Thursday, March 8, 2018

Celebrating the contributions and achievements of rural women on International Women’s Day

Elfinish (Upper Left), Aragesh (Upper Right), Kavitha (Lower Left), Phat (Lower Right)

Rural women make up over a quarter of the world population and on International Women’s Day, March 8, we celebrate their accomplishments in transforming their lives, their families, and their communities.

From food production, water management, disease prevention, health, education and skills training to small business development and economic progress, women are leading the way forward out of poverty in communities in countries like Ethiopia, Cambodia, and India.

Women like Elfinish are lifting themselves out of poverty through training and micro-loan support that enables them to start and successfully run family-based businesses that generate a reliable source of income that is transforming their families and communities.

Aragesh, a young mother we featured in a recent Perspective article, is among a group of women in Kamale Barrye-Oro, southern Ethiopia working together to solve common problems in their community and start small businesses that are improving the local economy.

Kavitha, a mother in Kannivadi, India, and her local women’s self-help group are working together to increase their incomes and savings by building better livelihoods for their families.

Phat, a mother in rural Cambodia has succeeded in transforming her family from impoverished to prosperous by taking full advantage of the new water well she received. She has used the water to improve the health of her children and grow nutritious vegetables for her family’s consumption and for sale on market days, generating an income that has enabled her to rebuild her modest home and send her children to school.

On International Women’s Day we celebrate the spirit, strength and amazing abilities of rural women throughout the developing world as they continue to transform their lives, their families, and their communities.