14 Mar Acting On Our Pledge for Parity

On March 8th, EQWIP HUBs made the #PledgeForParity as part of International Women’s Day. Today we want to take you behind the scenes, and introduce you to the ways we’re acting on our pledge.

The past 8 months have seen the EQWIP HUBs Network start collaborating on the EQWIP HUBs Gender Equality Strategy. It is being designed to assure that women are represented in all EQWIP HUBs decision-making platforms, and to reduce the barriers young women face when trying to access EQWIP HUBs sustainable livelihoods programs.

This bold strategy is being used as a launchpad to establish our gender-responsive programs in the years to come. With the help of volunteer Gender Advisors, each of our six country offices has been collaborating with young women to identify the country-specific barriers they face when accessing our livelihoods programs.

So far we’ve learned that:

• Discrimination and gender-based violence combine to limit young women’s access to the training, services, and support required to attain a sustainable livelihood.
• Family and societal pressures, such as household responsibilities, often take priority over education and economic participation.
• Gender stereotypes may direct women into certain economic sectors, and limit opportunities in others.
• The transition from education to work can be tougher for young women. This may occur because barriers prevent young women from taking part in decision-making structures designed to adapt training and mentorship services to their needs.

These conversations continue to spark ideas, solutions and insight which are being incorporated into the groundbreaking EQWIP HUBs employment and entrepreneurship curriculums, launching this month!

More than that, our conversations have been broad and diverse. By reaching out to women’s groups and local industry, EQWIP HUBs is able to start addressing more systemic barriers impacting young women’s ability to access a sustainable livelihood and improve opportunities for further education and mentorship. These collaborators will be valuable as EQWIP HUBs works towards gender parity over the next four years.

It’s an exciting time, and EQWIP HUBs is proud to support the #PledgeForParity by propelling #YouthForward!

Gender Advisor Opportunities:

Contribute to EQWIP HUBs gender responsive initiatives as a Gender Advisor in one of our 17 global EQWIP HUBs this May. Learn more