The challenge: We have seen significant reductions in global poverty since 1990, but not everyone has benefitted equally. Hundreds of millions of women and girls are still poor and remain disproportionately affected by poverty, including unequal access to resources, opportunities, and choices. According to UN women, not a single country in the world can claim to have achieved gender equality. Women and girls continue to face obstacles in law and culture which translate to a world where they are undervalued, work more, earn less, have fewer choices, and experience violence at home and in public.
Our solution: We strive towards a future where gender does not determine status, power to make decisions, or access to resources and services – a world where women, men, girls, and boys can all reach their full potential. We promote gender equality in all of our programs by engaging women and men, girls and boys, to address the underlying beliefs and practices that create and reinforce gender inequalities. We also empower the disadvantaged, whether male or female, to develop confidence and skills and take control over their lives, and invest in institutions and relationships that facilitate an environment that supports gender equality.
Duration: 2018-2019 Location: Global Reach: This is a research project with no direct beneficiaries. Budget: $560,000 (International Development Research Centre: $280,000;
SPARC aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of some of the most vulnerable women and adolescent girls in Cabo Delgado.
Elizabeth Kuroyedov is part of the 2017-2018 cohort of the International Youth Fellowship Program. She is currently placed with Aga Khan Rural Support Program India (AKRSPI).
We were all once children. We were all once young, full of hope and potential.
As September turned into October, six Canadians from different walks of life embarked on a journey through Kenya to get a glimpse into the work AKFC is supporting around the world.
Lal and Samantha live worlds apart, but their lives are more similar than it seems at first glance.
For vulnerable communities in remote, high mountain valleys across Central Asia, lives are changing.
It sits nestled in the palm of my hand, a shrunken, wrinkled russet sphere that rattles softly when I shake it. I find it in Zeverdashd, a Tajik village wedged between the towering Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. It represents a livelihood for 15 women and their families.
Apendiwe Momade sits in the shade outside her home in rural Mozambique, next to a billowing pile of dried grass.
Her legs are outstretched on one of her homemade mats, her fingers a blur as she expertly twists the grass into intricate patterns.
