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Middle East and North Africa regions could increase their GDP by
up to 18 percent.
In addition to increasing the number of women in the labor force,
we need to invest in decreasing inequalities in access to tools and
resources for women who are already a part of it. For example,
according to the International Labor Organization, women make
more than 40 percent of the world’s agricultural force, however
they control less than 20 percent of the land. They also often lack
tools and resources such as fertilizer, seeds and consistent access
to water. World Bank estimates show that if women had access to
these “productive resources,” up to 150 million fewer people would
face hunger every day. In Afghanistan, of employed women workers,
the majority work in agriculture and livestock sectors, but despite
legal rights for land ownership, only 10 percent of Afghan women
own land independently, according to the Demographic and Health
Survey conducted by the country’s Central Statistics Organization.
Increasing women’s control and access over resources and land can
increase productivity in rural communities impacted by poverty.
Reports and statistics from Afghanistan and around the world
prove what we at Women for Women International (Wf WI) and
Central Asia Institute have known for more than 20 years: stronger
women, build stronger economies and stronger nations. This is why
we have been providing women survivors of conflict and war in
eight countries and regions around the world with direct cash and
an empowering training program that equips them with the skills
they need to rebuild their lives. Through our yearlong program
women not only learn vocational skills, but also gain business and
numeracy skills and become aware of their health needs and human
rights. As a result, their daily personal earnings increase from $0.34
at enrollment to $1.07 at graduation. While at the beginning of
our program, 33 percent of the women we serve around the world
worry about running out of food, by the end only six percent do.
In addition to economic gain, women we serve learn about their
rights and their involvement in financial decision-making at home
increases by 28 percent.
In Afghanistan, we’ve served nearly 110,00 women since 2002.
We’ve trained women in vocational skills like animal husbandry,
agriculture and agribusiness, tailoring, and handicrafts. On average
the monthly personal earnings of the women we serve in Afghanistan
increases from less than three dollars at enrollment to more than $38
at graduation. Their economic empowerment changes their families.
When asked how they spend their $10 monthly stipend we provide
for one year, 72 percent say they spent it on food and 58 percent say
they saved for emergencies, or to expand their small-scale businesses.
These changes go beyond statistics. They impact real women in one
of the hardest places on earth to be a woman.
Take for example Zarin. A 34-year old mother of five, she strug-
gled in poverty and without access to jobs, but she always had big
dreams for her children. She decided to join Wf WI’s program af-
ter she learned about it from other women in her community. She
already had some tailoring skills, but at the program she solidified
them and learned numeracy and business skills as well as about her
health and rights.
FALL 2017
“During the year, I gained a lot of experience. I learned how to
do business. I learned about women’s health and how to protect our
health and be clean,” Zarin says.
Today Zarin has opened a tailoring shop in a crowded market in
Kabul, something uncommon for Afghan women. She not only pays
her eldest daughter’s university fees and supports her family but also
employs six other women.
“The day I came to open my store, I was afraid. I didn’t know if I
would succeed, but when I opened the door and my first customer
came it was a memory,” Zarin recalls joyfully.
Zarin’s shop is a success and she dreams of expanding her shop
and providing more women with employment opportunities.
“When we make our own money, we don’t need to depend on men
for anything.”
Zarin is not alone. During our fifteen years of experience in
Afghanistan we’ve met many women who have proven themselves
champions of their own lives and that of other marginalized women
in their communities. From Zeba to Zarin, the women of Afghanistan
are resilient, courageous, and capable. With the right tools and skills,
they have the ability to pull their families, neighborhoods, and
even country out of poverty. For sustainable change and to address
poverty in Afghanistan, we have to prioritize Afghan women’s
economic empowerment. They are the hope. n
Kathleen Campbell is the Vice President for
Programs at Women for Women International.
Prior to WfWI, Campbell was the Senior
Deputy Assistant to the Administrator
in USAID’s Office of Afghanistan and
Pakistan Affairs. Campbell, a Harvard Law
School graduate, has over two decades
of international experience managing
development and humanitarian programs.
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