coffee industry is made up largely of women yet these women face gender discrimination and inequality. Cafe Femenino Foundation strives to eliminate the gender gap in coffee production by providing grants to women’s coffee collectives in a range of areas, including food security, health and women’s empowerment based on the needs of the women. The projects, while benefitting the women, also help to teach leadership and problem-solving skills through a democratic process of distribution, furthering women’s empowerment.

– Sydney Leiter
Photo: pixabay

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Exploring Land Rights for Women in Kenya

land rights for womenThe Kenyan Constitution states that men and women are equal under the law. Despite the new legislation, women in Kenya still face discrimination for exercising their rights to own land with their name on it rather than their husbands’ name.

Women’s Land Rights in Kenya

Property and land rights for women recently expanded in Kenya, particularly for married women, a group denied land ownership in the past. Passed in 2013, the Matrimonial Property Act states that marriage between a man and a woman rests on a foundation of equality. It recognizes spouses as equal property owners and protects women’s rights to land ownership during marriage, divorce and separation.

The Act follows the repeal of previous gender-discriminatory laws, anointing a new progressive path for the country. Before the Act’s enactment, Kenya’s government enforced the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, a piece of legislation leftover from the era of British colonization, explained Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) Faith Alubbe in an interview with The Borgen Project. KLA is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that advocates for equal land access in Kenya.

“For women, land ownership is very important for them to be able to feed their families, for them to be able to access or use land and to control it,” said Alubbe. “As it is right now, most women only access and use land. They rarely control and own it.”

Today, nearly a decade after the Act’s passage, only 10.3% of Kenyan women own land title deeds, according to statistics from KLA. Even with the implementation of this new law, varied customs and traditions that bar women from land ownership exist throughout Kenya’s 47 counties. Without complete and clear access to land titles, the disproportionate impact of homelessness and poverty on Kenyan women could worsen.

Land Advocacy for Kenyan Women

“How come women work on land a lot, use the resources, but they never own or control it?” This was the question Alubbe asked herself that propelled her deeper into land advocacy. Alubbe’s work in human rights and land justice in Kenya stretches back to 2006 when she worked for the Kenya Human Rights Commission, an NGO that promotes democratic change, and for the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-K), an NGO that extends free legal representation to women in Kenya.

From KLA’s efforts partnered with its network of 50 organizations, Alubbe informs Kenyan communities about their rights and helps individuals secure proper land title documentation to actualize land justice in Kenya and throughout East Africa. While Alubbe worked for FIDA-K, she was a member of the team that pushed for the passage of the 2013 Matrimonial Property Act.

Despite the Act’s intentions of creating greater land equality, as noted in a report by the Human Rights Watch in coordination with FIDA-K, it falls short of total enforcement. The Act does not recognize couples who are unofficially married although many Kenyan couples are not legally registered in their counties, disbarring them from protection under the law.

Justice System vs. Patriarchal Custom

Alubbe also believes the act has only been partly successful. Women rarely exit the court system empty-handed, but getting couples to trial, an expensive and often lengthy process, stands in the way of land justice for women. The financial hardships of covering court fees and paying lawyers can be enough to stop a woman from trying her case in the court system.

“With the precedents that are coming out of court, [the Matrimonial Property Act] has not been as successful as we had hoped it to be because [of] gray areas and a lot of discretion,” said Alubbe.

These “gray areas” could pertain to patriarchal traditions, customary laws and alternative justice systems found in countries that govern Kenyan communities, explained Alubbe. Customary laws, laws that oftentimes discriminate against land ownership for women, control more than 65% of the land in Kenya, according to HRW.

Rather than turning to the justice system, married couples in rural areas undergoing divorce will instead meet with community elders and chiefs for an efficient and affordable alternative. But, outside of court systems, customary laws that insist women have no entitlement to matrimonial property prevail, potentially leaving women with only their personal belongings and no roof over their heads.

“Those at the community level prefer [alternative justice systems] because it’s accessible and affordable. Though it can be very patriarchal, and since it’s not very regulated, it might also defeat justice,” said Alubbe.

According to customary laws in the Kilifi and Kakamega Kenyan counties, land titles are attributed solely to a woman’s husband or owned by his family. Any acquisitions or improvements to a couple’s property, regardless if they are made by the wife, do not belong to her. Although 96% of rural Kenyan women are responsible for farming, Oxfam reports, their contributions to the land are theirs only to sow not to reap for personal benefit.

If she can manage the costs, under the Matrimonial Property Act, she must also present proof of monetary or non-monetary contributions to her matrimonial property. But, what classifies as substantial evidence is not clearly outlined under the law, explained HRW. Unpaid care work, labor women are predominantly responsible for, can make or break a woman’s case, but it is also dependent on the judge’s interpretation of proof.

Consequences of Patriarchal Land Ownership

Due to ambiguities in legislation and customs that trump a woman’s ownership of land, less than 2% of land in Kenya is owned by women. These gaps in land title enforcement fail to protect women’s rights, intensifying the number of women who face the threat of eviction and poverty.

Separated, divorced and widowed women risk losing their homes to their husbands or their husbands’ families under customary laws. The Kilifi and Kakamega counties, where men are the majority landowners, also possess two of the highest divorce and separation rates in Kenya.

When women in Kenya are disbarred from owning land, which is a significant generator of income, they struggle to access other resources, including credit and agricultural crops. Alubbe adds that without disposable income or secure credit, education for women’s children falls through the cracks and malnutrition becomes a stark reality for families.

“Because land is the primary factor of production in Kenya, without land, then the level of poverty is quite high for women,” said Alubbe. Breaking down poverty by gender, Kenyan women are more likely to fall into poverty than men. For single, divorced and widowed women, this is especially true. Nearly 31% of divorced women fall into poverty while 38% of widowers fall into poverty, according to the World Bank.

Looking Ahead

Women in Kenya depend on land they can call their own. The law says women can finally own land — a crucial acknowledgment of Kenyan women’s contributions to their communities. This issue of land ownership extends beyond Kenya’s borders, though. According to the World Bank, only 30% of the world’s population has land titles today. Throughout rural sub-Saharan Africa, only 10% of the population has land titles.

Yet, Alubbe is personally working to expand access to land titles. This September, she personally drove herself to Kenya’s counties to train community members and assist with land registration and land rights for women in Kenya. After stopping in Laikipia, she noted that registration was going well and her key focus is for women to be part of the registration process.

“We are very hopeful because more women are gaining more knowledge,” said Alubbe. “Women themselves are being more sensitized and aware that to be involved, [they] should own land.”

– Grace Mayer
Photo: Flickr

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How Tapestry Weaving Empowered Women in Chile

tapestry weavingIn Chile, from 1973 to 1990, systemic human rights violations swept the nation under General Augusto Pinochet, including acts of physical and sexual abuse as well as psychological damage. Consequently, many progressive young students and men “disappeared” at the hands of the regime because of their ideology. While a grim history, hope can be found in the subsequent actions of women. The Arpilleristas were able to overcome such hardships through tapestry weaving.

Chilean Women Unite

Mothers united and responded to the oppression and torture that was inflicted upon their loved ones with methods of protests that defied masculine logic, such as publicly banging pots and pans, singing and dancing to songs with political messages and weaving tapestries. These actions challenged the societal norms in Chile, which were embedded with machismo ideology and male superiority.

Tapestry Weaving as a Form of Resistance

The weaving of tapestries was an especially impactful form of resistance that was founded in 1975. Once unified, the Arpilleristas began to construct patchwork tapestries, or arpilleras, that depicted scenes of hardship and violence that people experienced under Pinochet.

The hand-made arpilleras portrayed shantytown community kitchens, which were often families’ only means of feeding themselves, women’s laundry and bread-baking subsistence-level cooperatives, arrests and soldiers beating protesters. It was through the crafting of the arpilleras that women were granted a voice to tell their individual and collective stories.

Economic Empowerment

However, the crafting of the arpilleras was more than just an act of protest and storytelling, it was also a way to generate income. The women weaving arpilleras was a form of advocacy and also a livelihood. The Arpilleristas transformed conventional visions of secluded motherhood and domesticity, all the while eliminating submissive and passive associations regarding women.

With the return of democracy in the 1990s, the oppression f the Pinochet dictatorship has since been eradicated. All individuals are able to enjoy democracy. The women, “do so now, however, with a different consciousness. Women have not forgotten the empowerment they gained when they learned they could change things by taking to the streets and protesting the dictatorship.”

It is this confidence that continues to inspire women as they face problems in Chile, however, they do so in a different manner now.

A Return to Democracy

It was only through the opression of the dictatorship and conservative gender ideology promoted by the dictatorship, Chilean women mobilized as feminists to demand a return to democracy. Though they were not self-identified feminists, the collective act of women uniting in order to defeat oppression has altered and expanded women’s rights in Chile today and recharacterized the very definition of motherhood.

The Arpilleristas’ tapestry weaving has served as an inspiring example of fighting against injustice while empowering women through economic development. By employing an accepted tradition of weaving, the women were able to capitalize and in many cases negate extreme poverty and additional hardships.

– Marielle Marlys
Photo: Flickr

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The Fight Against Period Poverty in Sri Lanka

Period Poverty in Sri Lanka
Located off the southern coast of India, Sri Lanka is home to almost 22 million people, 52% of whom are female. Despite its small geographic size, the country ranks 73 on the Gender Inequality Index, but behind that figure stands a monthly challenge for the nearly 12 million women and girls – having their period. This article will explore period poverty in Sri Lanka as well as three initiatives aiming to combat it.

What is Period Poverty?

Period poverty refers to the lack of education on menstruation, as well as having little to no access to essential sanitation for basic hygiene during the menstruation period. These factors frequently result in social stigmas that exclude women from basic activities, such as attending school or work and can lead to physical health risks. Period poverty in Sri Lanka takes the form of association with the impurity of the body. The subject is taboo, creating a culture of fear and misinformation. In a survey from 2015, 66% of girls were unaware they were going to have a period until their first one occurred. When they did have their period, more than a third of the girls reported missing one or two days of school to avoid embarrassment and stigma. However, over the past decades, three initiatives to eliminate period poverty in Sri Lanka have emerged.

3 Initiatives to Eliminate Period Poverty in Sri Lanka

  1. Sinidu: A new, local and affordable pad has entered the market. Inspired by the Indian social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham’s low-cost pad-making machine and funded by the SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council (SCWEC), Sinidu, an organic pad, sells in Sri Lanka at a third of the cost of competitors. A pack of 10 imported pads costs upwards of R.s, 200-250, and commercially-produced pads are not much better at R.s. 150-200. The national minimum wage of Sri Lanka is R.s. 10,000. Given that the average woman uses 20 pads per month, or spend about R.s. 400, they spend about 4% of their salary on the necessity. For comparison, the average household expenditure on meat is 4.8%. At R.s 60 per packet, Sinidu has decreased expenditures related to pads to 1.2%.
  2. Reduced Taxes on Sanitary Products: Taxes on sanitary napkins has significantly decreased. Until 2018, sanitary napkins received a tax of 101.2% of their sales price. For low-income Sri Lankans, the tax significantly impacted their ability to afford the napkins. Only 30% of Sri Lankan women could afford to use sanitary napkins, meaning 70% of women had to use cloth, which, when not sanitized properly, can lead to health risks such as reproductive and urinary tract infections. However, after the social media outrage in September 2018, the Minister of Finance repealed the 30% import tax.
  3. Free Sanitary Napkins: Awareness of women’s rights issues – including addressing period poverty – is increasing. During the 2019 presidential election, presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa attempted to win over women voters by promising free sanitary napkins to all women and girls. Though he faced criticism and the country ultimately did not elect him, he successfully called attention to the issue of period poverty in Sri Lanka.

Period poverty in Sri Lanka remains a challenge. However, through these three advancements, access to sanitary napkins in Sri Lanka has improved.

– Charlotte Ehlers
Photo: Flickr

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Preventing Harmful Practices in Malawi

Harmful Practices in MalawiDespite the enactment of the Gender Equality Act in 2013,  Malawi has much more to accomplish with respect to women’s rights. Traditional customs and harmful cultural practices are still deeply entrenched in Malawian society, leading to discrimination and marginalization of women and girls. These practices adversely affect their development, health, socioeconomic status and overall contributions to society. UNICEF defines harmful practices as discriminatory practices that transcend into communities and societies’ cultures and are viewed as acceptable. The most common harmful traditional and cultural practices include female genital mutilation (FGM), Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and child marriage. Such practices perpetuate gender inequalities, violate women’s rights and have detrimental physical and emotional effects on women. The Tilimbike Safe Community Space aims to reduce harmful practices in Malawi that affect women and girls.

Harmful Practices in Malawi

As a result of cultural practices, gender disparities remain pervasive across all aspects of society. Child marriage is a fundamental violation of human rights, with cascading consequences for young girls. For example, girls married as children are more likely to drop out of school, become teenage mothers and have higher rates of maternal mortality.

Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Africa, with the Human Rights Watch estimating that in 2020, one out of two girls will be married by the time they turn 18.

In addition to child marriage, Malawi remains a setting where gender-based violence is prevalent. One in five young women experiences sexual violence before they turn 18 and nearly 40% of married women have experienced intimate partner violence.

While adequate policies exist, the public and non-governmental sector responses have faced challenges in breaking down discriminatory cultural ideals and improving women’s rights. Harmful practices toward women continue unabated in Malawi due to the persistence of cultural attitudes. However, in rural communities, mentoring has proven to be efficacious in preventing harmful practices and empowering young girls and women.

Tilimbike Safe Community Space

The Tilimbike Safe Community Space is a mentorship program led by The Spotlight Initiative that serves at-risk girls and women in rural communities in Malawi by trying to eliminate harmful practices such as sexual and gender-based violence and child marriage. In mentorship sessions, mentors teach young girls about their basic human rights, sexual and reproductive health and other critical life skills. With this knowledge and interactions with their peers, girls are empowered to speak out and challenge harmful cultural practices.

Tilimbike Safe Community Space has 360 mentors, spanning across the high-risk districts of Dowa, Ntchisi, Mzimba, Nkatabay, Machinga and Nsanje. The program has educated and empowered more than 7,000 young women in these regions by equipping them with knowledge and skills to challenge the harmful practices that fuel GBV in their communities. The women and girls are now apt to speak out in their own communities, with crucial knowledge such as the importance of staying in school and the adverse effects of early marriage. Empowering girls and women is the first step toward change and fostering the foundation for solutions to these harmful practices.

Tilimbike During COVID-19

During COVID-19, women and girls are more confined to their homes due to school closures and travel restrictions. Therefore, they are at increased risk for GBV, teenage pregnancy and being coerced into childhood marriage. Despite the elevated risks, mentees of the Tilimbike Safe Community Space successfully prevented these harmful occurrences. Huge strides have been made to end the harmful cultural practices during COVID-19 restrictions, with no teenage pregnancies or child marriages among the mentees during the lockdown.

These women and girls have renewed hope for achieving their life goals and have enhanced their ability to make informed decisions about their lives and futures. The mentors in the Tilimbike Safe Community Space allow girls and women an opportunity to receive advice and support outside their home to reach their fullest potential. The Tilimbike Safe Community Space illuminates that mentorship programs are effective in breaking down cultural barriers and ending harmful practices.

Further Progression

Initiatives such as the Tilimbike Safe Community Space play a key role in eliminating dismantling gender disparities in society caused by cultural barriers. Mentoring and empowering women and girls will advance not just Malawi but the entire world.

– Samantha Johnson
Photo: Flickr

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Women’s Rights in Mozambique: A Work in Progress 

Women's Rights in Mozambique
According to the 2019 United Nations Development Programme’s report, Mozambique ranks 180th out of 189 countries with a high Gender Inequality Index (GII) of 0.569. The Gender Inequality Index is a parameter that evaluates gender-based inequalities in three aspects including reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity. Over the years, the untiring efforts of the UN Committee on The Elimination of Discrimination Against Women have sparked a wave of non-governmental organizations that fight for women’s rights in Mozambique. These efforts have resulted in a noticeable change, although the country still has a long way to go.

Mozambique’s Success at Women’s Empowerment

Historically, Mozambique has been a male-dominated country with men holding the majority of official positions. Traditionally, women were absent from the country’s public affairs. However, Mozambican women were not completely powerless. Older women, for instance, gained respect as mothers-in-law and community advisers on marital issues. Nevertheless, the small portion of power that women held did not entirely cocoon them from inferior treatment by their male counterparts as women had no right to ownership of land and therefore comprised 80% of the country’s poor.

The lack of equal rights between men and women also forced women to seek protection from men. Consequently, practices such as polygamy received encouragement, and women accepted it without protest since it promised them their husbands’ protection.

What Sparked A Change?

The last two decades have been a period of progressive growth and transformation for Mozambique. The 1977 Civil War, which exposed women to physical violence and other forms of sexual violence such as gang rapes and abduction, led to the country’s increased focus on women’s rights in Mozambique. Despite the war’s atrocious effects on women, however, it created conditions that favored the rise and empowerment of women. As a matter of fact, during the war and the ensuing years, Mozambican women became the primary breadwinners of their families since a majority of men died, became disabled or entered the frontlines to fight to restore order to their troubled nation.

After the war in 1992, Mozambique’s government went the extra mile to promote women’s rights. Over the years, it has accomplished much in the areas of women’s parliamentary inclusion, land ownership and education among others. Here is a list of women’s organizations that the Mozambican government created to advocate for women’s rights.

  • The Ministry of Women and Social Action: The Ministry for Women and Social Action emerged in 2000. Among its major achievements is the development of Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), which provides a course related to gender planning and budgeting every year. This course has consequently raised awareness and increased the number of trained decision-makers both at the provincial and district level on the topic of gender equality.
  • The Directorate-General for Women’s Affairs: This institute is responsible for the implementation of decisions and policies from the Ministry.
  • The National Council for Promoting Women: The National Council for Promoting Women pools official organizations, NGOs and their representatives, private sector participants and religious officials in a joint effort to promote women’s rights in Mozambique.

Female Parliamentarians

Over the years, the percentage of women in the Mozambican parliament has undergone a remarkable change from 25.2% in 1997 to 41.2% in 2019. The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), which opened in Mozambique in 2004, played a cornerstone role in the achievement of this milestone through a campaign it dispatched in 2009 to encourage Mozambique’s major political parties, FRELIMO and RENAMO, to nominate a higher number of women candidates.

Land Ownership Rights

In modern-day Mozambique, the reformed Land Law, which emerged in 1997, endorses that all Mozambicans of either gender have the right to land use. As a result of this Law, 25% of women have land title use rights. This is yet another milestone and a big win for women.

Although the Land Law has led to a significant rise in the number of female landowners, women’s rights to land still experience restriction in rural Mozambique. This is evidenced by the restricted territorial control of most women in the country’s north, as they only control 30% of land plots.

Education

A major transformation has also taken place in regard to girls’ education. The government has enhanced school access to all, which resulted in a consequential increase in the girls’ enrolment rate from 3 million in 2002 to 4.1 million in 2006. Moreover, the number of girls in school has been going up since.

Today, 94% of Mozambican girls enroll in primary schools, however, only 11% of them progress to a secondary level. Additionally, only 1% attends college. This engenders low literacy rates among Mozambican women whereby their illiteracy rate is almost double what is if for men.

Taking Action

The Government of Mozambique has recently approved the 2020 Annual Work Plan of the Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women. The Spotlight Initiative is a partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030.

Through joint efforts with the Mozambican Government, The Spotlight Initiative plans to provide online training to service providers and promote existing hotlines to ease the process of reporting cases of domestic violence, which have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of Gender, Child and Social Action, Nyeleti Mondlane, remarked that the Mozambican government has to strengthen women’s economic social empowerment efforts to contribute to an equal, fair and peaceful society.

Over the years, Mozambique has made outstanding achievements in promoting women’s rights, involving the implementation of women’s organizations and female parliamentarians and increased school attendance for girls. Although the present state of affairs is not one to complacently settle for,  past successes give a splinter of hope for a better future for Mozambican women.

– Divine Mbabazi
Photo: Flickr

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Empowering Women Improves Maternal Health

empowering women improvesIn recent years, great strides have been made in improving women’s and children’s health. Fertility rates in both low and middle-income countries have significantly declined and life expectancy has increased by more than 10 years. Despite this progress, the WHO reports that a vast majority of maternal deaths (94%) occur in low-resource settings and most could have been prevented through adequate maternal care and other factors. Political and societal efforts to mitigate these disparities as well as ground-level health interventions are key to guarantee enduring improvements in women’s and children’s health. Empowering women improves maternal and child health outcomes in several ways.

Empowering Women Improves Maternal Health

Although the role of women’s empowerment as a social determinant of maternal and child health outcomes has not been as widely acknowledged as other social determinants such as education, it is a leading opportunity to improve the well-being of women and children around the world. Women’s empowerment is positively associated with an array of positive maternal and child health outcomes,  such as improved antenatal care, contraceptive use, child mortality and nutrition levels.

Improved Maternal Health in Guinea and India

Another facet of maternal health that is linked with women’s empowerment is increased access to quality maternity care. The Republic of Guinea has committed to alleviating maternal and child health disparities by increasing women’s liberty. According to the 2018 Guinea Demographic Health Surveys, mothers who received higher quality antenatal care (ANC) also exhibited several aspects of women’s empowerment, such as having a proactive role in healthcare decisions and being employed.

In Varanasi, India, women’s autonomy and empowerment were also found to positively influence maternal health. A study of 300 women found that women with greater autonomy were more likely to deliver their baby in a clinic and employ higher levels of antenatal care.

Improved Maternal Health in Africa

Uniformly, a regional analysis of Africa revealed that dimensions of women’s empowerment impacted maternal health and utilization of health services. Researchers found that having greater control over money or household decisions correlated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. This is important because low maternal weight is a risk factor for low birth weight babies and adverse infant outcomes. Additionally, facility delivery was significantly associated with positive attitudes toward gender roles in Nigeria. Delivering in a clinic plays a large role in reducing maternal mortality as the majority of fatal pregnancy complications can be prevented if intervened by a skilled clinician.

Empowering Women Improves Child Health

In addition to improving maternal health, empowering women improves and enriches the health of their children. Studies have found a nexus between women’s empowerment and good child health outcomes, including higher utilization of health care services and immunizations, improved nutritional status and lower child mortality.

Women in Nepal who own land are significantly more likely to have authority over household decisions,and similarly, children of mothers who own land are significantly more likely to be a healthy weight. The connection between land ownership and feelings of empowerment mean women are more likely to use income to contribute to the well-being of the children and the family overall.

Organizations for Women’s Empowerment

Mending educational and economic inequalities and disadvantages that women and girls face are fundamental in empowering women and marking long-term and sustained improvements in women’s health. Offering scholarships, making schools a safe environment for girls and transforming beliefs and gender-biased social norms that perpetuate discrimination and inequality are avenues to create equal education opportunities. Additionally, governments and policymakers are pertinent to allocate resources necessary for gender equity and improving female health.

Self Help Groups (SHGs) are a great example of a simple yet effective solution to empower women who live in lower-income communities. Find Your Feet is an organization based in the U.K. that is working in Malawi and rural India to end rural poverty. The organization works with families in remote areas of Asia and Africa by helping them earn incomes and expand access to vital services. A key facet of its work is geared toward women’s empowerment and it has created SHGs throughout the poorest districts in India.

The Way Forward

Empowering women is a catalyst for not only better maternal and child health outcomes, but investing in a woman’s health and empowerment has a ripple effect, helping families, communities and countries to rise out of poverty.

– Samantha Johnson
Photo: Flickr

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Bani Mandir: Solving Problems in Rural India

Problems in Rural India
Despite the country’s soaring GDP, India is home to almost a quarter of the world’s poor population. Although India lifted 270 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016, 270 million more people continue to live below the global poverty line. The extreme poverty that India’s poor faces disproportionately affects rural populations and women, who receive fewer opportunities in education, healthcare and employment.

Named after the goddess of education, nonprofit Bani Mandir works to elevate people in India’s most vulnerable communities by solving problems in rural India. The organization, based in West Bengal, India, aims to address the root causes of poverty, particularly in rural areas and among women. By providing solutions to education inequality, access to healthcare and women’s opportunities, Bani Mandir empowers India’s rural poor.

Education

One of the root causes of poverty is a lack of education. Access to education is integral to lifting people out of poverty, as education reduces inequality and drastically improves the opportunities students obtain as they age. In India, where 45% of the poor population is illiterate, improving access to education in rural areas is vital.

Girls in India, particularly those living in poverty, face additional barriers when it comes to attending school. India gave girls the right to education in 2009. However, many girls are still unable to attend school due to housework responsibilities, stigma and health concerns. The lack of girls in school contributes to fewer women in the workforce. Women make up only 25% of the labor force in India.

To increase enrollment of girls and students from rural areas, Bani Mandir has provided education for more than 10,000 students, maintaining equal representation between girls and boys. Bani Mandir also helps children receive sufficient nutrition support and trains teachers in effective teaching practices. These advancements are improving the quality of education for a larger number of students.

Access to Healthcare

In India, rural communities receive significantly less access to healthcare. Due to the lack of health facilities and insufficient awareness about the benefits of healthcare, many workers in rural communities are unwilling to sacrifice a day’s wages to attend a healthcare visit. Additionally, women in India receive less access to healthcare than men. In a 2019 study, men and boys were two times as likely to visit a healthcare facility. The study also found that many women who should have seen a doctor did not.

To improve access to healthcare in India’s vulnerable communities, Bani Mandir offers comprehensive healthcare programs. Women make up 60% of those benefiting from Bani Mandir’s health services. Bani Mandir’s 23 health projects served more than 3,500 people living in rural villages and slums. The organization also arranged more than 100 health camps to address immediate medical needs. Finally, Bani Mandir partners with schools to provide health programs to students. Its work is encouraging students to seek healthcare and to grow up in a culture where going to the doctor is standard practice.

Women’s Empowerment

Since many women are often denied access to education and healthcare, their employment opportunities are limited. Furthermore, employment is not a guarantee of equal treatment. In fact, pay inequalities result in men making 65% more than women for the same labor. Although gender equality in India is a constitutional right, many women are unaware of their rights and of the ways they can support themselves financially.

Bani Mandir offers more than 375 self-help groups across 30 villages and supports more than 15,000 women and girls to help eliminate problems in rural India. These women’s empowerment groups educate women about their rights, organize finances and offer loans for small businesses, encouraging female entrepreneurs. Bani Mandir also aims to change societal perceptions and stigmas against women by educating broader communities. Bani Mandir’s programs are educating upwards of 10,000 community members about women’s rights issues.

By addressing the problems in rural India pertaining to poverty, such as education, healthcare and women’s opportunities, Bani Mandir is inciting change across entire communities and improving the lives of rural populations. The organization also offers services that improve sanitation, care for the elderly and support for abandoned children. With its wide scope, Bani Mandir is providing countless examples of concrete ways to create change. To build upon the positive change that Bani Mandir and other nonprofits have inspired, the Indian government should sharpen its laws around gender equality to ensure that women and girls obtain adequate access to employment, healthcare and education.

– Melina Stavropoulos
Photo: Unsplash