Worth program mentioned in Glamour magazinefrom Glamour, January 2003 Want to save the world? Just save the world's women.
Take Nepal, where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line. Thanks to an American aid program, 125,000 of that nation's poorest women recently taught themselves to read and operate village banks. "The men used to laugh at us for studying," participant Bipi Maya Tamang told a project field-worker. "Now they see so many changes. They encourage us." The program clearly boosted the women's confidence, but the benefits didn't stop there. "The women started businesses and nurseries," says Marcia Odell, who oversaw the recently completed project for Pact, an international development nonprofit. "They lobbied for roads and clinics, then tackled issues like alcoholism, domestic abuse and sex trafficking." Just three years later, 6,200 women's empowerment groups exist in Nepal. So why can't other underprivileged women follow this example? Two reasons: lack of aid money distributed directly to women, and lack of research into how women use aid money differently from men. And as study upon study has shown, over-looking women is holding everybody back. "If you give women the skills and the knowledge, they will change the world," insists Pact communications vice president Traer Sunley. A recent World Bank report, Engendering Development, bears this out. Drawing on data from more than 100 countries, the report reveals that societies in which women have more equal access to education, employment and property rights also boast healthier children, less corruption and faster economic growth. Here, a few more eye-openers:
And the list goes on and on. Still, of the 8 billion tax dollars-yes, yours-that the federal government's United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administers for development and humanitarian assistance each year, only about $11 million goes directly to the agency's Women in Development Unit. Yes, women do factor into some of the agency's other efforts, but the reality is that seemingly gender-neutral assistance too often leaves women out in the cold. "You could decide, `We need to build a road from point A to point B, which will take the village men to where the jobs are'," explains Cecilia Valdivieso, the World Bank's sector manager for gender and development. "But if you talk with the women, you may find that they need the road to pass by other places, so they can take their products to market or their children to the health center. Without such consultations, these opportunities are often missed." "It's really about gender mainstreaming-looking at men's and women's roles, and how aid programs will affect women as well as men," says Suzanne Kindervatter, director of the Commission on the Advancement of Women at InterAction, an alliance of American nonprofit aid organizations. As for the role of American women, you can help your country be more of an equal opportunity giver by urging lawmakers to support the Gains for Women and Girls Act, a comprehensive package of women-oriented international aid programs currently under review by several House subcommittees. And because President Bush recently proposed development funds by a whopping $5 billion, says Kindervatter, we have an "unprecedented opportunity-right now-to send the message to Congress and the administration that women and girls have to be central to this new funding initiative." After all, we're all part of the same family. As Kindervatter says, "We need to stand together." And remember, if we do, everybody stands to gain. Webmaster's note: Visit the WORTH site for more information...including how you can help. |
Who among us hasn't been haunted by a news photo of a starving child and her weary, helpless mother? New international research is proving that such women may not be nearly as helpless as they look. In fact, they may hold the key to ending many of the world's ills-if only we'd give them the change. 