Empowering Women
70% of the world’s poor are women
Empowering women is the key to helping them come out of poverty.
When a Woman is Empowered, Everything Changes.
Despite progress in recent decades, millions of women worldwide face discrimination and inequality in every sphere of life. Discrimination against women begins in the womb and continues until the tomb. Cultural preferences for sons over daughters in many countries leave women deprived of their right to quality education and healthcare, ultimately pushing them into a lifetime of poverty. Evidence shows that with equal access to education and economic opportunities, women can lift themselves, their families, and even their communities out of poverty. Because when women are empowered:
-
families become healthier
-
More children go to school
-
income increases
Our approach
We aspire to build better societies where every woman has increased access to education, economic opportunities, and healthcare and is able to achieve her full potential and live a healthy and productive life. We do this by:
-
Educating
Through adult literacy classes offered in 16 major languages in four different countries, we help illiterate women learn how to read and write, giving them a second chance at education. The structured learning not only helps them acquire literacy and numeracy skills, but also opens new doors of opportunity to boost their earning power and create a better life for themselves and their families.
-
Equipping
We empower disadvantaged women economically through a range of free vocational training programs including tailoring, embroidery, weaving, soap making, and many more programs, thus providing them with a sustainable livelihood. Along with skill training, we also give them the necessary tools so that they can leverage their newly learned skills to earn a stable income and become self-reliant.
-
enlightening
We impart health education to women in rural areas who lack access to vital health information and healthcare services. The awareness classes are taught by trained healthcare instructors who systematically teach women about health and hygiene and how to prevent and treat health problems that routinely afflict them and their children. This enables women to make informed decisions about their own health and that of their families.
Our impact
imagine losing everything simply because the husband dies
bringing color back into the lives of widows
In many cultures, when a woman loses her husband—through no fault of hers—instead of being treated with kindness and sympathy, she is blamed for his death. Society brands her cursed, and her own family forces her out of her home. Condemned to a life of seclusion and faced with extreme poverty, she is forced to live an austere life devoid of hope and joy. This is the bleak reality for millions of widows in Asia.
By ensuring that their basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter are met and by equipping them with a trade, we help destitute widows overcome poverty, thereby giving them hope for a better future.
Our impact
stories of empowerment
An Unexpected Gift Brings Hope to a Heartbroken Widow
Kamala and her husband Narayanlal were in the midst of building a new home as the family looked toward their future. But the future suddenly...
Read More
An Illiterate Mother Becomes an Inspiring Student
Urmila was troubled. Like any concerned mother, she wanted her children to succeed. But she felt unable to help them learn and grow because she...
Read More