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How the Disha Project Empowers Women in India

How the Disha Project Empowers Women in IndiaIn India — a country surging with sustained economic growth — more than two-thirds of women do not have a profession or are outside of the workforce. This level of engagement also varies between rural and urban areas due to a divide in, among other things, access to training and schooling. Despite the growth in the past few decades in terms of education rates, as well as a similarly important decline in birth rates, women in rural India are still not as able to pursue or secure jobs as their male counterparts are. The Disha Project was an international effort that acted as a catalyst for improvement and provided diverse resources and plans to empower underprivileged Indian women across the nation.

The Disha Project’s Mission

The Disha Project set out to be a three-year united effort between the United Nations Development Programme, the India Development Foundation and the IKEA Foundation. The three groups, together with their networks of experience and assets, came together to provide women in India with opportunities for income growth and management. Skills training remained the primary tool of the Disha Project and teaching women essential skills alongside separate enterprise teachings, participants could gain valuable and diverse knowledge that set them apart from other job seekers.

The original goals of the project included a target goal of introducing and linking a million women in India to a growing chain of economically independent job seekers and makers. Beyond applying skills that would greatly increase the possibilities for job acquisition, the Disha Project also marked replicability and scalability as its goals, which explains the strong focus on self-sustained community growth.

The Models Used

To fulfill the intentions the Disha Project laid out for itself, planning and execution were paramount. Clement Chauvet led the Disha Project and served as the United Nations Development Programme’s chief of skills and business development. In his capacity as Disha Project’s head, he outlined four principal models by which the project would take shape.

Chauvet detailed how model one is primarily educational, providing advice and direction for female job seekers. By surmounting this first barrier to self-sustainable economic growth, the program’s participants can begin to pursue their own aspirations much more aggressively.

The second and third models rely on the market and social networks, leading women seeking to fill these roles to established needs in professions. Additionally, by connecting mentors and those with guidance to women who wish to start with “micro-entrepreneurship,” the UNDP initiative directly provides resources and support. The final and fourth model is that of production and economic efficiency. This model seeks to unite women in India to make sure those producing salable products and practicing profitable skills can expand their reach and value as a part of the system.

Meaningful Success

For the Disha Project, countless personal stories of women in rural India initiating businesses, gaining greater social power and supporting their households and communities financially stand as testimony of success. On a larger scale, Chauvet reports, “With the support of IKEA Foundation, since 2015, 800,594 women in Delhi NCR, Haryana, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra have been enabled with employable skills.”

These women in India also act as a greater example of societal change. Due to the sheer scale of the Disha Project’s impact, small systematic changes, carved in the footholds of agricultural villages and towns, will slowly become more noticeable. Each woman among the almost 900,000 participants carries within herself the tools to inform her family, engage her neighborhood and teach other women in the community.

Through the efforts of organizations like the Disha Project, women are becoming more empowered worldwide, which contributes to a more secure financial future for all and paves a way forward to a world that is more equally accessible, regardless of sex.

— Alan Mathew
Photo: Flickr

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Women’s Economic Empowerment in Mexico

Women's Economic Empowerment in Mexico
In recent decades Mexico has made significant changes to close the gender gap. These progressive impacts include a series of legislative initiatives in 2002, 2008, 2014, and the 2015-2018 National System for Equality between Women and Men. Additionally, political parties promise to promote gender equality in nominations and to allocate money towards training women. By promoting women’s economic empowerment in Mexico, women of all backgrounds can achieve financial independence.

Obstacles To Financial Independence

Women in Mexico face several obstacles toward reaching financial independence. Martina Zoldos, a Slovanian writer, described the discrimination she faced while interviewing for a job in Mexico. Zoldos was asked, “whether [her] husband agreed with [her] decision of having a 9-to-5 office job.”

Traditional values are often placed on Mexican women. A study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development discovered that in Mexico, “only 45% of women between the age of 16 and 64 are employed, yet women perform over 75 percent of unpaid household work and childcare.” Additionally, women face daily violence in the form of rape, domestic abuse, and sexual harassment.

The United Nations identifies Mexico as one of the most violent countries for women. In 2017, The National Institute for Statistics and Geography detailed that 66% of women over 15 experienced some form of violence. In 2018, Mexico’s Security Minister Alfonzo Durazo signed a memorandum with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to “strengthen actions against gender-based violence.” In addition to violence, women also struggle with access to justice, education, and opportunities. However, organizations like UN Women make it possible for women’s economic empowerment in Mexico.

The Work of UN Women

UN Women seeks to improve the financial independence of women. Various international organizations work for women’s economic empowerment, such as the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the International Labour Organization. UN Women prioritizes migrant workers and rural and indigenous entrepreneurs. The agency also develops public systems that recognize the contributions of women to the economy.

The programs encourage women to secure decent jobs, build assets, and influence public policies and institutions. To improve women’s economic empowerment in Mexico, UN Women provides for the most vulnerable women. That work often happens in tandem with civil society groups and grassroots movements. UN Women works to develop financial skills among rural women, domestic workers, and migrants. They aim to help these marginalized women find decent work, earn higher incomes, and gain access to and control of resources. The agency also provides resources for women that face violence.

Government efforts also improve the lives of indigenous women. These women have the highest levels of illiteracy, maternal mortality, domestic violence, and poverty in the country. The government supports groups of indigenous embroiderers that create and sell fair-trade art. These efforts empower indigenous women to take part in local and state elections. While there is more to accomplish in protecting women against violence, financial independence can open doors for many women and generations to come.

– Mia Mendez
Photo: Flickr

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How the IMF is Working to Reduce Poverty in Peru

Poverty in Peru
Poverty in Peru declined steadily from 2001 to 2016, dropping from 55% to 21%. In 2017, the poverty rate rose slightly to 21 .7%. The relative success Peru has had in reducing poverty, however, is a result of economic growth along with increased and improved social programs and technological innovations. The Inter-American Foundation, which currently has 20 active projects in the nation, has made significant contributions to the reduction of poverty in Peru, having invested more than $5 million in the nation and directly benefiting more than 35,000 people.

The Situation in Peru

In Peru, one is in poverty if they have a monthly income of fewer than 338 soles (equal to $105). Poverty continues to be an issue in both urban and rural areas, with 44% of the impoverished population living in rural areas while the remaining 56% are located closer to urban centers. Those who are extremely poor tend to live in rural areas or on the very outskirts of the cities. Natural disasters, inadequate education and training and poor health care all contribute to poverty in Peru, making it a multi-dimensional problem.

One can at least partially attribute the recent increase in the poverty rate to political turmoil in the nation. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski entered office in 2016, and his policy decisions reflected a misunderstanding of Peru’s poverty and how best to reduce it. He resigned in March 2018, however, and his successor, Martín Vizcarra, has “declared the rise in poverty ‘unacceptable.” One will soon see how new leadership will affect Peru’s poverty rates in the coming years.

The Inter-American Foundation in Peru

While outside organizations cannot necessarily solve problems within Peru’s government, they can have an impact on improving the lives of Peruvians across the nation through targeted and effective investments and programming. The Inter-American Foundation, for example, has committed to investing in Peru by providing specific grants that are invested strategically to make the largest possible impact.

Congress created the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) in 1969 to act as an independent agency of the U.S. Government. The IAF focuses its efforts on reducing poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, providing grants and creating partnerships with local organizations and governments. Rather than designing projects, the IAF invests in initiatives created by grassroots groups and communities, supporting local innovation.

The programs that the IAF supports in Peru employ a range of methods for various intended outcomes, although all have connections to efforts to reduce poverty in Peru. Program areas include leadership, education, job skills, enterprise development, agriculture, food security, legal assistance and inclusion. Most of these programs have funding from the IAF for periods of three to six years, with the amount of grant funding and the number of years the program will run determined at the outset. The IAF also estimates how many direct and indirect beneficiaries each grant will have.

Programs That the IAF Supports in Peru

One of the initiatives that the IAF supported most recently is the Asociación Peruana de Productores de Cacao (APPCACAO). It will receive $177,500 from the IAF and run from 2018 to 2020. This program aims to help cacao producers, who often lack the income needed to support their families. According to the IAF, APPCACAO will help “raise their income and quality of life by improving their production of fine flavor cacao and strengthening their management and governance practices to ensure greater participation of women and youth.” This will directly benefit 1,260 individuals and another 3,900 will receive indirect benefits as this program seeks to improve agriculture, food security, leadership, education, job skills and enterprise development.

The Asociación Grupo de Trabajo Redes (AGTR) is a program that also addresses the economic empowerment of women by focusing on female domestic workers. The IAF recognizes that these women are likely to have poor working conditions and low incomes. It, therefore, works to educate female domestic workers about their legal rights and helps to improve their negotiation skills, helping them find higher-paying jobs with humane working conditions. With an IAF investment of $240,000, this program will be active from 2017 to 2020, directly benefiting 2,600 individuals and indirectly benefiting 44,650.

A third program working to reduce poverty in Peru is the Asociación Kallpa para la Promoción de la Salud Integral y el Desarrollo (Kallpa), which focuses on reducing youth unemployment, including the unemployment of disabled youth. Youth includes anyone between the ages of 15 and 29, and the program provides the support necessary for young people to “find meaningful employment or start a small business.” The IAF has invested $554,390 in this program, which is expected to benefit 1,550 direct and 5,200 indirect individuals.

Looking Ahead

These programs provide a brief look at the work that the IAF has supported, highlighting its efforts to improve conditions for women and young people, decrease food insecurity, improve working conditions and reduce unemployment, all of which are vital to decreasing poverty in Peru. Notably, however, 11 out of the 20 active projects that the IAF is supporting were to end in 2018. People will soon know whether the IAF will continue to invest in as many projects in the future.

– Sara Olk
Photo: Flickr