IN THIS ISSUE

• Letter from our Executive Director
• Issue Brief: Achieving Gender Equality Through Data, Government, and Communities
• Organization Profile: Every Woman Treaty: Charting a Historic Path towards Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
• Goalmaker: Meera Satpathy: Founder and Chairperson, Sukarya
• Member Blogs
• GlobalWA Member Events
• Career Center

Letter from our Executive Director

On March 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day and the need for a global, inclusive movement to value gender equality. While progress has been made, we are not on track to achieve the targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. More must be done. In fact, gender equality is interconnected with, and is the foundation of, numerous SDGs and could unlock the potential to improve lives in low- and middle-income countries.

Several Global Washington member organizations and Pangea Giving partners are addressing gender equality with multifaceted approaches, such as data disaggregation, primary education of girls, crisis support, food security, financial inclusion, rule of law, health, women in leadership, and advocacy. These efforts aim to empower women and girls, challenge gender norms, and combat violence and discrimination.

There are also several Pangea Giving partners in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America that are working with local communities in rural areas on fundamental aspects of gender equality. You can read more about these grassroots organizations below.

Last December, Ghanaian author and advocate Yawa Hansen-Quao spoke about the power of girls when they find their voice to become leaders in their communities. You can watch her presentation here from the 2023 Goalmakers Conference and view other recorded sessions from the conference here.

Despite the work that still must be done, I am hopeful given the determination of Global Washington members and their collective efforts to fight gender inequality. Please learn more about these organizations in the articles below.

Kristen Dailey
Executive Director

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Issue Brief

Achieving Gender Equality Through Data, Government, and Communities

By Cady Susswein

Tanzanian woman in government. Photo: Jumacada/Pixabay

The world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. Full stop. According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 131 years at our current rate to reach full parity. That may feel like a daunting figure – an end we will not see in our lifetimes – but this should be a cause for further determination, not despair. GlobalWA’s members are doing incredible work to accelerate the pace of change, which can be done.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, Gender Equality, acts as a keystone for the rest of the SDGs, i.e. it is incredibly complex and intrinsically linked to the success of every other SDG. Without gender equality, we cannot fully eradicate poverty. Without gender equality, we cannot completely achieve food security. Without gender equality, we cannot truly enhance global security. And the list continues. This makes the work of gender equality even more important as we approach 2030, and it means we need to look at all the causes of gender inequality across society. As a result, we see GlobalWA’s partners tackling gender equality from a multitude of angles from data disaggregation to food and financial security to rule of law and advocacy. Each etching away at the problem to create a collective, centrifugal force against gender inequality.

Data Disaggregation

One of the most important building blocks of gender equality is disaggregated data. Gender qualifiers reveal patterns with an outsized effect on women and children that could be missed when looking only at the general population. Better data is essential for creating effective, gender-informed policy, and more effective policy produces better gender results. However, according to APCO (the world’s largest majority woman-owned communications firm), and their partner Data2X, only 13% of UN member states are collecting data for half or more of the SDG gender indicators. They key, they say, is not only collecting the data but financing and publishing it to make it more accessible to wider audiences who can further leverage the data. 

Education for All – Men and Women, Boys and Girls

CARE is working to reach 50 million people with greater gender equality by 2030 through a comprehensive Gender Equality Framework. This means not only empowering women, but addressing issues like gender norms, toxic masculinity, homophobia, and transphobia for women and men. This approach is intended to transform societal structures.

Similarly, a major pillar of Global Communities’ approach is to engage men and boys in ways that challenge unequal gender norms and power dynamics. They conducted a study in Tanzania to test the efficacy of various mothers-only interventions compared with interventions with both mothers and fathers. They found that interventions with both mothers and fathers increased the time fathers spent on domestic chores, mothers’ decision-making power, leisure time, and nutritional diversity, decreasing gender-based violence. However, educating mothers and fathers together had the most lasting impact.

In 2012, the Sehgal Foundation took a novel approach to the education for all concept, funding a community radio station called Alfaz-e-Mewat, or “Voice of the Mewati” people, in the northwest Indian state of Haryana. The station talks about issues that matter to locals like water conservation and agricultural practices, but because most of the people who do the farming are women, the station became much more, offering a platform for empowerment and entertainment. Today still, the station provides a source of information, therapy, and solidarity to women, some of whom consider the station to be an inspiration for their success in life.

Tostan (meaning “breakthrough” in Wolof) empowers communities across West Africa through an evidence-based education model called the Community Empowerment Program (CEP). CEP is a three-year, holistic curriculum that includes human rights, gender equality, health, literacy, and economic empowerment topics in local languages. CEP participants then go on to share their new knowledge in their communities, a process called “organized diffusion.” To ensure sustainability beyond the program, communities create democratically elected community management committees (CMC) that are further trained in project management and social mobilization skills that continue to lead development projects. Further, CMCs are connected to each other through an empowered communities network to amplify resources and skills.

Education for Women and Girls

Everyone benefits from better educated women. They tend to know more about health and nutrition, have fewer children, marry later, and therefore experience better health outcomes for themselves and their children. They are also more likely to participate in the formal labor market and earn higher incomes. A 2018 World Bank study estimated that limiting education for girls costs countries up to $30 trillion in lost lifetime earnings. All these factors combined can help lift households, communities, and countries out of poverty.

The Mona Foundation’s approach is to address the root causes of poverty and inequality by educating children in India, and therefore empowering women to be the next generation change agents. They do this through grassroots partnerships. Similarly in India, Sukarya educates adolescent girls in the Delhi and Haryana regions on topics such as menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, and life/leadership skills so that they can better navigate misinformation, myths, and social stigmas surrounding gender. The program also provides basic digital skills to improve employability.

When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, they banned education for girls beyond 6th grade. This abruptly ended Sahar Education’s school projects in the region. But they did not abandon their efforts. Instead, they created a stealth program to provide vital skills for Afghan girls, including learning English, technology and coding skills, and educating on gender roles, health, and wellness. The Stealth Sisters and Underground TechSheroes programs are conducted in secret with local schools for girls beyond the Taliban age restrictions.

Crisis Situations

UN Women estimates that the cost of violence against women and girls is $4.7 trillion, or 5.5% of the global economy. That figure is astounding. As Hillary Clinton famously laid out in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, “women’s rights are human rights.” And nearly 30 years later, women in conflict situations are still specifically targeted for sexual violence and rape.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) works to protect women and girls in some of the world’s most dangerous places. In 2022, IRC trained over 1.1 million women and nearly 580,000 men in gender-based violence awareness-raising activities. One way IRC protects girls is through Safe Healing and Learning Spaces. Research shows that access to caring and predictable learning spaces can have a profound impact on children’s learning and wellbeing. IRC created an opensource toolkit so that anyone can create safe spaces where children in crisis settings can learn with improved social, emotional, reading, and math outcomes. Similarly, Global Communities implements Project ROOTS, an after-school program that addresses the root causes of gender-based violence with the goal of preventing human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and unhealthy relationships.

Homelessness is another major problem for women. Almost half of young women who face homelessness are pregnant or already a parent. Homelessness is traumatic and can have lifelong effects on both the parent and the child, especially those under five years old, which are critical years for brain development. Covenant House cares for young people overcoming homelessness, survivors of human trafficking, and migrant youth without a family member.

Food and Financial Security

According to CARE, there is a $1.7 trillion credit gap for women-owned businesses globally – that’s 70% of women-owned small- and medium-sized business or approximately 1 billion women without access to the capital they need. That’s why CARE started CARE Enterprises, a for-profit subsidiary that empowers women through private capital. The initiative is aligned with the 2X Gender Challenge, a commitment by the G7 donor financial institutions and others to invest nearly $30 billion in women where they need it most. Meanwhile, CARE’s Women’s Entrepreneurship (WE) program aims to empower 3 million women economically and mobilize more than $500 million in private capital by 2030.

Studies show that food insecurity coupled with gender inequality increase the risks of gender-based violence for women and girls. For this reason, Heifer International comes at gender inequality from the lens of food and financial insecurity. Gender is still one of the biggest sources of income inequality in the world with women, not to mention trans/non-binary people, earning a fraction of what men do. Heifer supports women with financial literacy training, access to credit, impact investing, and lending groups to name a few initiatives. A family with healthier resources means that families in places like Rajasthan, India might marry off girls later. It might mean that girls stay in school longer, and, with the right gender training, families might start to begin questioning long-held beliefs about gender roles in the household.

37% of people live in coastal communities around the world, and overfishing remains a huge concern. Future of Fish is an organization that works with communities to look at local ocean challenges and collaborate with stakeholders to transform them into sustainable ecosystems that will bring wealth, nutrition, and prosperity for years to come. But sometimes that means coming at an issue from on land because healthy communities means healthy oceans. In 2021, the organization began working with the La Islilla community in Northern Peru, where fishing was one of the only economic drivers. However, due to long-held local cultural norms, women did not fish and therefore had very little way to contribute to the local economy. A group of women who they call “Las Mamás” (the Mothers) wanted to learn a marketable skill. In a participatory process, Future of Fish and Las Mamás developed a sewing program, teaching the women to sew, coupled with financial literacy and women’s rights topics. In late 2023, the Las Mamás finished the first stage of the program.

Women represent less than 15% of landowners, yet they are often the ones responsible for feeding their families. Landesa takes the land rights approach to gender equality. Land can be one of the most powerful tools for wealth generation, giving women a clear seat at the table that can wholly change gender power dynamics across the board. It can mean better access to nutritious food and funds for educational costs that further enhance gender equity. Even more, emerging studies are showing that when women securely own land, it could help mitigate climate change as a result of sustainable land management and long-term investments.

Rule of Law

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It is often described as an international bill of rights for women and is the most widely ratified convention with 189 nations. However, it’s now 45 years later and “femicide” or gender-related killings are breaking records. According to a 2023 UN Women report, 2022 was the highest year on record with over 50,000 women killed in pandemic propotions. The Every Woman Treaty is a coalition of more than 3,000 women’s rights advocates and 840 organizations from 147 countries. Their goal is advancing a new optional protocol to CEDAW that codifies ending violence against women and girls into binding law. Such a treaty would hold nations accountable on women’s safety and security benchmarks.

Also fighting gender equality from the legal lens, Women’s Link Worldwide is an organization that uses the power of the law to promote women and girls through social change. It runs the Gender Justice Observatory with over 400 searchable legal decisions to foster creative and innovative legal arguments on women’s human rights issues.

Health

According to CARE, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes in pregnancy and childbirth every day. The organization not only provides health services, it works to address the barriers that prevent access through programs like their Social Analysis and Action and Community Score Card programs. In 2022, skilled health workers in CARE’s programs attended over 500,000 births, and provided numerous programs to support women and married adolescent girls with education, family planning, and access to contraceptive tools that work for them.

Every year, up to 100,000 women worldwide are affected by obstetric fistula, mostly in developing countries. Obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder that develops after prolonged, obstructed labor. It can be avoided by delaying the age of the first pregnancy, preventing female genital mutilation, and increasing access to care, which can be challenging in rural areas. Women who endure an obstetric fistula risk leaking feces or urine and suffer a tremendous amount of physical, emotional, and social stress. The Worldwide Fistula Fund treats its patients holistically as humans, not statistics, to give them the surgery, physical therapy, and support they need recover.

Women in Power and Advocacy     

Outright International is an organization that fights for better lesbian, gay, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) lives. Its LBQ Connect program strengthens support for lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) activism because these women (including all cisgender, trans, intersex, and nonbinary people who identify as women) are uniquely marginalized. According to organizations in the field, only 5% of LGBTIQ funding is specifically directed to LBQ issues. The program offers training and mentorship, grants for projects, research on areas of data gaps, and larger advocacy projects.  

Oxfam International is building a world where “the future is equal.” They do this in myriad ways, but their Sisters on the Planet program is a quintessential example. Their Sisters on the Planet Ambassadors are a group of American leaders in business, politics, and the arts that unite to fight inequality and empower women and girls around the world.

Global WA: Together, Stronger

The organizations mentioned here are just a few of the great GlobalWA organizations whose work touches women and girls, and the projects highlighted are just a taste of the incredible work they are doing to fight gender inequality from the state of Washington to around the world.

In addition to the above organizations, the following GlobalWA members work on gender equality through their programs in communities where they work.

APCO Worldwide

As healthcare access disparities persist for marginalized communities, the Tegan and Sara Foundation (TSF) has emerged as a beacon of change. APCO Impact is proud to have worked with TSF to create the LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory, a resource aimed at providing inclusive healthcare access to LGBTQ+ individuals.

In collaboration with GLMA, the largest association of LGBTQ+ doctors in the U.S., this directory was created to connect individuals with affirming healthcare providers.

Since its launch in 2022, the directory has connected more than 2,700 providers and facilitated more than 43,000 searches across all 50 states and 10 out of 13 Canadian provinces. With over 60,000 engaged users, the directory has become a trusted resource for LGBTQ+ individuals seeking inclusive healthcare services.

Recent updates, including state-specific search functionality and options for remote healthcare services, have further enhanced the directory’s accessibility. These improvements ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals, regardless of geographical location or social background, have access to quality healthcare.

APCO’s team has worked with TSF since the Foundation’s inception, and the directory is just one of the many programs we develop and execute for TSF. APCO is committed to driving positive change through collaborative, innovative efforts like this. By leveraging our expertise and resources, we support initiatives that advance equity for gender-diverse communities in healthcare and beyond.  

Global Communities

Global Communities recognizes that gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) are vital to realizing human rights, achieving sustainable development goals and delivering effective humanitarian assistance. We also know that achieving gender equality requires intentional efforts to overcome multiple barriers to women’s empowerment. We employ both crosscutting and gender-focused interventions to foster GESI. First, we strive to integrate GESI across all programs. Second, we implement women- and girl-centered programs to promote their leadership, economic empowerment, and civic engagement; advance their health and well-being; and address gender-based violence, including child marriage. One example is Women Empowered (WE) – our signature savings group program designed to promote financial inclusion and the social and economic empowerment of women. While supporting women in building sustainable livelihoods, WE promotes women’s participation, leadership, and collective action, positioning them as confident agents of change in their homes and communities. Finally, we engage men and boys in gender-transformative interventions that challenge unequal gender norms and power dynamics. To learn more, visit our blog, explore our visual story, Women Saving for Resilience: Transforming Lives Through Innovative Savings Group Solutions, and join our upcoming NGO CSW68 parallel virtual event, Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship at Every Stage: A Cross-regional Exchange on March 21, 2024 at 9:30-11 am EST.

Heifer International

Through our locally led approach, Heifer International identified a demand from smallholder women farmers for training, tools and financing to build agribusinesses in service of feeding their families and securing sustainable incomes.

Support for farmer-run cooperatives is central to Heifer’s work with women globally. For many rural women, cooperatives serve as lifelines, offering friendship, a financial safety net and opportunities to learn the agricultural skills necessary to thrive in resource-poor environments.

In Senegal, Heifer partnered with the Saloum Corn Producers Association to support farmers to improve production, adapt to climate change and bolster food security. Through the co-op, women members have strengthened their collective businesses: growing vegetables and staple crops like corn, peanuts and sorghum and, together, processing them into higher-value products. With more than 2,500 members, the group recently built a storage facility for corn and obtained a loan from Heifer’s impact investment arm Heifer Impact Capital to grow its businesses.

Support in the form of facilitated training workshops — including exercises to help change views on gender equality — with the Chhatre Deurali Social Entrepreneur Women’s Cooperative in Nepal encouraged the growth of practical skills. Recent research found that nearly 87% of women participants in Heifer Nepal projects said they made decisions about their incomes, compared to 52% of women in Nepal’s national Demographic and Health Survey.

In Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, the indigenous women of ADIRA Cooperative are learning enterprise management and planning skills to develop viable businesses in the cacao- and chocolate-making sector as part of Heifer’s Green Business Belt program. This partnership with the cooperative has broadened ADIRA’s impact by providing training to empower women to become project promoters in their communities.

Landesa

Landesa champions and works to strengthen land rights for millions experiencing poverty worldwide, primarily in rural areas, to provide opportunity and promote social justice.

Land is the foundation for shelter, livelihood, and climate resilience. When a woman holds strong rights to her land, her dignity, household decision-making, and economic freedom increase—benefiting not just her, but also her family and community. Women’s equal rights to land are fundamental to gender equality. Despite recent progress, there remain significant gaps between women’s land rights on paper and the realities of women on the ground.

Landesa serves as Secretariat for Stand for Her Land (S4HL), the global campaign driving collective action on women’s land rights. With national coalitions in nine countries—and counting—and almost 100 member organizations, S4HL elevates grassroots women’s essential leadership and voices to build the movement for women’s rights to land. Activities include law and policy advocacy, capacity building efforts, and shifting social norms in the direction of gender equity: together driving progress toward making strong land rights a reality for millions of women around the world.

Mona Foundation

Celebrating 25 years of service, Mona Foundation partners with grassroots organizations that educate children, empower women and girls, and emphasize ethics and service to develop next generation change agents who uplift themselves, their families, and their communities. In 2023, working with 24 grassroots partners in 14 countries, we supported the education and empowerment of over 1.35MM students. The consistent and proven result has been that positive social change becomes increasingly visible as the value of gender equality and the education of girls is supported. Community transformation accelerates as social norms that inhibit girls from developing their capabilities evolve and as men champion equality and the right to education for all as inalienable human rights. Our long-term partnerships, built on trust and transparency, enable our grassroot partners to build their capacity to address community needs with increasingly complex solutions, to collaborate with their governments and civic society, and to ultimately scale their reach and impact. Our experience shows that working with grassroots organizations to build local capacity over time is the surest way to overcome challenges and sustain the path towards a more equitable future.

OutRight International

Throughout its 33-year history, Outright International has proudly identified as a feminist organization and advocated for the rights of lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LBTIQ) women through a variety of programs. We work closely with women’s rights activists at the United Nations and around the world because we believe our movements for gender equality and justice are inextricably linked. Outright was founded by queer women, co-hosted the first “lesbian tent” at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, and works closely with the Women’s Rights Caucus and LBTI Caucus at the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. We partner with grassroots LBQ activists in dozens of countries around the world to address and end gender-based violence and launched the LBQ Connect program in 2022 to support and amplify the work of LBQ activists in the Global South and East.

Partners Asia

Partners Asia understands that true freedom requires the empowerment of all individuals, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. Despite the persistent challenges of gender-based violence and discrimination in Southeast Asia, Partners Asia remains unwavering in our commitment to building more equitable communities.

Through comprehensive mentorship programs, Partners Asia nurtures emerging women leaders, enabling them to advocate for change through community engagement, policy advocacy, and movement building. One remarkable example of this is seen in a partner organization on the Thailand-Laos-Myanmar border, which works tirelessly to ensure the health and well-being of girls and youth from diverse ethnic backgrounds, especially regarding reproductive health—a critical issue often overlooked. That’s just one example. There are dozens.

Partners Asia’s approach centers on supporting local organizations that work with marginalized groups, including stateless, indigenous, and ethnic minority women, and LGBTQI youth. This strategy not only addresses gender inequality but also intersects with broader issues like labor rights, healthcare access, education, and citizenship challenges in Southeast Asia.

Partners Asia’s steadfast support for women and LGBTQI-led community initiatives underpins an unwavering commitment to a more just and inclusive world where partners drive meaningful and inspiring progress toward equality and justice.

Perennial

At Perennial, we are deeply committed to advancing Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Reducing Inequalities (SDG 10) through our innovative leadership development program, WOMEN in CLIMATE currently in the fundraising stage. This initiative is dedicated to empowering women in the global south who are at the forefront of combating climate change. Recognizing that these marginalized populations bear the brunt of environmental impacts, our program prioritizes wellbeing and sustainability, offering a support system that is often lacking.
 
Our approach is rooted in the principles of Leadership 3.0, a model that fosters reflection, awareness, and social construction among leaders. This program is inspired by Dr. Britt Yamamoto’s forthcoming book, “The Soil of Leadership,” which emphasizes the transformational potential of tending to the inner world of leadership. Leadership 3.0 encourages a shift towards sustainability, renewal, and the overall wellbeing of leaders, acknowledging the profound impact of a leader’s inner landscape on their external influence.
 
By integrating these principles, Perennial aims to nurture global women leaders who are not only equipped to address the pressing challenges of climate change but also to inspire transformational change within their communities and beyond.

Schools for Salone

Schools for Salone (SfS)’s mission is to advance education in Sierra Leone through local partnerships. One of our key program pillars is to promote education equity by breaking down barriers for girls to complete their education.

In Sierra Leone, menstruation is a significant barrier to education. In our schools, 20% of girls miss school when they are menstruating and 93% of girls lacked knowledge of menstruation before their first period. Shame, stigma, and misinformation discourage girls from attending school while menstruating and prevent schools from teaching healthy attitudes around menstruation. SfS is working closely with Uman Tok Sierra Leone to help keep girls in schools.

Uman Tok, a Sierra Leonean grassroots organization, dismantles barriers to girls’ education by providing sustainable menstrual hygiene kits and vital sexual reproductive education. 

Since the SfS began its partnership with Uman Tok in 2016, over 46,500 menstrual hygiene kits have been produced and distributed and around 23,600 boys and girls have received sexual reproductive health education. Most importantly, SfS schools have had zero cases of teenage pregnancy and period-related absences has dropped to nearly zero.

Starbucks

At Starbucks, we have a responsibility to care for people across the entire supply chain who make coffee possible – from bean to cup, farmer to customer. Further to our Community Promise to contribute positively, The Starbucks Foundation has a goal to positively impact 1 million women and girls in coffee-, tea- and cocoa-growing communities by 2030. To do this, we partner with nonprofit organizations focused on promoting economic opportunity and empowerment, advancing women’s leadership and increasing access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

“Through our Origin Grants program,” says Kelly Goodejohn, Starbucks chief social impact officer, “we are proud to work with nonprofits across the world to uplift women in coffee-, tea-, and cocoa-growing communities with a goal to create opportunities and ultimately improve lives through the empowerment of women. While we have a responsibility to care for people across the entire coffee supply chain, we know that when we invest in a woman, there are ripple effects and positive outcomes for her family and the larger community.” Read more about our latest grants here.

Women’s Link Worldwide

Women’s Link Worldwide is an intersectional feminist, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and Global South-led organization, working with and for the feminist movement in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Africa, and Europe. We proudly work with more than 60 national partners across those regions and 40 regional and global coalitions and networks.

For over two decades, Women’s Link has been using various legal tools to advocate for women, girls, and gender-diverse people, particularly those facing oppression within societal systems, striving to bring them closer to justice.

To work towards achieving gender equality, we strengthen and transform the feminist strategic litigation ecosystem to break down barriers, challenge oppressive systems, and alter power imbalances by breaking the walls of the legal sphere and bringing in those left out.

Central to our method is an intersectional approach applied through legal strategies that secure rights for women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Our priorities are gender and reproductive justice, especially access to safe and dignified abortion, and prevention of gender-based violence. Climate and racial justice are intricately linked to our work on sexual and reproductive rights and gender-based violence.

Pangea Grant Partners – Gender Equality

East Africa

Children’s Empowerment Program (CEP) Uganda

CEP’s goal is to create sustainability of women’s empowerment savings model by establishing a women’s SACCO (credit union) and enhance women’s vocational training by offering a higher level of certification.

Ewang”an Kenya

The goal of Ewang”an is to train 60 women and 20 youth in 3 villages to improve food security and develop resilience through gender and entrepreneurship training.

Playmakers Theatre

Playmaker Theater’s “Wezesha Dada” (Empower A Woman) project will equip young and middle-aged women with life skills to empower themselves to realize their full potential socially, economically, and politically.

Solidarity Eden Foundation

Renewed funds will be used to expand the Women on Wheels program to equip 100 refugee women to gain financial independence: extensive tailing and business training combined with mentoring, mental health support and internships with established tailors. This is a comprehensive program ameliorating the trauma of refugee reality with training and gainful employment.

Ufanisi Women’s Group Kenya

Ufanisi Women’s Group are currently promoting women-led businesses by expanding their sweet potato product enrichment business and open a market stall in Bungoma.

Women In Sustainable Enterprise

WISE was founded to address economic uncertainty and sexual exploitation of women fishmongers in wetland villages around Lake Victoria by promoting environmentally sustainable enterprises that empower women and strengthen the community.

Latin America

AC Esperanza

AC Esperanza promotes a culture of peace and gender equity through innovative programs for secondary school youth in Chimaltenango and their community.

MUSOR AC

MUSOR focuses on education, economic empowerment and health promotion for women and children living in poverty. It was founded by a group Mexican women professionals experienced in implementing projects related to basic reproductive and sexual health in marginalized communities.

Taa’Pit

One of the goals of Taa’Pit is to educate Tzutujil Maya women & children in nutrition, health, culture, sustainable farming, women’s income generation, and environmental stewardship.

UNOSJO

UNOSJO does intersectional work in defense of land rights against mining interests, training isolated rural communities in improving economic independence by bringing agricultural products to market, defending Zapotec language & culture, and shifting attitudes of men and women to reduce gender violence, and encourage women to have a larger role in decision-making at all levels.

Southeast Asia

Cambodia Indigenous Women Association

Cambodian Indigenous Women Association (CIWA) was founded in 2019 at the initiative of 37 indigenous women and 7 men, as an organization committed to gender equity and the protection of fundamental rights of indigenous women. Their goal is building the capacity of indigenous women to lead and take ownership of development processes in Cambodian indigenous communities and society at large.

Muditar

Muditar works to develop and strengthen the Village Development Model. They are also working on the empowerment of women through strengthening the capacity of self-help groups, women led saving fund, reproductive health programs, and income generating projects.

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Organization Profile

Every Woman Treaty: Charting a Historic Path towards Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

By Amber Cortes

First diplomatic event of the Latin American Coalition. The Latin American Coalition advocating for a new Optional Protocol to CEDAW officially launched in February during an event at the Hall of Presidents at the Legislative Assembly in San José, Costa Rica. The event entitled “A Global Call to Eradicate Violence against Girls, Adolescents, and Women” was hosted by Nosotras Women Connecting, in collaboration with Every Woman Treaty and Congresswoman Montserrat Ruíz. It brought together 81 leaders, activists, congress members, representatives from Costa Rican institutions, and international missions from countries such as Chile, Honduras, Brazil, Canada, and the United States to support the call for a new binding instrument. Photo: Ariela Muñoz for Nosotras Women Connecting

“We are living in a historical moment,” says Patricia Elias, Chief of Global Diplomatic Campaign for Every Woman Treaty, a diverse coalition of more than 3,800 women’s rights advocates working to end violence against women and girls worldwide.

“It’s the start of a new international treaty.”

Elias is talking about a new binding international agreement to end violence against women and girls, a goal that Every Woman Treaty has been working towards for the last ten years.

Every Woman Treaty emerged a decade ago in 2013, spurred by a call for action from various UN bodies, notably the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Professor Rashida Manjoo.

This clarion call gathered a cohort of frontline activists and legal scholars from all over the world, including Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, the UK, Afghanistan, the US, Croatia, and Indigenous reservations.

Every Woman Treaty at the Women Deliver conference, Kigali, Rwanda, July 2023. Photo: Every Woman Treaty

Their seminal meeting, hosted at Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, laid bare the stark absence of a binding international norm aimed at eradicating violence against women and girls. Out of this exchange, Every Woman Treaty was born.

Though the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), established in 1979, was a milestone in the international advocacy for women’s rights, it initially only addressed issues of discrimination. Women’s rights activists soon found the treaty had omitted explicit references to violence against women, reflecting the prevailing societal attitudes of the time that these were ‘private matters.’

United in a single purpose, Every Woman Treaty advocates to end violence against women and girls through the formulation of a new optional protocol to CEDAW, aligning with General Recommendation 35, to combat gender-based violence more comprehensively.

“Other organizations, they do many things,” says Elias. “But we have only one goal. So this is it. We need a safer world for women and girls.”

Coalition member Janice Smallwood (Liberia) hosts an event to launch the Safer Now report, February, 2023. Photo: Janice Smallwood Liberia Safer Now launch

Over the years, as awareness about the pervasive nature of gender-based violence grew, so did the need to address this issue on an international level.

As a response, the CEDAW committee created a series of recommendations, including General Recommendation 35, explicitly dedicated to ending violence against women and girls. However, as Elias explains, while these recommendations hold moral weight, they lack the binding force necessary to compel nations to comply.  

“The gold standard on eliminating violence against women already exists in General Recommendation 35. But it is not binding to states, and is more like a consensus recommendation.”

And after ten years of deep consultation with 143 nations, Elias says, “it became clear in summer of 2023, when I joined, that the most expedient path to a binding instrument was a new optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is CEDAW.”

Every Woman Treaty at the United Nations. Photo: Every Woman Treaty

The optional protocol will offer more detailed guidelines for legal reforms and enhanced mechanisms for enforcement or monitoring, which may include implementing training and educational programs, survivor support systems, and submitting periodic reports to comply with the protocol’s provisions.

But most of all, Elias says, having the international treaty defines the standards and terms all nations must abide by. This gives a language and a voice to the struggle survivors have been facing worldwide.

“We need to unify the vocabulary, the notions and sanctions, like femicide and gender apartheid, for the international community to understand that these are crimes.”

Right now, Elias says, though there are regional treaties, they leave almost 75% of women in the world without any binding norms to end violence against women and girls.

“The majority of women don’t know they are under violence,” says Elias. “This is the problem. We want to highlight it, we want to put it out there. We don’t want any country or men or any person committing femicide and escaping, because when you don’t have a name, you are not shaming, you are not saying it out loud.”

“When you start talking about it in the UN internationally, ending violence against women, this will, people will understand. International treaties change minds, mentalities, education… everything.”

The South Asian Coalition celebrates a successful diplomatic meeting. Photo: South Asian Coalition

Elias believes in laws. She points out two international treaties, included in Every Woman Treaty’s 2023 Safer Now report, that led to clear accountability and cultural change: The Tobacco Treaty shifted the global norm on tobacco from the “right to smoke” to the “right to breathe clean air,” and the Mine Ban Treaty, which was initially deemed as unnecessary, but ended up winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. According to Every Woman Treaty, a global treaty that requires nations to adopt proven interventions will lower rates of violence worldwide. For example, fifteen years after the US passed the Violence Against Women Act, intimate partner violence had dropped 53% and mortality rates for adult women are 32% lower in nations with domestic violence laws.

Every Woman Treaty’s programs are meant to create advocates for the new optional protocol in communities cross the globe. The Every Woman Fellowship fosters the development of leadership capabilities in advocacy, diplomacy, media relations, and storytelling. Complementing this, the Emerging Leaders Council offers mentorship opportunities, enabling 242 young activists to amplify their impact with essential skills like negotiation and public speaking.

And now, Every Woman Treaty’s advocacy efforts from the last ten years are gaining valuable momentum, and an optional protocol is finally on the verge of being a reality. Building upon the foundational achievement of securing a joint statement by Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Antigua and Barbuda, which calls for the establishment of a new optional protocol to CEDAW, Every Woman Treaty is poised to catalyze into further action.

This historic statement is underscored by the endorsement of the current Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, alongside three former rapporteurs, marking a rare alignment of influential voices within the UN system.

Chief of Diplomatic Campaign Patricia Elias (right) with Ever Woman Treaty Cofounder Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women General Assembly, New York, March 2024. Photo: Every Woman Treaty

Forming a new international protocol will not happen overnight, says Elias. It will take some time as the initiative gains traction. The four nations who issued the joint statement will spearhead efforts to formalize the protocol at the upcoming General Assembly in Geneva. Then a dedicated working group will convene to craft the initial draft.

The cultural shift needed will also take some time, but Elias is optimistic that the optional protocol that Every Woman Treaty is working towards will herald a new era of accountability and progress in safeguarding the rights of women and girls worldwide, bringing the UN SDG 5 (achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls) closer to fruition.

“We need international unified standards, and we want to unify the feminist movement to work against violence against women. And this is what we are doing,” says Elias.

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Goalmaker

Meera Satpathy: Founder and Chairperson, Sukarya

By Ray Mwareya

Meera speaking with girls participating in Sukarya’s programs. Photo: Sukarya

Meera Satpathy’s drive to improve the health, gender, and education circumstances for women and children in India began 28 years ago when she founded Sukarya – a non-profit headquartered in Gurugram, India.

“I am a proud and committed volunteer of ‘Sukarya’ the nonprofit,” she says, and explains that “Su” in India’s Sanskrit language means “good” or “pure.”  “Karya” means “work.”

Therefore, “Sukarya” could be interpreted as “good work.”

Meera Satpathy, Founder and Chairperson of Sukarya. Photo: Sukarya

Though fantastic progress has been made in the last two decades – the plight of women and children in India remain concerning when it comes to accessing opportunities that are easily available to men.

India, a prosperous country and the third largest economy in the world, still languishes low at number 140 in the world for the Gender Gap Index (GGI) among 156 countries polled by the World Economic Forum in 2021.

Despite progress in education and healthcare, the female labor force participation rate remains significantly lower than that of men.

Only 32.8% of female aged 15 years and above in India are participating in the labor workforce, as compared to 77.2% male, according to a Ministry of Labour and Employment statistics survey of April 2023.

This is due to a “patriarchal and male-dominated society like ours, women are involved in all kinds of household works and there is less participation in higher education and other decision-making roles,” Meera says.

Graduates of Sukarya’s Gender Equality Program. Photo: Sukarya

Despite an economic boom underway, India is a fitting example of a country where the disparity between economic growth and social development is a jarring contrast.

Meera didn’t want to feel helpless and watch.

“Working more meaningfully for the underprivileged was my priority. That’s why I founded Sukarya,” she says.  

When she was young, Mother Teressa’s selfless dedication to treating disease among the poor and homeless across India with compassion shaped her passion to do the same in her unique way.

Hence, the key to Sukarya’s work is the organization’s Gender Equality Programme. It works to provide basic knowledge and awareness to adolescent girls (10-19 years age group) on reproductive and sexual health and build their knowledge and skills on family life.

This priority is for a reason, says Meera.

“Educating girls about their bodies, rights, and health options empowers them to make informed decisions, promotes gender equality, and helps prevent issues like early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and gender-based violence,” she says.

This foundational knowledge is essential for their overall development and enables them to lead healthier, confident adult lives ahead in the workforce, government, and family life.

The Gender Equality Program has made great strides, she says. For example, since its inception in 2017, the program has reached and empowered over 15,000 adolescent girls across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan, making significant strides in addressing issues of adolescent, reproductive, and sexual health, as well as promoting family life and gender education.

To give a fuller impact, Sukarya has extended its work to educating girls with basic digital skills, enhancing their abilities and employability with a better understanding of gender discrimination, social stigma, issues, and challenges, and teaching them about the impact of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for maintaining good health.

Sukarya’s Digital Skills program. Photo: Sukarya

“Digital skills open doors to information, resources, and opportunities, enhancing their employability and ability to advocate for themselves and their communities,” she says.

Meera understands the connection. While digital upskilling helps women navigate social challenges on and offline, the knowledge of WASH hygienic practices is crucial to protecting their health.

Sukarya is not a lone hero. It achieves bigger success by creating partnerships with other organizations and the government.

“These collaborations have intensified,” she says, and explains that complex issues require shared expertise and resources.

No gender progress in India can thrive unless young men too are on board to change their attitudes, especially on sensitive violations like rape. According to Statista, 31, 516 rapes were reported across India in 2022.

Until now, the focus has included adolescent girls, but recognizing the critical role of changing men’s attitudes towards decreasing gender crimes like rape, means Sukarya is readying plans to involve boys in the near future, promises Meera.

“They are equally important for the growth of the country and the stereotype has to be removed and it is absolutely crucial,” she says.

In the same vein, it could be hard to get the support of parents when Sukarya wants to engage young girls in sensitive empowerment initiatives like sexual and reproductive health.

“Cultural norms and taboos [exist] around these topics,” observes Meera.

However, through awareness programs and community engagement with the help of lead girls, Sukarya emphasizes the importance of education and health. When educated girls shine in the job and government sector, parents are persuaded to support essential initiatives like Sukarya’s.

Meera with young mothers in the Sukarya health clinic. Photo: Joel Meyers

This is also where Sukarya’s many long-time loyal volunteers – who serve with dedication – make community engagement easier.

India is a huge country geographically. Is it realistic for Sukarya to cover such an expansive country or do better results occur from restricting itself to one city/state?

Achieving better results often comes from focusing efforts on specific cities, districts, and states, Meera emphasizes.

“This allows for more targeted interventions, deeper community engagement, and a greater understanding of local needs,” and outcomes that can become models for other regions of India.

There are thousands of non-profits working with women and children across India. From South Africa to Iraq and even the US, there’s always the uncomfortable reality of the same intervention being duplicated multiple times in one place.

“Sukarya’s Gender Equality Program distinguishes itself through a holistic and transformative approach that transcends traditional education,” says Meera.

By addressing the critical issues of orthodoxy, illiteracy, and ignorance, the program empowers girls not just as beneficiaries but as agents of change within their communities.

Gender and leader training. Photo: Joel Meyers

She praises the program as unique in its certification process, recognizing participants’ commitment and personal growth, and its “Lead Girls” initiative, which “fosters leadership and community mobilization.”

Sukarya recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary. Meera reflected on a changing India.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey Report 2022-23 released by the Ministry of Statistics in India shows Female Labour Force Participation Rate in the country has improved significantly by 4.2 percentage points to 37.0% in 2023.

“Over the past 25 years, India has seen significant progress in gender equity, marked by legal reforms to protect women’s rights, improvements in female literacy and education, and increased political representation of women,” she says.

However, challenges remain with fluctuating female workforce participation, persistent social norms, and economic disparities.

Gender equality training in a local village. Photo: Sukarya

The global political, social, and financial conditions and how India fits in them worries Meera.

“My most significant concern regarding current global and Indian events is the deepening inequality and the impact of climate change,” she says.

Climate change exacerbates vulnerabilities, affecting the most marginalized communities, particularly in India, where a large population depends on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, she says.

Worryingly, India’s drought-prone area has increased by 57 percent since 1997, The World Bank warned in 2023.

Meera with doctor at a Sukarya health clinic. Photo: Joel Meyers

In the end, Meera feels most hopeful about the potential for technological innovation and global collaboration to address critical challenges such as climate change, health crises, and inequality.

“The rapid advancements in renewable energy, digital education, and healthcare technology, coupled with an increasing global awareness and commitment to sustainable development present unprecedented opportunities for positive change,” she says.

Models of a more connected, resilient, and equitable world can be quickly, cheaply, and effectively shared for global benefit.

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Member Blogs

GREDO: GREDO Fights for Gender Equality in Somalia

APCO Impact: Navigating Healthcare with Compassion: The Story of TSF’s LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory

Heifer International: Where Solidarity Reigns Supreme

Landesa: To Invest in Women’s Economic Empowerment, Finance Solutions From the Ground Up

Future of Fish: Co-creating with “Las mamás” in Perú

Global Communities: A Holistic Intervention to Overcome Multiple Barriers to Women’s Entrepreneurship in Guatemala

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Member Events

March 19, 2024

The IRC’s Response in Gaza – 8:00 am

Virtual Summit on Deepfake Abuse – 9:00 am

March 20, 2024

Mercy Corps: Delivering Cash in Complex Crises – 8:30 am

Virtual Summit on Deepfake Abuse – 9:00 am

Landesa: Seed The Change – 6:00 pm

March 21, 2024

Global Communities: Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship at Every Stage – 6:30 am

March 23, 2024

The Max Foundation: Maximize Life Gala – 5:00 pm

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Career Center

Director, Partnerships & Development Global Impact

HR & Accounting Coordinator The Max Foundation

Program Assistant, Primary Healthcare, HIV, TB, Viral Hepatitis (JR808) PATH

Senior Associate, Major Gifts UNHCR

Check out the GlobalWA Job Board for the latest openings. Back to Top

By Abdiweli Shariff Ali, GBV and Protection Project Coordinator, Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO)

Abdullahi Abukar, Senior Protection Officer, conducting Awareness campaign about rights, prevention of sexual exploitation, and how to report incidents. Photo: GREDO

Somalis are one of the tremendous patriarchal societies in horn of African, where men control the power unconditionally and women has no gentle space of participation and decision-making roles except the roles as providers of basic needs and childcaring and nurturing children, and experience sexual gender base violence (GBV) and discrimination.

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By Kika Chatterjee, Stephanie Green Benn, and Alia Nitake, APCO Impact

Tegan and Sara announce the launch of the Tegan and Sara Foundation at the inaugural convening of LGBTQ+ leaders and experts in 2016. Photo: APCO Impact

Navigating healthcare can often be an intimidating experience for many of us. The clinical environment, the impersonal interactions, and the uncertainty about whether our needs will be understood and respected can make even routine visits daunting. But for members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly those who have historically faced exclusion and discrimination, accessing healthcare can be more than just nerve-wracking – it can be traumatic. Shockingly, studies have shown that 56% of LGBTQ+ individuals report experiencing discrimination from their healthcare providers, with over 25% of transgender patients being refused medical care (Lambda Legal).

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In a community that prizes unity, Passing on the Gift inspires unbreakable bonds.

Written by Alyssa Cogan and Oumar Diouk
Photographs by Alyssa Cogan and Sylvain Cherkoui
Originally published as part of Heifer International’s Strength in Sisterhood digital collection.

Members of the Saloum Corn Producers Association in Senegal mid-celebration, before a Passing on the Gift ceremony begins.

Women file into the shade of a white canopy one after another, their colorful stream of vibrant dresses and moussour headwraps a welcome contradiction to the parched, beige landscape behind them.

Undaunted by the wind kicking up angry plumes of dust, they clap and dance to a boombox that’s working overtime, laughing and nudging each other to assume position at the front of the group, in the spotlight.

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By Ayman Soliman, Global Advocacy Program Officer with Landesa

S4HL Colombia – With coalitions in nine countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the S4HL Campaign is catalyzing a global movement for women’s land rights at the grassroots level. Here, a member of S4HL Colombia holds produce from her garden. Photo: Landesa

In her rural village in the Chitoor district in Andhra Pradesh, India, Shakti beams with pride in front of a plot of land. “Namma bhoomi,”- “This is our land,” says Shakti.

With the income from her land, Shakti can provide three meals a day for her children and pay the school fees for their education. Shakti also has a new status in her village and her home – a profound change from the days she was a landless laborer, earning about $1 a day. For Shakti, control over land was the impetus for that change.

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By Jenni Ahern, Program Director, Future of Fish Peru
Republished with permission from Future of Fish

You may hear the terms “participatory development”, “co-design” or “co-create” a lot these days as Community and International Development theory continues to evolve. This theory evolves and adapts to human beings and community identified needs, where the most crucial piece of participatory community development is trust building. Trust in process and in people, are the two necessary ingredients for success.

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Republished with permission from Global Communities

Toribia – a 54-year-old mother of eight from the Western Highlands of Guatemala – has long been a leader in her family, who strives to make a consistent income with their land and livestock. Because families in the Western Highlands are typically producers and consumers of their own food, they are reliant on agricultural activities to survive and can be heavily impacted by cyclical climatic shocks and natural disasters. They also face high levels of food insecurity, child malnutrition, low literacy rates and health crises.

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By Maureen Simpson, Senior Manager, Global Communications, Global Communities, with reporting from George Kapataies

Gaza Response, WEFAQ hygiene and protection kits and toys for children. January 2, 2024. Photo: Global Communities

Since 1994, Global Communities has fostered deep ties with Palestinian communities, focusing on needs-based, equitable and sustainable initiatives. For three decades, our diverse programs have included youth engagement, governance and capacity building, infrastructure rebuilding, economic development, WASH and protection.

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By: Halima-Tus-Sadia, Head of Growth and Charu Sikder, Communications Officer at Spreeha Foundation

Telemedicine in remote areas during COVID-19. Photo: Spreeha Foundation

“During those uncertain times; when all doctor chambers were closed, the doctor was there to prescribe me medicines over the telephone which was a great relief for both me and my family” – said Anwar Hossain, while talking about Spreeha’s telehealth service that has been initiated more pro-actively in the wake of Coronavirus in 2020-21.

Understanding Challenges: Bangladesh Disaster Landscape

Bangladesh, situated in South Asia, confronts a multitude of challenges regarding disasters. Natural calamities impact approximately 6% of its population annually, with the country serving as a hotspot for tropical cyclones that wreak havoc in coastal regions, causing significant loss of life and property. Floods, droughts, salinity issues, extreme cold and heat waves, riverbank erosion, and powerful thunderstorms are recurrent occurrences, with Bangladesh enduring over 200 climate-related disasters in the last three decades alone. These calamities have resulted in millions of fatalities and inflicted approximately $16 billion in damage.

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Letter from our Executive Director
• Issue Brief: Growing a Stronger Tomorrow: Impactful Approaches to Long-Term Climate Resilience
• Organization Profile: Mercy Corps is Helping Ukrainians Feed, Clothe, and Earn for Themselves
• Goalmaker: Empowering Resilience: Cabdinasir Adan
• Welcome New Members
• GlobalWA Member Events
• Career Center
• GlobalWA Events

Letter from our Executive Director

Natural disasters across the world are increasing in frequency and intensity, which can be linked to climate change. Scientific modeling predicts that these trends will increase in the future. Thus, the work our Global Washington members engage in to respond and mitigate natural disasters is more important than ever. Our Global Washington members are leveraging advanced technology alongside localized community engagement, which proves to be a powerful approach for building resilience against climate-related disasters in low- and middle-income countries. Here are some key elements used by GlobalWA members, and read more in the articles following.

• Digital Infrastructure and Software Resilience: Companies like Amazon and Microsoft leverage digital infrastructure, cloud services, disaster mapping, and AI to enhance disaster response, coordination, and prediction.
• Community Engagement: Organizations like Give2Asia, UNHCR, UNICEF USA, and World Vision emphasize community engagement, education, and empowerment to build resilience from the ground up.
• Humanitarian Aid and Partnerships: Various organizations collaborate with partners, governments, and local communities to provide humanitarian aid, including cash assistance, food security, healthcare, and infrastructure support.
• Long-term Resilience Building: Efforts extend beyond immediate relief to include sustainable livelihoods, infrastructure development, and disaster risk reduction to ensure long-term resilience.

You can also view the recording of the Goalmaker conference session about this topic here and read the full conference report online. The conference was just the beginning of the conversations and connections taking place in the GlobalWA community. Stay tuned for more opportunities in 2024!

Kristen Dailey Executive Director

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Issue Brief

Growing a Stronger Tomorrow

Impactful Approaches to Long-Term Climate Resilience

By Aneesh Chatterjee

Flooding in Kolkata, India. Photo: Dibakar Roy/Unsplash

Up to 12,000 casualties were reported from worldwide climate disasters in 2023, according to Save the Children, across roughly 240 climate events including floods, storms and wildfires. Amid a reported tenfold increase in worldwide climate incidents between 1960 and 2019, predictions estimate a rise of 1.5C in global temperatures within coming decades, leading to greater and more destructive incidences of hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, and heat waves.

In the face of such destructive events, GlobalWA members are working to not only deliver life-saving aid in the wake of climate disasters but take innovative steps to build preparedness for future events. Kezia Fernandes, the project Lead for Amazon’s Disaster Relief & New Initiatives, emphasized the effectiveness of data collection to identify potential hazard hotspots in a plenary conversation at the 2023 Goalmakers Conference hosted by Global Washington, while Sheena Agarwal, Vice President of Operations at Give2Asia, highlighted the importance of grounded community engagement when building climate resilience. The combined approaches of technology and localized engagement are best exemplified in the efforts of GlobalWA members to combat the most devastating impacts of climate change.

Digital Infrastructure and Software Resilience

Amazon’s work in disaster relief is broad in scope and impact, ranging from donations to leveraging global supply networks for effective deliveries of vital supplies. To maximize the efficiency of communication and relief deployment, Amazon works to improve networks, simplify logistics, and streamline access to relief services during times of crisis. Novel software solutions bolster preparedness and fortitude among communities. Amazon Web Services (AWS) enables communities burdened by natural disasters to regain access to cloud connectivity by sending volunteers into target regions and rebuilding vital network infrastructure – one of the many varied and scenario-specific solutions delivered by Amazon’s volunteer teams. The streamlined cloud services enable quick coordination, efficient data collection, and responsive deliveries of critical aid.

AWS Disaster Response innovates resilient methods of bolstering disaster preparedness through digital infrastructure support. Beyond efforts by AWS volunteers to restore telecommunications in disaster-struck regions, AWS utilizes cloud technology to provide responders with quick and organized access to disaster mapping data. By allowing local support personnel to submit data to a centralized cloud platform, data collection and reporting in disaster management is heavily streamlined, reducing weeks of time in ascertaining the extent of damage and the relief supplies required. Disaster mapping is one of many software solutions AWS produces, prioritizing open access and sharing of data to bolster preparedness among governments and non-profit actors.

In the wake of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, for instance, Amazon volunteers worked with partner agencies like Red Cross, Mercy Corps, and Save the Children to coordinate the large-scale deliveries of specifically-requested relief items, managing the logistical processes of aid delivery such as packaging and storage on planes, working with local institutions to plan for flights into critical areas with damaged infrastructure, and managing the distribution of aid supplies from delivery planes to at-risk communities.

As the Honduras example shows, aid distribution is another cornerstone of Amazon’s disaster relief programs, alongside logistical support and planning. In 2021, Amazon supported communities in Mississippi and Texas during severe water shortages brought on by snowstorms. By coordinating with the American Red Cross, ChildFund International, World Central Kitchen, Feeding America, Good360, and other organizations, Amazon donated over 1.2 million water bottles to be delivered through distribution centers across the region, in addition to blankets, warmers, and hygiene supplies. In 2022, Amazon’s humanitarian aid hubs in Poland and Slovakia were essential in distributing over 30,000 medical aid supplies to hospitals in Ukraine, flown from Atlanta, Georgia and distributed with the help of the International Medical Corps. More recently, in February of 2023, Amazon’s “Away Team” coordinated the delivery and distribution of aid supplies to regions devastated by the Turkey-Syria earthquakes. Further resilience-building efforts by Amazon in the same region included the Smiling Dreams Community House project in Turkey, an institution to house and support victims of the earthquake by providing education, therapy, and trauma recovery.

Leveraging the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence, Microsoft provides a wide range of software solutions to build resilience and disaster preparedness among nonprofits in the field. In partnership with Team Rubicon, ITDRC, Mercy Corps, and the American Red Cross, Microsoft developed a data model for disaster response that streamlines the efficiency of recording disaster data, sharing between active parties, organizing responses, and creating informative case assessments through the Asset Management branch of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator. Frontline Humanitarian Logistics, another branch of focus for the Accelerator, manages the on-the-ground logistics behind aid delivery, storage, shipment and tracking, utilizing the Frontline Humanitarian Logistics Data Standard – an initiative by NetHope and partners – to build a sector-wide, dynamic data model that efficiently connects donated resources to corresponding program services.

Microsoft also works to use AI in accurate predictions for incoming natural hazards, greatly increasing community preparedness in targeted regions. Working with SEEDS, Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab developed Sunny Lives, an AI model that uses satellite imagery to determine which households are most likely to be most affected by a cyclone – greatly mitigating the time required to collect data about individual homes. In 2020, the insight collected from Sunny Lives predicted the communities most at risk from flooding induced by cyclones Nivar and Burevi, allowing SEEDS personnel to engage directly with thousands of people and distribute vital survival guidelines days before the storm. The same AI model was used in New Delhi, India to determine which regions within communities were most likely to be impacted by oncoming heat waves in 2022, helping civilians, local authorities and aid workers prepare in advance for resource distribution and preliminary warnings. Beyond Sunny Lives, other sectors of focus – such as hunger – also benefit from Microsoft’s work in AI: a data model built with machine learning algorithms was deployed to predict the onset of food shortages with 83% accuracy, based on surveys collected from communities in Malawi.

Strength in Community Engagement

Beyond digital innovation, other members encourage disaster preparedness through on-the-ground interventions, advocacy, and collaboration. Give2Asia brings a multi-tiered approach to disaster preparedness. Through consistent risk assessment practices, organizing community groups to educate people on preparedness, developing contingencies, and organizing grants, Give2Asia’s NGO Disaster Preparedness Program (NGDPP) ran in 8 countries from 2014-2021.  Using online forums, the program connects local community groups across Asian countries to discuss mitigation and risk reduction practices, strengthening resilience against environmental hazards. Scalable grants provided organizations with the funding they need to implement their case-specific solutions, encouraging autonomy and the development of ideas tailored to the circumstances of specific regions. Another key component of the program is knowledge generation for donors. Although risk reduction and resilience are a safer choice than reactionary intervention following an event, private donors may be more likely to fund interventions following a disaster. Give2Asia prioritizes educational messaging for philanthropic parties to keep them aware of the importance of responsible giving, beyond providing relief following an event. With the NGDPP having been rebranded in 2022 as the DisasterLink Network, Give2Asia continues their work across the continent to bolster resilience at household and community levels.

Community interventions are a key component of Give2Asia’s resilience development. DisasterLink partners, working from predictions made by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, successfully assisted locals during the approach of Cyclone Mocha in 2023, facilitating timely alerts to the most at-risk communities in the region, evacuations, and redirection to shelters, moving roughly 750,000 people out of severe risk. Beyond immediate interventions to prevent disasters, Give2Asia works extensively to strengthen communities through consistent education. Through awareness campaigns that introduce people to the kinds of possible natural disasters to practice drills for emergency situations, disaster preparedness is even interwoven in school curricula, including first aid, environmental sustainability, and preparedness basics.

The DisasterLink Network expanded in September, 2023, introducing new partner NGOs across 15 countries. With 51 total partners, the Network connects participants with risk mitigation resources, emergency relief aid and supplies, WASH infrastructure, and economic development for building livelihoods.

Another organization addressing disaster preparedness and response with sustainability in mind is the UNHCR, working toward fulfilling the goals of their 2022-2026 Strategic Directions, and adhering to the standards of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

By 2030, the UNHCR aims to ensure the safety of climate refugees across borders, provide sustainable, eco-friendly resources to displaced persons and host countries, build resilience among displaced persons, teach governments on preparedness for future crises, while incorporating a climate-friendly approach to the implementation of their plans such that the organization’s carbon footprint is managed responsibly. To grow resilience and preparedness in managing displaced persons, the UNHCR emphasizes the tenets of the Refugee Convention to promote awareness of how to best keep asylum seekers safe until they are re-settled. During transition, displaced persons are provided with access to clean water, sanitation supplies, health centers, schools, and environmentally-friendly public services – for which the UNHCR advocates with local host governments.

The development of sustainable livelihoods for displaced persons is also a priority of the UNHCR. In South Sudan, climate resilience is bolstered by converting flooded areas into farmland, providing versatile economic opportunities and restrengthening communities. The UNHCR also provides renewable energy to over 250,000 climate refugees in Pakistan, clean water access for refugee communities in Uganda, and pre-planned cash assistance for targeted communities in Malawi, when predicted climate disasters present themselves.

Disaster preparedness is directly addressed by the UNHCR’s assistance coordination efforts. Their Refugee Coordination Guidance Note lays the groundwork for a collaborative aid effort among partner organizations, providing active participants with risk monitoring reports, tailored contingency plans, and efficient aid delivery processes for any particular crisis – all in coordination with the host government of the targeted region. Intervening organizations are provided with strategies and specific solutions for both refugees and host governments, ensuring that all participants are up to date, can collaborate successfully, and divert aid accordingly.

UNICEF USA brings similar approaches to community engagement, with a specialized focus on helping children cope with the impact of climate disasters. Through investments in projects designed for localized regions, UNICEF USA prioritizes data collection, the provision of adequate healthcare facilities, and access to basic education for children in at-risk communities, funding resilience in partnership with other organizations, local governments, and donors. Encouraging advocacy in children is another way UNICEF raises awareness about the potential opportunities and access to resources they may have, building connectivity within communities.

Direct interventions with affected communities are a key component of interventions by World Vision, building climate resilience at multiple levels of scale, from the individual household to coordinated infrastructure support.

Cash assistance is one of the ways communities are supported and made more resilient in the wake of climate disasters. Allowing individuals and families to afford options, mobility and access to resources not only improves immediate living conditions, but works to support the economy in a time of crisis. Using cash and voucher transfers, World Vision has assisted over 7.8 million people across 46 countries in 2022.

Addressing food insecurity is another key component rebuilding communities. Through their General Food Distributions program, World Vision delivers meals to at-risk groups and communities during emergencies, ensuring that malnutrition is kept in check – especially for children under five and pregnant women. The provision of guaranteed school meals not only increased the likelihood of attendance, but provides access to clean water, sanitation, and protection, alongside continued education. By partnering with the World Food Programme, World Vision addressed hunger for up to 11.5 million people across the globe. In 2021, up to $8 million was allotted for emergency healthcare services across 14 countries, combating malnutrition, providing mental health support, assisting high-risk vulnerable groups to prevent diseases, emphasizing infant and child nourishment during emergency situations, and bringing community organization and therapy groups. In the same year, $120 million was directed to fund WASH initiatives, with 786,000 beneficiaries of emergency drinking water, 195,000 recipients of sanitation facilities, and 345,000 people granted access to hygiene supplies.

Settlement fortitude is a priority for Global Communities. To strengthen communities against the worst impacts of climate disasters, informal urban settlements are bolstered with infrastructure planning and organization, including effective sewage systems and proper roads, enabling both a greater resilience to natural hazards like flooding and more readily accessible evacuation routes. This strategy was exemplified by Global Communities’ 2010 intervention in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, bringing an $8.6 million investment into the reconstruction of the Ravine Pintade neighborhood in the wake of an earthquake. The 18-month project removed debris, built adequate housing and public infrastructure, and enabled the community to rebuild efficiently.

In addition to direct rebuilding efforts, Global Communities also strengthens communities by way of partnerships and funding preparedness. In a joint venture with Willis Towers Watson, Hannover Re, and the Insurance Development Fund, the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF) was founded to build climate resilience in Colombia in 2023. Built with financial defense in mind, the ISF delivers payouts based on preset parameters of climate destruction, determined both by historical climate data and the live data of any given dangerous climate event.

A comprehensive disaster response is exemplified by the efforts of the Spreeha Foundation and their projects in Bangladesh under the Aalo Program. With the region being highly prone to cyclones, flooding, storms, and other crises, Aalo sought to address disaster preparedness with grounded and systemic response plans that provide emergency relief and fortify communities for future disasters. Multiple response projects between 2017-2022 chart Spreeha’s work to support refugee communities in Bangladesh, provide vital relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthen local healthcare and digital access infrastructure, and bring relief supplies and cash assistance to impacted communities. From preschools and community engagement for Rohingya refugees to PPE for frontline workers during the pandemic, food, healthcare, and cash assistance during floods and storms, long-term nutritional assistance, safe and easy access to medicine and doctor consultations and comprehensive screening for medical conditions, Spreeha’s broad-spectrum approach addressed disaster resilience at multiple levels of engagement.

These projects were implemented in partnership with Give2Asia, BIN, the University of Washington, Confidence Group, United Commercial Bank, Uber Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan Foundation, and other private donors to benefit over 200,000 people over the course of the program.

Disaster preparedness is undeniably the best line of defense against future calamities, predicted to be an inevitability according to the current pace of climate change. By leveraging the modern benefits of advanced software, data collection, machine learning and artificial intelligence, alongside grounded, localized community engagements that decentralize the engagement process for the most effective results, prove to be a strong combined approach to build resilience against environmental hazards for the world’s most at-risk communities.

In addition to the above organizations, the following GlobalWA members work on disaster relief and emergency response, as well as building disaster resilience through their programs in communities where they work.

Amazon

Amazon’s disaster relief and response efforts utilize our global logistics capabilities to provide the fastest, most effective aid. These strengths enable us to ship Amazon-donated items, and items donated by partners, to communities as soon as possible after a natural disaster. Since 2017, Amazon has donated more than 23 million relief items to support people impacted by over 108 disasters around the world.

Americares

More than Forty Years of Responding to Disasters

Natural disasters, poverty, disease, and war impact millions around the world. Americares provides disaster preparedness, medical aid, disaster relief and recovery.

The past year and more have highlighted the increasing frequency and severity of overlapping crises – driven by extreme weather events, the worst earthquake in nearly a century in Türkiye and Syria and the War in Ukraine. This trend has had a devastating impact on health, particularly among groups vulnerable to disasters, as communities have struggled to rebuild from concurrent and consecutive events.

When disaster strikes, we commit right away because lives are at stake. Our Emergency Response Partners provide a foundation for our response capability.  And you, as members of our donor community, give us the resources to respond and remain whenever, wherever we are needed.

CARE

CARE has 75 years of experience in delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance while supporting communities with sustainable development programs. Today, together with partners, our humanitarian projects reach 20 million people across 67 countries. CARE works to transform the humanitarian sector by putting gender at the center of our responses, ensuring gender-sensitive community-led interventions, that protect people’s dignity while building resilience and social cohesion.

CARE takes a comprehensive approach to emergency responses: first by working with communities to prepare for and mitigate the impact of disasters; then by partnering with local groups to provide immediate assistance when an emergency hits across various sectors including, water hygiene and sanitation, shelter, food and nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health; and finally, by working with affected communities to help them recover after the crisis has passed. CARE’s emergency response is part of a long-term commitment that places great importance on building local capacity and lasting resilience. 

CARE’s 2030 Goal is to provide quality, gender-focused and localized humanitarian assistance to 10% of those affected in major crises, reaching at least 50 million people by 2030.

ChildFund

In any emergency – violent conflicts, pandemics, droughts and other natural disasters – children are the most vulnerable. Beyond the short-term risks they face from being separated from their families, getting hurt or even dying, children often miss school and are at increased risk of violence, neglect and exploitation. Unfortunately, in the intense chaos and demand for resources during and after a crisis, children are often the last to receive the support they need.

That’s where we come in. During emergencies, the focus of ChildFund is always on the children – on providing the things they most urgently need to survive and thrive after a disaster, including not just physical relief items but also psychological and emotional support. See just a few of the emergencies we’re currently responding to below and learn how your donations support children in crisis.

Global Communities

Global Communities works at the intersection of humanitarian assistance, sustainable development and financial inclusion to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures. We support communities at the forefront of their own development in more than 30 countries to achieve a shared vision of a more just, prosperous and equitable global community. At a time when natural disasters and conflicts are becoming more common and devastating, we offer emergency response and share knowledge and resources that communities need to recover from crises and foster lasting resilience in the face of constant change. In Ethiopia, for example, our Resilience in Pastoral Areas South (RIPA South) program works with communities affected by drought and conflict to strengthen disaster risk management and planning, improve crop and livestock production, and increase access to livelihood opportunities for individuals transitioning out of pastoralism, especially women and youth. In Ukraine, we have adapted our Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency (DOBRE) program to provide rapid emergency response, strengthen crisis governance and promote social cohesion. We also implement the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) and the Piloting Early Recovery and Livelihoods Assistance (PEARL) programs to support war-affected people and businesses. Learn more at globalcommunities.org and explore our visual Crisis to Resilience series.

Jewish Humanitarian Response (JHR)

JHR has been active since August 2021, providing relief, rescue, and resettlement to vulnerable Afghans facing inhumane living conditions and threats under the Taliban.

An Afghanistan Rescue Campaign

JHR was spearheaded by the Aleph Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. JHR leverages an extensive international network to respond with high-level diplomacy, expert NGO partnerships, and ground coordination with experience in rescue and evacuation work. JHR also raises the funds necessary to execute the response mandate.

A Human Catastrophe

Vulnerable Afghans are facing increasing risk levels as the international community loses focus and the Taliban expands their stifling control. Hunger, unemployment, and human rights abuses are preventing Afghans from shopping, working and going to school, making them targets for beatings and interrogations.

Microsoft

Helping organizations accelerate impact

Our technology empowers humanitarian organizations to better prepare, respond and rebuild communities affected by crisis. With free and discounted software and services, data and AI, Microsoft helps nonprofits build resiliency and accelerate their missions.

AI for Humanitarian Action

A grant program to help nonprofit and humanitarian organizations supporting disaster response, refugees and displaced people, human rights, and the needs of women and children.

Outright International

Outright International’s role in disaster relief and preparedness primarily focuses on advocacy aimed at the humanitarian sector to be more inclusive of LGBTIQ+ needs and priorities before, during, and following humanitarian crises. Why? Because we know that during humanitarian crises, LGBTIQ+ people may face even higher levels of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion, especially where pre-existing social norms already marginalize our communities. In Ukraine, for example, we are currently working in Ukraine to ensure that LGBTIQ+ people are fully included in the country’s humanitarian response. In addition, we have disbursed nearly $3.6m to national LGBTIQ+ organizations through our Ukraine Emergency Fund to address the humanitarian needs of their communities.

Oxfam

Oxfam has a long and well-recognized record of humanitarian relief in times of crisis. When disaster strikes, we respond – delivering high quality lifesaving assistance and essential protection to the most affected. We make sure people can get clean water to drink and decent sanitation. We provide help for them to get food and the essentials they need to survive, and we work with people on the journey to self-sufficiency.

Through our long-term development programs, we stay well after the dust has settled to help rebuild communities to come back stronger from disaster and support them in being better prepared to cope with shocks and uncertainties.

Building resilience and local capacity

The scale and nature of these humanitarian crises have led us to put more emphasis on building the resilience of affected populations and increasing national and local response capacity and ownership. We recognize that local responders are often the best placed to help in emergencies, and we work with governments, local organizations and communities so that they are ready to respond in emergencies, and able to cope when crisis hits.

Supporting women’s rights and gender justice

In all our responses, we prioritize the needs of women and girls, who are often discriminated against or have fewer resources to face and recover from emergencies. We promote the safe and accessible use of our humanitarian programs by women and girls, and support women’s organizations to lead in emergency preparedness, risk reduction and response.

Campaigning and influencing others

The goal of our campaigning is not just to speak for people in need, but to open the way for them to speak for themselves. A key part of our humanitarian work is campaigning and using our influence to make sure women, men and children are provided the assistance they need and have their rights respected. We also seek to address and ultimately remedy the political and structural root causes of their vulnerability.

Spreeha Foundation

Spreeha is on a mission to transform lives by empowering people with empathetic and sustainable solutions to the toughest problems in Bangladesh. Addressing the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters, increased health risks due to environmental degradation and climate change, Spreeha designed its emergency disaster response program Aalo, “the light” in English. The program aims to help rebuild the lives of people and communities affected by disasters and public health hazards and increase community resilience.

The program works around four components – disaster preparedness through heightened awareness, emergency healthcare during the time of distress, essential relief materials, and cash grants to restore livelihood like before. Leveraging 7 years of experience in disaster response, Spreeha’s Aalo program has impacted more than 200,000 lives. The program has worked in three critical areas – Refugee Response starting in 2017, Natural disaster response which includes annual cyclone and flood occurrence, and public health hazard response which includes COVID-19, Dengue, and Cholera outbreaks.

Spreeha is committed to continuing rebuilding communities and fostering community resilience in the face of adversity with the help of its trained community workers, pool of physicians and public health experts, stakeholders, and partners.

Starbucks

The Starbucks Foundation’s mission is to strengthen humanity by transforming lives across the world, with a focus on enabling community resiliency and prosperity and uplifting communities affected by disaster.

Our grants invest in preparedness, response and resilience programs around the world. We do this through partnerships such as the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen, which allows for quick response to provide relief and comfort to people affected by disasters big and small, as well as support to help our grantees serve and meet the unexpected needs of local communities. The Starbucks Foundation also invites Starbucks partners (employees) and customers to join in supporting relief efforts, such as donating coffee to first responders or making a donation via the Starbucks mobile app in support of our nonprofit partners.

Together, we have helped to uplift communities, from wildfires and hurricanes across the U.S. to flooding in Brazil and earthquakes in Türkiye and Morocco.

UNICEF USA

There have been an unprecedented number of humanitarian emergencies unfolding around the world.

Violence in Gaza and Israel. Catastrophic floods in Libya and Pakistan. Devastating earthquakes in Morocco and Afghanistan, a hurricane in Mexico.

Armed conflicts, extreme weather, public health crises and other shocks are threatening more of the world’s children than ever before.

Children who live in a conflict or disaster zone are more likely to be living in poverty. They are more vulnerable to malnutrition and disease. And they are more likely to be out of school.

UNICEF, a global leader in humanitarian relief, responds to hundreds of emergencies every year — delivering lifesaving relief, safeguarding children’s rights and protecting them from harm. To ensure every child survives and thrives, UNICEF promotes targeted action, backed by strategic investment in disaster risk reduction. We aim to reduce risk and strengthen preparedness and recovery for communities and services critical to children, like education, health care and nutrition.

USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency  

When a humanitarian emergency strikes, people are often forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind to make the dangerous journey to safety. During an emergency response, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency prioritizes saving lives and minimizing serious harm by meeting the most urgent humanitarian needs. Within the first 72 hours of an emergency, UNHCR can mobilize supplies for 1 million people and deploy expert staff to protect them.

UNHCR assists millions of people in emergency situations every year, including 16.7 million people who received emergency supplies in 2023. UNHCR continually analyzes the risk of emergencies globally so that teams are prepared to respond quickly and effectively. When an emergency breaks:

• UNHCR delivers lifesaving relief items and other critical goods from its global stockpiles, ready in warehouses in strategic locations around the world.
• UNHCR deploys emergency response experts who are trained in crisis management and specialize in key areas like legal protection, cash assistance, shelter and tackling sexual exploitation.
• UNHCR transfers funds from emergency reserves directly to local UNHCR teams on the ground to set up shelters, buy food and register people who need help.

In 2023, UNHCR issued 43 emergency declarations in 29 countries – the highest number in decades – and deployed 339 emergency staff. Thanks to the generous support from public and private donors in 2023, UNHCR could timely provide lifesaving assistance and protection services to those most affected by crises.

World Concern

Assisting families after a disaster gets a community back on its feet and is often the entry point for our work in a new area. We meet immediate needs in a disaster and help rebuild lives, helping families to recover from floods, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, drought or war. Part of recovery is building resilience to future disasters, which is done by training and empowering communities to plan and prepare.

The context in each village is unique. We start with the most critical, urgent needs: water, food, and safety. Long-term, families are equipped to earn income and support themselves. They become healthier, and begin to save and plan for the future. And through it all, they experience the transformative power of God’s love.

World Vision

Starting in 1950 with the Korean War, World Vision has a “first in” and “last out” approach to emergency relief. Our goal is to help families and communities for the long term so they can be resilient and able to help others. More than 90 percent of disaster-related deaths occur in developing countries. World Vision already works in these hard places, responding with life-saving speed when disaster strikes.

Help can have unintended consequences. These best practices are the result of decades of experience, learning, and collaboration among top disaster relief organizations:

1. Raise funds ahead of time and pre-position relief supplies around the world.
2. Send a seasoned team of experts to assess, plan, and respond.
3. Coordinate with other organizations and governments. (Prevent people from falling through the cracks or gaming the system.)
4. Carefully plan out distributions of food and relief supplies. Avoid riots and violence, and ensure help for those who need it most.
5. Meet urgent, short-term needs, while working toward sustainable, long-term solutions.

Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

Since March 2015, Yemen has been experiencing a brutal war and a siege that has severely restricted the commercial import of food and medicine. Most food factories and businesses were bombed — creating the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Today, 24 of the 29 million people in Yemen require aid, 19 million are food insecure, and almost half of the population of Yemen – 14 million — are at risk of famine, 5 million of which are children.  Finally, Many Yemenis in the areas affected by the escalation of war have fled to safer places in other Governorates — resulting in over 3 million internally displaced people. YRRF was established to provide relief to those in need in Yemen. We reach the most inaccessible areas due to geography or security risk. 

Strategic Aims

To prevent humanitarian disaster by promoting broad awareness of grave health and security issues faced by Yemeni families, raising funds to support critical needs and supporting material relief efforts.

To facilitate a just peace that considers all segments of the Yemeni population.

To advocate and facilitate support for Yemen during the reconstruction period.

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Organization Profile

Mercy Corps is Helping Ukrainians Feed, Clothe, and Earn for Themselves

By Ray Mwareya

September 2023 – Tetiana wakes her daughter Eva, 2, from a nap. They stayed in their hometown near the frontline through the difficult first year of the war, constant shelling, Russian control of their village, and a flood. Only recently they relocated to a safer location. Mercy Corps provided them with cash assistance, which they were able to use to pay for an apartment.

Mercy Corps has been providing international humanitarian aid for over 40 years, much of it in the form of emergency and disaster relief. Of their nearly 6,000 employees, 95% come from within the countries where they work, which is crucial for providing the right aid to the right populations at the right time. Their primary programs help build resiliency by connecting people across the globe to clean water, nutritious food, better economic opportunities, and more peaceful tomorrows—all critical to unlocking the power of human potential and strengthening communities to better cope during crises, adapt to evolving challenges, and thrive into the future.

For this Organization Spotlight, we were fortunate to have caught up with one of their program leaders working in Ukraine – not a natural disaster, yet a humanitarian disaster caused by human conflict where many of the same emergency response principles still apply.

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Mercy Corps – with the support of Trisha Bury, a Strategic Response Manager – is helping Ukrainians feed, clothe, and earn for themselves rather than being passive recipients of aid.

Trisha’s passion personifies Mercy Corps’ global vision “to create a future of possibility, where everyone can prosper.” Hailing from Port Angeles, Washington, she studied international relations and international development in college and grad school.  

“I wanted an international career that would challenge me and eventually I ended up in humanitarian aid which I’ve now been doing for over a decade,” she says.

Her work mainly revolves around providing support to Mercy Corps teams around the world; essentially, starting up new programs, plugging in for temporary vacant leadership gaps, or guiding country teams in times of high-impact change. “I deployed to support our teams in Haiti, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. And now Ukraine,” she adds.

Mercy Corps has a solid humanitarian legacy. It has worked globally in some of the world’s most volatile places for over 40 years – channeling disaster management and recovery work. “We are currently present in about 40 countries. We have over 6,000 staff globally,” she reveals.

From Ukraine to Gaza to Sudan, fresh humanitarian disasters are rolling out every year. It must be hard for Mercy Corps to quickly prioritize who needs help, how much, and for how long.

“Yeah, there really is,” she says of the competing, demanding situations.

One way of making that choice is to work where Mercy Corps can have the biggest impact, leveraging its global and local expertise, and the resources that are available in terms of both funding and human resources.

“Globally, we’re specialized in food security, water security, economic opportunity, and peace and good governance, and humanitarian aid is sort of a cross-cutting area of work that we do,” she says.

Ukraine is among the most challenging humanitarian regions of recent times. As per UN figures – Russia’s invasion has killed 10,000 civilians to date and damaged $138 billion in hard infrastructure as of January 2023.

Between water, food, and medical support for vulnerable Ukrainians, it’s tricky to know what gets priority.

“Needs differ widely across the country. We have people in the east and the south of the country close to the front lines who are affected directly by the conflict. So often we have people whose homes are damaged by shelling; maybe water and electricity services might be cut off. Medical services might also be compromised. Here in Kyiv or over in the west, you have a lot more people who are displaced from those areas; they may have problems re-establishing their livelihoods. Finding houses to rent for the medium- or long-term, until the situation stabilizes in their home region, is key,” she says.

Even different people in the same place can have different needs based on their circumstances, and Mercy Corps’ local partners offer tailored support for marginalized groups : the Roma community or members of the LGBTQI community.

Globally, one of Mercy Corps’ priorities is that our response is increasingly, locally led. “95% of our team members globally are from the countries we work in,” she says, including in Ukraine. It also means partnering with more local organizations that have longer-term experience on the ground. They tend to know the situation the best, what the needs are, and what types of assistance are the most effective.

“We also always coordinate our activities with local and national government authorities and with other actors who are working in the same areas to make sure that we’re giving the right kind of assistance, and that we’re not duplicating assistance from other agencies.”

From big global organizations like the UN or Oxfam, giving people cash directly has proved to be a win-win policy for both civilians and local market traders. This is an approach Mercy Corps likes a lot.

“For about the past decade, one of the things Mercy Corps does is to program more and more through cash, so that it’s something flexible. The people in need can decide for themselves what are the most urgent needs and how they can use cash to meet those needs,” she says.

October 2023 – Yurii, owner of a grain processing factory in a small village in the north of Ukraine, standing in the doorway of his factory building that was severely damaged during the first months of the war. With the grant received from Mercy Corps, Yurii was able to purchase materials needed to rebuild the fire-damaged building, as well as purchase equipment to begin processing grain once again.

Is Mercy Corps covering every part of the country, or is it keeping itself to the so-called safe zones in Ukraine?

“It’s also important to remember there are not any safe zones in Ukraine because even capital cities are being hit with missile attacks,” Trisha says.

Mercy Corps is “sort of everywhere” in Ukraine wherever the neediest people are, she says. Where markets are working, Mercy Corps provides cash. Where markets are not working or where people are not able to leave their homes to access markets they provide in-kind support. Items like food, hygiene supplies, and materials to repair shelters are standard.

Because in Ukraine some populations may be living in intense conflict zones whilst others have a breather from periods of conflict, aid disbursements vary depending on the security situation.

However, the key is to build resilience. “So, we help people re-establish farms or re-establish other types of livelihoods that may have either been disrupted or displaced by the conflict,” she says.

September 2023 – Volodymyr with his daughter, Sasha, 7, in front of his furniture workshop. A husband and father of two, he owned a successful furniture business in his hometown in the Donetsk region. When the danger was too great, the family moved to Dnipro, where Volodymyr had to start his business from scratch. With the help of Mercy Corps’ grant, Volodymyr and his team were able to purchase equipment needed to provide quick, high quality work that helps them to establish their presence as a small business.

Now to the big issue lingering in readers’ minds. The security situation across Ukraine is terrifying. Transport links have been bombed out or mined and crop fields spoiled by bombs. It must be risky for Mercy Corps to get the aid in Ukraine in suitable quantities that the population needs.

“It varies quite a lot,” she says. “Sometimes, we’ll plan an activity a few days, or even weeks in advance, and then an attack happens, and we have to pivot very quickly or cancel something.”

The key is that Mercy Corps has a dedicated security team that helps develop procedures to minimize risk as much as possible.

But, she insists, “there isn’t a safe place in the country at the moment.”

Currently, many Ukrainians are displaced, sometimes out of the country or to other parts of the country. The International Organization for Migration report, as of July 2023, a staggering 5.1 million Ukrainians are internally displaced.

September 2023 – Eduard, his wife Rima, and 2-year-old daughter Lora standing in the yard of their house. They had just started their family when the war escalated. Eduard lost his job and Lora would cry during explosions. Once a bomb fell on their neighbor’s property; while no one was injured, the impact shattered the windows of their home. Mercy Corps multipurpose cash assistance, possible with support of local partner organization “Voice of Romni” helped the family purchase an oven, repair their home, and purchase enough food to store for the winter.

It must be challenging to keep track of who has received aid and to audit the impact of the aid.   “Yeah, just like many countries in conflict or climate disasters,” says Trisha. Key measures include coordinating with the government and targeting areas that aren’t already being assisted by someone else.

“We also occasionally, have data-sharing agreements with these other agencies so we can compare lists of people that we’re helping to make sure there’s no overlap or duplication, and we also have an internal monitoring, evaluation and learning team,” she says.

They do in-depth surveys and in-person monitoring when possible, to check the effectiveness of their programs. “We make changes where we find we can be doing something better,” she adds.

September 2023 – Alisa, 6, picks cucumbers with her grandfather Valerii. Alisa’s mother, Maryna, is a farmer and prior to the war, she owned a successful business with more than 60 acres of crops, and two stores in the area. When the war escalated, the family had to leave nearly everything behind. When they found out Maryna’s home and the home of her parents were destroyed, Maryna, insisted that they rebuild, and make a home again. With cash assistance from Mercy Corps, Maryna and her family were able to purchase the metal needed to build a frame, wood for bracing, and an irrigation system.

Mercy Corps plans on staying in Ukraine when the war ends. They already have programs in Ukraine with a focus on the agricultural sector, which will become a priority area for rebuilding.

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Goalmaker

Empowering Resilience: Cabdinasir Adan

By Amber Cortes

Emergency water supplied by GREDO Somalia. Photo: GREDO

‘Iskaashato ma kufto,’ goes a Somalian proverb: “If people support each other they do not fall.” It’s a sentiment that Cabdinasir Adan, the Food Security and Livelihoods Manager at Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO), can get behind.

According to Cabdinasir, Somalia faces urgent situations once or twice every year due to frequent droughts, armed conflict and flooding. These natural disasters, compounded by climate change and environmental degradation, continue to strain the capacity of humanitarian aid and underscore the urgent need for resilience-building efforts in Somalia.

One of the most pressing issues facing Somalia today is recurrent droughts, which devastate livelihoods, exacerbate food insecurity, and contribute to displacement and conflict. Last year Somalia faced the worst drought in decades and impoverished millions of people.

Climate change-related shocks, such as flooding and long dry periods (drought) are frequent and common in Somalia. Other climate effects felt include hotter weather conditions and delayed, earlier, and quicker cessation rains compared to historic months of rainy seasons. Climate change consequences lead to failed or severely reduced local food production causing chronic food insecurity, loss of livestock and key other assets for rural households, severe water shortages, high malnutrition levels, degraded land, and severe disruptions of livelihood and economic sources. Climate change impact is also compounded by armed conflict and worsening the situation through increased displacements, heightened protection risks, and constrained livelihood and economic activities.

Emergency food distribution supplied by GREDO Somalia. Photo: GREDO

More than 70% of Somali people depend on livestock and agriculture. The majority live in rural areas depending on the food and incomes they get from this ecosystem of resources (i.e. farmlands, water, and rangeland products). Climate effects on this livelihood base have contributed to sharp declines in food production and mass rural-to-urban migration, increasing the number of internally displaced households in urban areas. Climate and conflict induced humanitarian crises affects millions of the most vulnerable Somali people, particularly women and children, people living with disability, elderly, marginalized, and other minority groups.

In recent years, Somalia has also grappled with severe flooding, particularly along the Shabelle and Juba rivers, leading to displacement, destruction of infrastructure, and increased risk of waterborne diseases. The country is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones and tropical storms which threaten coastal communities.

In 2024, 6.9 million people in Somalia will need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

With a background in Dryland Agriculture and a decade-long commitment to serving vulnerable communities, Cabdinasir embodies the values that drive GREDO.

Over email, Cabdinasir says his path into humanitarian work was spurred by a deep-seated desire to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable people and communities grappling with extreme poverty, climate shocks, and conflict-induced crises.

“More specifically,” he writes, “I’m interested working with [the] most vulnerable groups such as children and their families, people living with disability and unemployed youth.”

Over the past decade, he has been actively engaged in responding to humanitarian emergencies and facilitating community development initiatives.

Photo showing community mobilization during 2023 drought emergency. Photo: GREDO

Established in 1992, GREDO provides essential services to communities affected by conflict, droughts, and other emergencies. With its mission to foster a prosperous and dignified society, GREDO has been instrumental in delivering vital assistance to millions of individuals across South and Central Somalia.

GREDO’s holistic approach to humanitarian relief and development encompasses a wide array of services, including food security, livelihoods support, nutrition, healthcare, and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene). By working closely with local communities and stakeholders, GREDO strives to address the unique needs of each community while promoting inclusion, gender equality, and human rights.

Treatment of malnutrition at emergency health and nutrition site, 2023. Photo: GREDO

In his role as the Food Security and Livelihoods Manager at GREDO, Cabdinasir shoulders a multitude of responsibilities–from overseeing activities to proposing innovative approaches tailored to the fragile context of Somalia, his role encompasses strategic planning, project coordination, and stakeholder engagement.

At the core of GREDO’s philosophy lies a profound belief in the collective action of stakeholders and the resilience of local communities. Through food assistance, cash transfers, emergency water, sanitation facilities, and healthcare services, GREDO’s emergency relief efforts play a crucial role in saving lives and alleviating suffering.

Monitoring and evaluation of these relief efforts is paramount for GREDO, including frequent site visits, encouraging third-party collaborations, and checking feedback channels, GREDO strives to continuously assess and improve its interventions to better serve these communities in need.

And their efforts are having an impact. Since their founding, GREDO has been able to provide 1.3 million people in south and central Somalia with live-saving food assistance, drinking water, life-saving treatments for malnourished children and their mothers. 

Amidst the backdrop of ongoing global challenges, including climate change, natural disasters, and conflict, Cabdinasir remains deeply concerned about the plight of vulnerable populations in Somalia. But he remains “hopeful to see significant reduction of people suffering from humanitarian crises and who can cope through their own capacities.”

GREDO Somalia is committed to working with communities to support their capacity to withstand climate vulnerabilities through locally lead or community lead practices. Vulnerabilities associated with climate change are addressed by working with the community to use practices that are not harmful to the environment, that strengthen community preparedness to reduce loss and damage, and that promote approaches or innovative solutions that build community and individual resilience while supporting sustainable development. Learn more at gredosom.org.

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Welcome New Members

Please welcome our newest Global Washington members. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with their work and consider opportunities for support and collaboration!

Global Communities

Global Communities brings together local ingenuity and global insights to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures. We achieve this mission in collaboration with a wide range of public and private sector partners, including communities directly affected by poverty, disasters and conflict. Globalcommunities.org

Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO)

GREDO’s mission is to improve the living standards of the served communities by delivering effective Emergency Response, Resilience interventions, promoting local capacities and resources, and sustainable development interventions in partnership with stakeholders. gredosom.org

LEAD Cameroon

LEAD Cameroon is an association doing in leadership for environment and development by creating and sustaining a new breed of global leaders who are committed to promote sustainable development in Cameroon in particular and Central Africa in general.

Perrenial

Perennial’s work sits at the intersection of leadership, social justice, and human development. Its mission is to support global social leaders in rejuvenating and sustaining themselves within the frameworks of their communities, leadership roles, causes, and personal lives. A leader’s skill lies in their capacity to resonate internally with their purpose and externally with the individuals and communities they serve. perennial.org

Purpose and Distinction

Anne Wiliams’ consulting firm that uses rigorous brand management framework and learning from behavioral science to help mission-driven companies and organizations unlock the power of brands to carry out their purpose and execute with distinction. Purposeanddistinction.com

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Member Events

February 13: War in the Middle East Lecture Series: Regional Repercussions of the War

February 20: War in the Middle East Lecture Series: The U.S. and Crisis Response

February 27: War in the Middle East Lecture Series: Israel-Hamas: Will this be the Last War?

March 23: The Max Foundation: Maximize Life Gala

June 4: International Rescue Committee (IRC) Annual Fundraising Dinner

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Career Center

Director, Partnerships & Development Global Impact

HR & Accounting Coordinator The Max Foundation

Program Assistant, Primary Healthcare, HIV, TB, Viral Hepatitis (JR808) PATH

Senior Associate, Major Gifts UNHCR

Check out the GlobalWA Job Board for the latest openings.

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GlobalWA Events

March 14: Q1 Final Mile Logistics Working Group Meeting featuring Maersk

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