Right now, there are more than 20 wars & armed conflicts in the world. The overwhelming majority of those injured and killed are women & children. Women who survive wars bear the brunt of the hardship, most often through some combination of sexual and gender-based violence. Their families are destroyed, communities and economies ruined. Yet in the midst of crisis, women are the ones providing for their families and they are the keys to a sustainable future in a new, and often unstable peace.
Sustainable income-generating opportunities will allow women in war-torn countries to lift themselves out of crisis and poverty and participate in long-term reconstruction. Providing short-term financial aid and job skills training to women will result in long-term economic sustainability because women have been shown to invest in education & children. Further, giving women economic power leads to social power and to lasting impact on their communities and their nations.
Women for Women International provides just these kinds of opportunities through their sponsorship program, a year-long program in which enrolled women receive a monthly stipend, therapy, skills training, rights education, and the chance to start their own business. WfW offers this program in countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, including the Congo. This blog traces my efforts to raise awareness about the sickening violence taking place in the Congo today and to raise funds to sponsor “sisters” in the Congo and elsewhere.
