New Pink Power

Helping Women Survivors of War Rebuild their Lives

Women for Women International intends to change the world one woman at a time.  It provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.

Women for Women International works with socially excluded women in eight countries where war and conflict have devastated lives and communities. They enroll women in a one-year program, and provide them with job skills and business training so they can earn a living. They come to understand their rights and how to fight for those rights in their homes, their communities and their nations and become leaders.

Get Involved. Help a woman survivor of war rebuild her life. To make a donation go to https://mywomenforwomen.org/donation/donate-now.php?wfw=webgen

 

 

Getting Girls into School

We all want more children around the world to go to school.  But did you know that most of the benefits that accompany increased education are attributable to girls, who use their schooling more productively than boys?  Women in the developing world who have had some education share their earnings; men keep a third to a half for themselves.  Yet, 60% of the kids OUT of schools are girls.  And in some areas in the world, only 1 out of 5 get any education at all. When girls go to school, they marry later and have fewer healthy children.  With 5 years of education, her child has a 40 % better chance of living to age 5.  Some studies even indicate that a girl with education is 3 timess less likely to contract HIV/AIDS. Donor nations are increasingly reaching the consensus that global education, especially for girls, is the key to development.  But the main problem is not only funding, but changing the culture in parts of the developing world.  Parents will need to understand that in the long run, their families will be better off if girls get educated. Watch the video on the Girl Effect at http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/

Women Emerge as Potent Economic Force

Many countries are spending time and resources establishing policies that empower their women. When looking for "proof" of the impact of those policies on the economy, Rwanda comes up as the prime example.

After the slaughter of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu lilitias, Rwanda was left with a population that was 60% female.  To make matters worse, thousand of men were jailed for war crimes, or living as refugees in Congo, so women - at first by default - took roles in business and politics. Today, women hold about 48% of the seats in Rwanda's parliament, which is the highest percentage in the world. And they are now about 50% of the farmers in the local coffee cooperative but get this.... they produce 90% of their finest beans for export in the cooperative.

In the 14 years since the genocide, this country is probably the leading example of how empowering women can transform economies and reduce poverty levels.   Why is that?  research has shown that women more than men invest their profits in the family, increasing nutrition, savings, and spending more on their children's education.

The other significant output of this transformation is not only of economic value, but of cultural value. As there is now a whole generation of young men and women with a completely different view of the role their mothers and sisters play in society.