On behalf of everyone here at The Global Women’s Project, we are delighted to have been selected as Travel with Jane’s inaugural Scrap the Gap campaign partner for 2020.
As a grassroots, entirely volunteer-run not for profit organisation founded by women, led by women, and which exists to advance the lives and livelihoods of women everywhere, we feel like we couldn’t have found a better partner to help us tackle women’s economic insecurity (wherever in the world it occurs).
At The Global Women’s Project we’re determined to create a world where every girl and woman has the right to influence, determine and improve her own life. Our burning passion is women’s education, entrepreneurship and empowerment and we currently run projects in both Nepal and Cambodia.
Since 2013, we have been working in partnership with the Women’s Foundation of Nepal to jointly develop and deliver our vocational training, economic empowerment and women’s rights programs through our Rural Women’s Resource Hubs in the remote regions of Sunsari, Jhapa and Bhaktapur. Our community consultations in Nepal found that many local women have:
- limited formal education and literacy skills
- lack decision making power in their households
- are subjected to frequent violence and discrimination in the home and in their communities
- undertake the majority of household labour and chores,
work extremely long hours in family farms and businesses for little or often no pay - are generally unaware of their personal and legal rights.
They also commonly lack the knowledge, skills and resources they need to successfully engage in paid employment or other income generating activities.
Our hubs are designed to provide women with a safe place to come together to seek assistance, develop new skills and improve their autonomy, self-sufficiency and overall wellbeing. Members of our Hubs have access to life-changing opportunities and resources such as counselling and facilitated support groups, mediation and legal support services, rights awareness training and campaigns, vocational skills and small business training, and microfinance loans. Membership is free and also includes access to localised savings circles and an extensive support network of other women.
Our Hubs are currently working directly with over 1500 women, with several thousand additional people in the communities surrounding our Hubs also benefiting indirectly, including children, partners, family and friends.
We are able to provide these services at an incredibly low program cost of just $43 per woman per year. This is basically the cost of one main meal and a glass of wine at an Australian restaurant, or the cost of 2 cups of coffee each day during one work week. Pretty extraordinary hey?
Our Hubs program is designed to eliminate traditional barriers to women’s economic advancement and to engage local men in discussions and actions relating to the attainment of increased gender equality within the home and local community. It is also designed to provide women with greater earning potential and access to resources that increase local economic growth and consequently alleviate poverty.
The presence of our Hubs in these regions has been shown improve the social structure of the community through greater education on gender equality and positive changes in women’s lives and social connections. Furthermore, consistent studies have shown that when women are earning their own income, they invest up to 90% of it back into their children and families. For men it is around 30-40%. The effects of this reaches across generations to improve education, health and socio-economic outcomes for entire communities.
If you believe (like we do) in making the world a more equal and enabled place, please show your support by purchasing a Travel with Jane policy during the months of March and April, and 10% of the policy cost will be directed towards our work in Nepal. There is simply no better way to travel.