CARE recently released the 2024 report of its Women’s Economic Justice (WEJ) team. Entitled Her Money Her Future, the report confirmed that women are both good investors and a good investment.
with Mudzi Wathu Village Bank. (Image credit: CARE Report, Her Money, Her Future)
While CARE is famous for its aid programs, outside resources alone will not end global poverty. That will require internal resources created by the people who need the help. Most often women who suffer disproportionately from endemic poverty. Therefore WEJ works directly with women to help them start and run their own business.
The report shows that the results have been spectacular. CARE’s savings groups generated $9 in women’s income for every $1 invested.
A return of 900% is something Wall Street can only dream about.
Including a metric to measure Return on Investment (ROI) is crucial to drive home the point that excluding women from start-up or investment funding is foolish to the point of discriminatory.
“To fix the broken market systems that exclude women, we must listen to their priorities and design together with them to support their ambitions,” said Mark Muckerheide, Associate Vice President of Programs, CARE WEJ. “This report goes beyond success stories. Quantifying the economic impact of our programs enables us to benchmark our work better and improve the resources women need to achieve their goals.”
The WEJ works through Village Saving & Loan Associations (VSLA) programs. Unlike loans which charge interest, VSLA programs stimulate the creation of savings groups within a community so that participants are able to create their own funds rather than seek them from banks or other interest-seeking institutions. Lack of interest payments is one factor in driving the ROI of 900%.
Training is provided by WEJ and after that the savings groups are cooperative ventures that are self-managed to encourage and facilitate saving by the participants. This approach eliminates the interest expense sought by lenders.
Since 2020, over 6 million people have joined CARE’s savings groups, of which 78% are women. In addition, 80-89% of the women participating have reported income growth.
In this way, CARE is “making market systems work for women, increasing women’s incomes and decreasing gaps between women and men”
To do this, the attitudes and behaviors of banks, companies, and suppliers have to be adjusted to the new reality. Only then will markets work better for women.
Here is the link to CARE’s website.
One: Jamaica Rejoins the IPU
After a hiatus of nearly thirty years, Jamaica has rejoined the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU). The IPU is dedicated to cooperation among parliaments across the globe to seek peaceful resolutions to international issues that affect numerous countries and regions.
Established in 1889 with Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU consists of the legislative organs of a country, rather than through an ambassador. Jamaica becomes the 181st member country, out of the 193 sovereign countries in the world.
Jamaica had been a member country between the years 1983 and 1996.
Thomas Tavares-Finson, President of the Senate of Jamaica, said: “We are convinced that renewing our affiliation with the IPU will not only result in greater access to IPU resources, but also allow our Parliament to make an even greater contribution to the landscape of inter-parliamentary cooperation.”
One of the primary objectives of IPU is to increase the number of women in politics. IPU is a champion of representative democracy, and a democracy cannot be representative if half of its citizens are not equal participants in politics.
IPU monitors the number of women in government across the world. Currently, the global average of directly elected members of parliament is 27%. Jamaica is slightly above that average, at 27.4%.
In the year 2024, approximately half the world’s population had the opportunity to go to the polls to vote for representatives. Through the first eight months of the year, with elections to 37 chambers in 30 countries
there were only limited gains in the number of women elected. The average did move up, barely, with a 0.1% increase over the previous year.
To read the full press release for Jamaica, see the link below:
https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2024-10/jamaica-rejoins-ipu
For the article on 2024 elections, use this link:
https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2024-09/super-election-year-sees-few-gains-women-mps-so-far
To read more about IPU:
Two: Over 370 million girls and women globally subjected to rape or sexual assault as children
The number cited in the headline represents one of every eight women and girls worldwide who were the victim of of rape or sexual assault before reaching age 18.
The figure is provided by UNICEF and represents the first-ever global estimate for the scope of sexual violence against children. The figure does not include non-contact violence, such as verbal or on-line abuse, the number rises to 650 million, or one in five women and girls.
“Sexual violence against children is a stain on our moral conscience,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “It inflicts deep and lasting trauma, often by someone the child knows and trusts, in places where they should feel safe.”
A number of this magnitude is the urgent need for a strategy of prevention that is all-encompassing and thorough. Support mechanisms are also desperately needed to support all those affected.
The problem is pervasive world-wide, but children in unsettled conditions with weak institutional protections, such as refugees fleeing due to political or other crises face an even greater risk of violence. In such conditions, the number of those affected can reach one in four. In conflict zones, rape and gender-based violence are used as weapons of war.
The data shows that the majority of childhood sexual violence happens during adolescence. The years between 14 and 17 are particularly dangerous. Worse,a child that has one encounter with one of violence is more likely to experience it again. The key is implementing methods of intervention to break the cycle and ameliorate the long-term impacts of the trauma.
The first Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children will be held in Colombia in November of 2024. This will be a congress of government officials and civil activists, survivors, and young people. The goal is to motivate increased action to fight childhood sexual violence and create a safer environment for children.
The process for doing so starts with challenging and changing societal norms that provide a context for the violence to occur and providing information to allow children to recognize the violence for what it is. If the violence cannot be prevented, systems must be in place to ensure access to services and creating the legal mechanisms to deny predators access to potential targ
To read the full press release, use this link:
For the link to information about the upcoming
For the UNICEF website:
Three: The 2% Glass Ceiling
The Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) released its sixth annual Women & Girls Index (WGI) earlier this month. The WGI measures charitable giving directed towards groups that are committed specifically to women and girls in the USA. It is the only comprehensive index that is systematically generated to record the dollar value of donations given to an organization.
The good news is that organizations dedicated to women and girls exceeded $1o billion for the first time ever, coming in at $10.2B. . The bad news is that, despite this record amount, money given to support women and girls still only accounts for something less than 2%.
While awareness of gender-focused issues such as pay equity and reproductive rights has grown, overall charitable giving that supports women and girls remains relatively small at 1.9% of total giving. The dollar value of annual donations has hovered just below the 2% mark for the past decade.
The $10.2 billion is gleaned from IRS records for 2021. This is the last year for which completed data is available. Since this amount comes after the uptick in giving during the pandemic, it is possible the amount may trend downward for the next year.
Yet there is reason to remain optimistic. In 2022, WPI launched Give to Women and Girls Day, a national awareness initiative to galvanize philanthropic support for women and girls. WPI recently hosted the Give to Women and Girls Day celebratory event alongside Amplify Her Foundation virtually and at The New-York Historical Society in New York.
“It’s truly encouraging to see women’s and girls’ organizations surpass the $10 billion mark. Yet, these groups still receive less than 2% of overall philanthropic funding—a statistic that has not changed since we began tracking data from 2012,” said Jacqueline Ackerman, interim director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. “We must bolster philanthropic support for the wide range of organizations serving women and girls, from those addressing services like healthcare and human rights, to those focused on education and economic empowerment, to advance meaningful, enduring progress.”
To read the full press release:
To reach the WGI, use the link below:
https://wgi.communityplatform.us
For the WPI website, follow this link:
https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/index.html
Four: Election Philanthropy Filling Voter Engagement Gaps
The election draws ever closer, and Tides is actively working to ensure full participation by all eligible voters. Towards this effort, Tides has granted $170 million to democracy programs as part of a $200 million commitment announced earlier this year.
This is critical as early voting has already begun. In many states, too many voters are being confronted with new laws, regulations, and restrictions that are specifically intended to make voting as difficult as possible. In many instances, the purpose is simply to disenfranchise wide swaths of those who may otherwise opt to vote for the “wrong” candidate.
These laws and restrictions disproportionately affect BIPOC, young, or low-income voters. Again, this effect is intentional. Any efforts to help those affected are blunted by blatant disinformation and even threats of violence.
Perhaps worse is that money available to create true civic engagement in the voting process is limited despite the billions of dollars spent during presidential elections. And this despite the record amounts of money raised during the current election cycle. The philanthropic sector has not given this issue much attention as less than 1% of philanthropic giving is devoted to the problem.
Tides has provided funds to help:
- Support community organizations getting out the vote in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina as they grapple with the impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in states that have taken steps to make it much harder to vote.
- Combat bad actors working to silence democracy groups and the communities of color they help educate, register, and turn out.
- Protect voting options, particularly in rural areas that already have limited options compared to more urban areas.
It’s very important to note that a good effort at the polls in November could mean a government that is concerned about helping its citizens.
Reference: Tides Healthy Democracy effort
Five: ASRM Launches National Campaign in Support of Reproductive Rights Ballot Measures
Ten states will have questions regarding reproductive rights on their ballots in November. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has announced a major campaign to support women’s right to control their own health care.
The campaign will include broadcast ads, online promotions, formal endorsements, and initiatives connecting ASRM members from around the country directly to fellow voters.
The US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, removing a guarantee of abortion rights at the national level. This decision left abortion policy to individual states. A number have imposed harsh restrictions on a woman’s right to choose, and several more have proposed such anti-choice legislation.
In a counter measure, numerous states have passed laws guaranteeing a woman’s right to choose. Now, ten more states have ballot measures to ensure women retain their reproductive rights in their respective states to the ballot this November.
“ASRM and its members want to send a very clear message: we will not sit idly by while politicians seek to come between us and our patients. Given the stakes and the onslaught of misinformation and anti-democratic tactics from opponents, we have no choice but to be actively involved. As we have with every reproductive-related ballot measure since the dangerous Dobbs decision, we intend to fight, and we intend to win,” said Sean Tipton, Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer for ASRM.
To read the complete press release at the ASRM website, use the link below:
Six: Locus Receives over $70 Million and Notable Awards from CDFI Fund
Locus is the parent organization of several social enterprises whose collective mission is to create equitable access to capital by developing community partnerships and innovative tools that tackle systemic challenges and advance opportunities for underserved communities.
Locus (formerly Virginia Community Capital) is a $335 million nonprofit and parent organization for a family of social enterprises, which includes Locus Bank, Locus Impact Fund, Locus Capital, and the Community Investment Guarantee Pool, or CIGP. The mission of Locus Locus employs solutions to address inequities, including lending, banking, impact-driven programs, place-based investments, and strategic consulting and work with each community to build investment strategies that lift their assets and meet their unique needs. To learn more, visit locusimpact.org.
