All of CARE's work to overcome poverty benefits women. For example, improved access to water and sanitation in a village benefits all the residents but has special significance for women and girls, who are typically responsible for gathering water -- a chore that may take hours each day.
CARE understands the unique roles women play in the developing world and the unique challenges they face. Below are just a few examples of how CARE projects are creating opportunities for women and their families in communities around the world.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
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| Guatemala / Photo by Kim Conger. All photos © CARE. |
Women in the developing world are crucial to the success of agriculture. In some countries, women do the bulk of the farming and are also responsible for households at the most basic level. CARE's agriculture and natural resources projects aim to enhance women's important roles in their communities by focusing on self-sufficiency and independence.
In Tajikistan, for example, CARE's Women's Private Farmer's Support Project (WOPFS) is helping improve kitchen gardens, traditionally used by women to supplement their family's diet and produce surplus food to sell. During the Soviet era, these kitchen gardens were highly productive, but now many women no longer have the capital to purchase high-quality seeds, sheeting for green houses, fertilizer or other necessary items. In response, WOPFS provides small loans, training in credit management and technical advice in an attempt to restore a tradition of productivity and self-sufficiency.
Health
Women's health is a vital part of the overall development picture. Healthy women live longer and contribute more to their families' livelihood. CARE addresses the critical and related issues of proper nutrition, health education, family planning and quality primary care. Combined, these efforts lay the foundation for the next generation, through safe pregnancies and deliveries that give children a healthy start in life.
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| Thailand / Photo by Pairat Saensawat. |
The SALUMAI project in rural Nicaragua addressed the serious lack of health services for women, especially in rural communities, where it is extremely difficult for pregnant women to reach emergency care should it be needed during delivery. Given the isolation of the project communities, SALUMAI worked to prevent maternal health problems before they occured. Traditional birth attendants were trained to provide pre- and post-natal care, practice safe delivery procedures and recognize the danger signs in pregnancy/delivery. Family planning counseling and services were promoted by the project to assure that women's bodies have sufficient time to recover between pregnancies.
Education
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| Kosovo / Photo by Brain Atleinson. |
For poor families in the developing world, school costs can rank as one of the highest household expenses. Often, girls are left behind when parents must choose which children will have the opportunity to get a formal education. Rather than attend school, girls' days are typically filled with chores. CARE works with students, parents, teachers and community groups to improve the quality and accessibility of education for girls, giving them a chance to improve both their lives and the lives of their families.
In Cambodia, the Life Skills for Adolescent Girls pilot project worked with adolescent girls and young women to teach literacy, health education and decision-making skills in two villages in Koh Kong province. The girls and young women who participated in the project in turn played an active role in promoting HIV/AIDS prevention and life-skills education in their communities. The project also worked with other CARE sexual health efforts, which provide reproductive health information and assertiveness training to women of all ages in these villages.
Small Economic Activity Development
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| Niger / Photo by Josh Estey. |
Studies and experience show that when women are given the opportunity to start small businesses, they reinvest their income in improved housing, education, nutrition and health care for their entire family. CARE's village banking projects, in which women manage their own savings and loan accounts, improve their economic status and heighten leadership skills and responsibilities.
Most women in Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam, are engaged in the informal economic sector. They sell food, sew, raise chickens. But these entrepreneurial activities are constrained by a lack of business skills and capital. A CARE project called Hujakwama provided women with business-skills training. A complementary project, the Women's Economic Group Revolving Fund, ensured that women had access to funds to put their learning to use.
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