Rownak Ara Haque, Shahnaj Parvin, and Shamim Ara Begum represent Pollisree, Oxfam's long-term partner in Bangladesh. Pollisree and Oxfam are working together on a project called Creating Spaces that aims to reduce violence against women and girls and help change the attitudes, behaviors, and systems that perpetuate that violence. Photo: Abir Abdullah/Oxfam
this women's history month, Oxfam is celebrating women changemakers, examining the issues that block women's equality, and encouraging you, our community, to increase your involvement to create a more just and equal world. We're inspired by women leaders across the globe, and are thankful to work alongside them to enact change. Here are four of the ways that, with your support and the leadership of women, we're already working to counter gender inequality:
Helping to stop violence against women with local leaders like Marta Sanchez from El Salvador. Marta is part of a group of volunteers who help train women and students on how to prevent violence, and supports survivors as they navigate the justice system after an attack, teaching survivors their rights and following up on their cases.
Establishing programs like a honeybee project in Ethiopia. Through Oxfam-supported beekeeping cooperatives in Ethiopia, women are able to open bank accounts and earn their own source of income. The project also incorporates adult literacy training, so those involved can gain reading and writing skills.
Ensuring women have safe environments after being forced to flee their homes. For Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who had fled to Bangladesh, overcrowding in camps led to concerns about safety for women and girls in particular. To help, Oxfam installed solar-powered lights so women could navigate without fear at night, provided women with burqas so they could leave their shelters without violating their community's standard of modesty, and worked with local groups to raise awareness about gender-based violence and amplify women's voices.
Finding opportunities for refugees to earn income. For 80,000 Syrian refugees, the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan has evolved into a permanent settlement due to the ongoing conflict. When the camp switched from using tents to a caravan for the camp's shelter, Oxfam started the Lel-Haya project to upcycle the old tents into tote bags made by Syrian refugee women within the camp. The project trains the women with long-term job skills and provides them with work opportunities that allow the women to earn their own income.
Read more about these programs and other ways your commitment powers our work to create a just and equal future for women.
Together, we can reduce gender inequality. This Women's History Month, and with International Women's Day right around the corner, join us and flip the script: instead of looking to the past, let's envision a just and equal world for women... and then get to work to realize that future together. Learn more about our work and how to get involved here.
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