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Despite wide recognition that women play an essential role in the welfare of their communities, traditional gender norms marginalise many women in the developing world. Limiting the participation of so many valued members of the community hinders the development process and negatively affects the community as a whole. For this reason, gender equity is essential to Mercy Corps’ vision of creating secure, productive and just communities.
Mercy Corps believes that women and men should engage equally in the process of creating positive social change, and we have developed programmes in which men and women work together to address the problems of gender inequality. We are committed to the empowerment of women and girls by ensuring they are active stakeholders in every aspect of our programmes.
Inclusive Civil Society and Governance
One way Mercy Corps elevates the voices of women as unique agents of social change in their communities is through our civil society programmes. For example, in Sudan, our gender awareness training is improving the ability of 99 civil society organisations such as charities, faith-based groups and other local organisations to represent and serve their constituents — with particular attention to women and other marginalised groups.
In Iraq, Mercy Corps is helping women leaders across ethnic divides engage communities in reducing violence and promoting tolerance and dialogue.
Mercy Corps also has civil society programmes aimed at increasing women’s participation in
Afghanistan, Guatemala and Tajikistan. These efforts are laying the foundation for future Mercy Corps programmes that will directly benefit more women.
Economic Opportunity for Women
Mercy Corps’ focus on market-driven innovation extends to our work helping women create
economic opportunities in contexts where they may lack access to resources or financial services. In Mongolia, we aim to reduce women’s poverty in rural areas by providing skills training and access to credit for small business activities run by women. In Afghanistan, Mercy Corps has partnered with the Gates Foundation to provide small loans to more than 4,000 women to start small businesses.
We are also working to develop economic opportunities for women in other parts of the
world, including in China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mongolia and Nicaragua.
Educating Girls for Life
Mercy Corps recognizes the importance of educating girls if they are to be fully engaged
members of society. In Liberia, Mercy Corps’ Yes to Football programme used sports as a vehicle for educating youth about HIV/AIDS. Many of these young people have gained confidence through the opportunity to participate in sports. They also extended their social networks through interaction with positive mentors.
In China, Mercy Corps has empowered 250 rural ethnic minority Yi girls to face the economic challenges of urban migration. We are also equipping them with the life skills necessary to cope with the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Combating Gender-Based Violence
Mercy Corps works with communities to combat the gender-based violence that often
accompanies conflict, disaster or displacement. In Colombia, a new programme will change attitudes about gender roles and gender-based violence. Classroom materials and events will raise awareness of the problem with adolescents, and we will train community groups and government service providers how to better respond to violence against women. The programme will also reduce re-victimization, which occurs when a victim who seeks help from government service providers is met with the attitude that she invited the abuse through her looks or behaviour.
In Tajikistan, Mercy Corps has worked with three local nongovernmental organisations to
provide training designed to help community leaders and health care workers address gender- based violence.
The Role of Gender in Climate Change
In many parts of the world, climate change disproportionately affects the poor, and women
are often further marginalised due to power imbalances and access to resources. In rural
areas, changing rainfall patterns are a chronic and worsening hazard that can disrupt people’s ability to make a living from the land, forcing many families to migrate to cities or find new livelihoods.
In response, Mercy Corps is helping men and women mitigate and adapt to the harmful effects of climate change while addressing their economic concerns. For example, in Ethiopia, Mercy Corps’ Phoenix Fund is helping 30 women develop businesses that manufacture energy- efficient fuel briquettes made from organic waste. This new environmentally friendly fuel source is a small contribution that can be scaled up to cut pollution, allowing the city’s five million residents to breathe cleaner air and women to gain economic independence.
Because women often manage natural resources such as water and firewood, teaching them conservation approaches can have a long-ranging impact. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mercy Corps is training internally displaced women to construct fuel-efficient stoves. These stoves are reducing the demand for firewood from 224 tons per day to between 64 and 96 tons per day and limiting women’s exposure to nearby forest areas where the threat of sexual assault is very high. Our programme also helps mitigate climate change by cultivating more trees, a practice which traps harmful carbon dioxide and slows the rate of deforestation.
Women’s Health Equals Family Health
Women in the developing world face many complex health issues, including complications during pregnancy and childbirth, risk of HIV infection and the threat of violence. In addition, women are often responsible for the health of other family members, especially children and the elderly. In Guatemala, Mercy Corps is working with 180 indigenous women in rural areas to improve maternal and child health services and to advance the community’s
capacity to address critical problems in family planning, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Our programme increases women’s access to health services and information relevant to their reproductive well-being.
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