Women are the backbone of every successful society. To have a buoyant local economy and thriving society, both girls and women need to be heavily empowered. What is the fate of a country like Haiti, where almost seventy percent of the female gender are victims of hopeless poverty? It’s rather unfortunate that Haiti – a nation that was still building an averagely sufficient local economy was a victim of a destructive natural disaster. The 7.0 magnitude disaster that shook Haiti has more negative impact than often reported. Shortly after the awful incidence, cases of rape and other violent acts were reoccurring, putting the women in a severe dilemma.
Women form the majority of street vendors, and they also help with great effort in supporting the nation’s agricultural supply chains. However, when disaster hits the nations, the women tend to suffer the pain more. To begin with, two-thirds of the people who died as a result of the earthquake were women. Following the deadly incidence, many of the Haiti women lose their jobs, businesses and other sources of income. Because of the lack of shelter, many suffered pitifully from sexual harassment and abuse.
Today, women are sharing latrines without lights, bathe in public, forced to sleep next to strangers and much more. In terms of income generation, wages for women stands at 32 percent lower than wages for men. In terms of education, Haiti women are also at the downside of the chart. Averagely, you are like to come across an illiterate woman more than illiterate man. The male illiteracy level in Haiti is about 64 percent, while the female illiteracy level is about 57 percent. One out of every three women in Haiti has experienced violence.
Although both men and women in Haiti are both suffering from the high incidence of unemployment and underemployment, Haiti is named the poorest country in the western hemisphere. With the highest HIV rate, the country has been a hotspot for a series of life-threatening natural disasters. Haiti is presently facing a poor economy, high unemployment rate and chronic poverty. About 59 percent of Haitians below $2.42 per day – the national poverty limit. Sixty-two percent of an average household makes less than $75 per month while 39 percent make below $15 per month. Most Haiti families cannot afford medical fees, enrol their children to a standard high school, buy new dresses for their children and more.
Even though the negative outcomes of the disasters are also hitting men hard, yet the women seem to be suffering more due to their maximum involvement in the local economy of the nation. In Haiti, nearly half of the households are women-led. They are in charge of feeding the family, enrolling the children to school and paying the school fees, cover health care bills, and unfortunately, they have the lowest employment prospects.
UN, in their research, published that 61 percent of Haiti females and 73 percent of males take part in the labor force. However, another side to the research unveiled that 60 percent of the so-called employed Haitians work under the umbrella of the informal economy. Most of them are involved in activities such as agriculture, street food hawking, roadside merchants, and more. Seventy-four percent of the Haiti women are engaged with agriculture and animal husbandry. This insinuates that 74 percent of Haiti women source their livelihood income from agriculture and commerce.
Unfortunately, the various devastating disasters have seriously damaged most of Haiti lands. The country is suffering from low local agricultural output due to the damage. The women are now faced with little options to survive. No formal jobs, the economy is poor and unfavorable for commerce, and the land is too damaged to practice agriculture. Means of survival are getting leaner every day, and the government is not buoyant enough to cater for all these problems at once.
Women in Haiti are apparently in a critical situation. To worsen the case, a double standard exists for Haiti women. It is generally established that taking care of the home is women’s exclusive responsibility, yet, they have limited options as regards jobs and other income-generating opportunities.
In addition, some women who have larger families with many young children enrolled in schools are less mobile and are not in the best position to seek formal employment.
Our sincere contribution so far
Through our women empowerment programme, we empower thousands of women through skills acquisition, responsibilities and leadership training. With the help of our kind donors, many women who had no prior formal employment are presently managing their businesses. Many, through the leadership skills acquired, are now managing teams and systems. We are positioning women to help a larger community of survivors.
We are creating viable and sustainable income-generating skills and programs to help the women live up in their usual responsibilities at home. We also foster women-run businesses through sound entrepreneur training, allowing them to create several problem-solving businesses that will benefit the entire society. Other activates of our women empowerment program includes the opening of education opportunities, promotion of environmental stewardship and more. Empowered women are a great support in the home in caring for the family.
Our women empowerment program focuses on providing the women with the opportunity to drive home sufficient income that will enable them to support their husbands in the quest to cater to the family. We are committed to breaking the cycle of poverty amidst the women and the country at large. Aside from providing them with the skills that will fetch them income, we also organize special training on financial literacy. The training aims at providing them with the necessary knowledge of how to make and manage money in the prevailing poor economy. The training will teach them how to save money in little income, enlighten them on the difference between cost and price, and also teach them several modern ways to market their goods and services. Adult education for illiterate women is also part of the diverse ways we empower the women
