ICC Works Toward Empowering Women

The plight of women in developing countries has long been a concern of International Child Care. In a recent study conducted by UNICEF, the child-advocacy arm of the United Nations, researchers found that the amount of power that a woman holds is directly related to the care that her children receive. In many parts of the world, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic, women have little say in domestic, workplace, or political decisions, although they are the ones ultimately responsible for the care of the home. According to this study, women who have the power to influence household decisions will provide their children with better health care and help to ensure they receive a good education. In fact, UNICEF reports that “women’s access to power at the household level has the most direct impact on families and children.”

International Child Care has always recognized the importance of women as leaders both in the home and in society. To this end, we have sought to empower women with programs like adult literacy classes, micro-enterprise loans, and community health worker training. In Haiti, adult literacy classes allow members of the community to learn to read and write in Creole and French, improving their chances at finding work. Our micro-enterprise loans offer small amounts of money, lent at low interest rates, to women who see a way out of poverty by starting their own business or trade. Often, there is overlap between these two programs, as businesswomen who have received micro-loans seek to improve their reading skills and newly-literate women are able to get started with their own small business. In the Dominican Republic, International Child Care deliberately seeks out women who are known and respected leaders within their own communities to be trained as health and rehabilitation promoters so that we can promote not only health, but balanced gender roles in this traditionally male-dominated culture.

These simple, but effective, programs are a part of International Child Care’s mission to give the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic a hand up, not a handout. Initiatives like these also empower women by encouraging them to be assertive in their roles as wives, mothers, and members of their communities, for the sake of themselves and their children.

To learn more about how you can help International Child Care empower women and strengthen families, make a gift or contact us today.