Soroptimist International – A Global Voice for Women

Soroptimist International – A Global Voice for Women: Lifting Women from Poverty Through Lifelong Learning.

Presenters: 

Mariet Verhoef-Cohen, President.

Elizabeth Nyadwe, Vice President Advocacy. 

Hafdis Karlsdóttir, President’s Appeal Chair.

Soroptimist International’s aim is to educate, empower and enable women all over the world and ensure that their voices are being heard. SI have a network of clubs in 122 countries, with each club administering their own projects. Projects that were highlighted were educational programs in Nepal with focus on female leadership, women’s groups, gender equality training, menstruation hygiene, emotional healing, and more. The STEM field in the UK is another project where Soroptimist International encourages girls to pursue a career within engineering, math and technology. 

Long Life Learning for Women is an important project led by Soroptimist International Europe (SIE). Three projects were highlighted involving young women who were empowered in the work field in Italy and Turkey. Female prisoners got work training while in prison, while another project provided job placements for women who had never worked before.

Two other projects that have an ongoing education component is the SPOT project in Malaysia and the Ger project in Mongolia. The SPOT project seeks to fill gaps in Malaysia’s sexual health and education of young people, especially young girls. Despite over 18,600 cases of underage pregnancies per year there is no formal sexual health and education program in Malaysia. The Ger project enables women to grow their own fruit and vegetables and be self-sustainable.

Women, Water and Leadership is a program where women learn how to store, obtain, irrigate, plant, sell their products and manage their business. By managing water resources, and learning water leadership, women gain social and political power.

For more information about SI's work, please visit their website:  https://www.soroptimist.org/

In Times of Need, Women Stand Together As One

“Women are 14 times more likely to die in disaster-ridden areas.”
 

In times of crisis, from war to natural disasters, women are often neglected in the process of relief. The session titled “Ensuring Gender Equality and Sustainable Livelihood in Post-Disaster Situations” was lead by the Women’s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) Nepal. WOREC worked extensively in Nepal following the devastating earthquake thag struck the country in April 2015. As infrastructures collapsed to the ground, people lost their homes, businesses, and even loved ones. As people set up shelter alongside the debris, WOREC stepped in to provide help, particularly to the women and children. 

WOREC launched the Sneha Campaign, sneha meaning love and compassion in Nepalese. They recognized that lactating women, pregnant women, and elderly women were most at risk. They also recognized that third-party support can be viewed as a burden by the women in Nepal, a favor that they must soon repay. Instead of giving food and water, WOREC took a novel approach to provide “dignity kits”. 

What are dignity kits?

When asked what the worse part is about the earthquake, with no hesitation women said not being able to bathe. Those of us who are fortunate to not be living in a disaster area take simple things like bathing, brushing our teeth, and for the women, having access to menstrual products for granted. For the Nepalese women, not being clean was a hit to their dignity. With this knowledge, WOREC made dignity kits full of soaps, sanitary napkins, underwear, bras, etc.

WOREC also works to provide psychosocial counseling for all women. Though it often goes unnoticed, data suggests that sexual violence and exploitation increases during disasters. To combat this reality, WOREC set up “female friendly spaces” where the women can go to receive one-stop help.

It is normal in most governments that women groups are least funded. During times of crisis, the numbers don't seem to change despite the increased need for help. People must realize that even in crisis, women are still menstruating, still pregnant, still nursing. In crisis, the most affected and disadvantaged are women. More needs to be done to reflect this reality.