How women are helping communities defeat food insecurity

In many rural villages in Northern India and Nepal, long-standing cultural norms have relegated women to subordinate positions in marriage and minimal educational opportunities, stifling the social, agricultural and economic development of entire communities. But with the NGO World Neighbors' work to increase female literacy and help initiate locally-controlled savings and credit groups, these areas' female residents have become a more empowered component of local development and progressive change.

In remote areas of Kenya, health care is hard to access and medical professionals and technology have been hard to come by. A new partnership between the government, Phillips, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has resulted in a new health care centre with state of the art technology, health care training systems, and more personnel to better serve women and children.

Well-paying mining jobs used to be the bedrock of Appalachian coal country, but those jobs are increasingly hard to find. Local and national organizations are working together to help the region diversify economically by supporting local entrepreneurship with trainings and grant money.

Women Rising for Africa is training women to become boda boda taxi drivers, teaching them the necessary skills to enter the male-dominated industry and gain financial independence. The organization enrolls the women in defensive riding, road safety, self-defence, financial literacy and first-aid classes to equip them when entering the business. Since 2022, the group has trained 90 women riders.

The Youngstars Foundation shares booklets with young girls of stories about women who have succeeded in their careers to inspire them to find a new sense of confidence and establish their own ambitious career goals. Between 2017 and 2019, 5,000 booklets were distributed to 4,500 young girls across 36 states. The Foundation also has an online module for the program, which over 18,000 young women and girls have signed up for.

The Women Radio Centre (WRC) works to empower the next generation of female investigative journalists, training them on reporting tactics to prevent gender disparities and promote reporting on women’s rights, as women are often underrepresented in investigative journalism. WRC also aims to equip young, female journalists with adequate training and connect them with job, networking and story opportunities. In WRC’s second year, 40 journalists have been trained and completed the program.

Despite it being a historically male-dominated field, women in Kashmir are learning copper smithing to become both socially and financially independent. Women who have mastered the skill then teach it to others, allowing more and more women to not only learn a valuable skill, but to secure income to support themselves.

The Green Phoenix Farm is a job training program for women who have experienced homelessness and offers them employment, mentorship, and advocacy. In 2021, the farm produced $110,000 worth of value off of .8 acres under cultivation, which is 17 times the economic output of an average vegetable farm in the United States.

The Skilled Women Initiative trains women trains displaced women living in camps on various skills they can use to make money and find jobs, empowering them to one day leave the camps. The initiative has trained about 700 people in skills like textile upcycling, crochet, sewing, and soap making. It also educates those in the program on how to develop a business plan to sell their goods and services and connects them with job referrals outside of the camps.

Employment programs that provide extra benefits such as paid training, books, childcare, and rent incentives allow people to switch to jobs in fields that pay living wages. Sacramento’s Digital UpSkill and Jobs Plus are two examples of programs that provide opportunities for those who need the extra support.