Women & Gender
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Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps
Ensuring equity between women and men is the key to unleashing the full potential of communities to transform their lives. Mercy Corps addresses the unmet needs of women and girls in places where they have been marginalised and disempowered, while recognizing that it is vital to involve men and boys in the process of helping women and girls claim their equal place.
Throughout our programmes, we consider the needs of both genders and build on the courage and resourcefulness of women to help them improve their families and communities.
All stories about Women & Gender
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Tajikistan: A new hope for new mothers March 12, 2012
Traditionally, new mothers in Tajikistan were taken care of for 40 days after giving birth, kept from household chores and even brought food in their room, where they spent all their time bonding with and caring for their newborn.
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Iraq: Teachers celebrate women in Iraq March 8, 2012
It’s fitting that teachers from our Women’s Awareness and Inclusion (WAI) programme got together to celebrate International Women’s Day — many of them for the first time.
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Ethiopia: Dowries to degrees: An education for Ethiopia's young women March 8, 2012
Mercy Corps is helping girls in one of Ethiopia’s most remote regions explore a future full of new possibilities by providing them with scholarships to complete secondary school.
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Tunisia: Organizing a movement for her new country March 8, 2012
Sabrine Wafi is a dynamo. Young and filled with energy, it’s difficult to keep up with her. More than once during our conversation, I found myself asking her to hold up so I could wrap my head around her ideas.
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Afghanistan: International Women's Day: Working hard for our futures March 8, 2012
While we at the Mercy Corps office in Kabul celebrate International Women’s Day, it remains a sad reality that much of the rest of Afghanistan is not.
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Indonesia: Healthier babies in Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods March 7, 2012
Did you know that a father holding his infant on his shoulder at the end of the day may be the best way to soothe a cranky child? The baby is often comforted by the father’s heartbeat and his calm demeanor, which relieves a tired and stressed mother after a long day of infant care.
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Colombia: Children find brighter futures off the streets March 1, 2012
Espacios para Crecer, or Spaces to Grow, uses education to fight child labour in Bogotá's most impoverished neighborhoods. Children in Colombia are at an even greater risk of leaving school for dangerous and illegal low-paying work to support their desperate families who have fled violence from the country's drawn-out internal conflict. Girls are particularly vulnerable to child labour because they have lower matriculation rates and are more susceptible to sexual exploitation.
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Uganda: Acting up for healthier communities February 27, 2012
There’s been a lot of action in northern Uganda lately. But in an area still recovering from the government’s 21-year war with the Lord’ Resistance Army, this is, for once, a welcome kind of drama.
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Japan: Women back to work as seaweed harvesting begins February 3, 2012
Yesterday I met Hiroko Mirura. In her early 60s, Ms. Mirura is a former scallop merchant, proud wife of a fisherman, and a strong female leader in the town of Minamisanriku.
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Afghanistan: Winter in Afghanistan brings its own challenges January 31, 2012
In freezing conditions, Afghanistan's most vulnerable are in need of water and warmth. As we help them cope with immediate needs, we're also building a stronger economy to help break the cycle of poverty.