Empowering women through gender quality.

Women and girls bear the brunt of poverty. Too often girls miss out on school and women face violence. Many women all over the world don’t have secure, paid jobs, and die needlessly during pregnancy and childbirth. Forced early marriages, general social attitudes and gender norms make women vulnerable to injustice.

Women everywhere bear an unfair share of household work. Women also don’t have access to important skills that could help them play a role in freeing communities from poverty.

We want to create a world more equal for women and girls. Your support will go to countries where women don’t have equal opportunities.

Fast facts

• 60% of the world’s working poor are women
• 90% of countries have at least one law that discriminates against women
• 1 in 5 women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime
• 1 in 9 girls in developing countries is forced into marriage before her 15th birthday
• In every region, women do the bulk of unpaid work such as caregiving and household tasks

Some of our key gender equality projects 

• STOP Sexual Harassment project – working in the Mekong to address sexual harassment in the garment industry
• Village Savings and Loans (VSLA) – over twenty-five years ago in eastern Niger, a modest metal lockbox helped change the world
• Boosting Coffee Production – supporting coffee farmers to increase their income
• Leftemap Sista – building leadership and skills for women in Vanuatu
• The EMERGE Program – supporting migrant urban women in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
• Linking women’s economic empowerment, gender-based violence, and sexual reproductive health and rights

Why empower women and girls?

We cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. That’s why we put women and girls at the heart of our work. It’s a wise investment, because our experience shows that when women are healthy and educated, their families will be too. And when women earn money, they invest it in the health and education of their children and families. When one woman escapes poverty, she will bring four others with her – that’s a powerful way to create lasting change.

How is CARE empowering women and girls and achieving gender equality?

CARE empowers women and girls to build a more equal world. We actively help women to earn more income, prevent violence, get basic services and gain more learning opportunities.

Our programs support women so that they can have income-earning skills and own assets like livestock. We also help them with access to microfinance. CARE is committed to helping poor women and girls out of violence in families and workplaces. Women are getting better leadership skills through our work in many countries of the world.