We at Share & Care are joining the United Nations and other organizations around the globe in honoring the International Day of Rural Women, celebrated annually on October 15.
The day was established by the U.N. General Assembly in December 2007 to recognize “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”
Although great strides have been made to eradicate poverty and gender inequality in certain contexts and in some regions of the world, there is still much work to do. In India, for example, women have more access to education and skills training than in years past, but still account for just one-fourth of the total workforce. (See graphic.)
An op-ed in the New York Times, titled "Why Aren't India's Women Working?" explains why these numbers are significant: "Working, and the control of assets it allows, lowers rates of domestic violence and increases women’s decision-making in the household." The authors go on to say, "It's not that women don't want to work. ... Much of the reason they don’t work appears to lie in the persistence of India’s traditional gender norms."
Fortunately, there are many groups across the globe working to help rural and underprivileged women overcome these obstacles. Share & Care, proudly, is one of them.
Our Women Empowerment Signature Program (WE) provides women in rural India with the comprehensive support needed to become self-sufficient and free of the cycle of poverty. This effective program provides the following:
- Vocational training
- Financial management skills
- Self-defense lessons
- Confidence training
- Safe spaces and legal protection (for women escaped from red-light districts)
We also provide gender equality training for both girls AND boys, to help change the way females and gender norms are viewed in society.
Would you like to contribute to our mission? You can help a woman find her voice. You can empower. Visit our WE Campaign Page to donate or learn more.
