(Pour l’article en français c’est par ici)
Why all of us need Women Empowerment
On the 8th of March it is International Women’s Day.
When I was thinking about organising an event to mark the occasion, somebody pointed out:
why do we have to create a special day in the calendar to celebrate women? Everyday should be about empowering women and men to take steps toward equality!
So what is women empowerment and why do we need it?
Did you know that according to the World Bank, women account for 66% of the world’s working hours but only 10% of the world income?
Did you know that women produce 50% of the world’s food yet possess only 1% of it’s wealth?
And of the 900 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write, about two thirds are women!?
The UN defines women empowerment as
a women’s sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally.
We need women empowerment because it should be possible for everyone to have a significant role in society!
I can’t say it any better than Michael Kimmel. Women empowerment and gender equality has proven to be good for the economy, for business, for a country’s happiness and… for men!
At MakeSense we know that solutions exist!
MakeSense is a worldwide community promoting and developing social entrepreneurship. As a global collective, we can band together to help source, create, develop and put in to practice these solutions.
Sarah Zouak embarked on a Women Sense Tour where she toured Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran and Indonesia to break stereotypes around Muslim women. Along the way she discovered many social businesses set up by inspirational women!
Solidarité Feminine in Casablanca, Morocco, supports women who have had children out of wedlock (traditionally taboo in Moroccan culture) to become independent by helping them gain access to healthcare, childcare and employment opportunities so that they are able to support themselves financially.
In Senegal and France the MakeSense community is launching a Women Empowerment mobilisation.
There are many challenges to be tackled so at MakeSense we have divided these into 3 main categories:
1. How can we grant all women access to their basic needs?
2. How can we empower women to strive through education and employment with equal opportunities?
3. How can we break down gender stereotypes, inequality and violence against women?
Our aim? Mobilise a maximum number of people to find solutions all around the world. Do you know an innovative project empowering women?
Innovative projects on the MakeSense website can publish a challenge (e.g. communication, finance, business model etc.) and ask the community to help them solve it by organising a brainstorming workshop. This means you are directly helping a social entrepreneur develop their project in order to have maximum impact!
How can you get involved?
You can:
1. Source projects in your region related to Women Empowerment
2. Organise a problem solving workshop
3. Organise an MKS Room event to raise awareness!
Contact a community developer to launch the mobilisation in your region!
Sophie is helping the MakeSense community to grow
in the region of Bordeaux, France.
She is working with volunteers to get people involved in solving social startups’ challenges.
