Wednesday 8th March is International Women’s Day – a day to acknowledge and celebrate the resilience and achievements of women across the globe, and those of our clients. The theme for this year is to #EmbraceEquity. Equity isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a must-have. A focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society's DNA. So what is equity and how is it different to equality?
Equity can be defined as giving everyone what they need to be successful. In other words, it's not giving everyone the exact same thing. If we give everyone the exact same thing, expecting that will make people equal, it assumes that everyone started out in the same place.
But this is rarely the case. For example, women and girls are much more disadvantaged by the effects of poverty then men. According to the UN, 70% of those living on less than $2 a day are women and girls. The greatest challenge these women face is not lack of ambition or motivation, but a lack of access to education, financial services and training.
This is why 97% of our clients are women.
The impact of giving a women an opportunity is extraordinary, they are the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Opportunity International’s own experience and wider research suggest that when a woman has her own income, she will:
- Spend on average 90% of it back on her family.
- Have a greater voice and influence on financial and household decisions resulting in better nutrition, health and education for her children.
- Invest in her family and when their needs are met, invest in the wider community through the creation of further employment opportunities.
Women and girls are the future of poverty alleviation. Find out more about how we work with women and their communities and meet some of these inspiring women here.
And today let’s remember to:
Embrace Equity
Embrace Independence
Embrace Opportunity
Please consider supporting our work and enabling more women to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty. Over the next 18 months we want to help another 100,000 women break the cycle of poverty using financial access to build more sustainable lives - join us and DONATE HERE
