Juan Ciudad NGO leads projects in Africa and Latin America that seek to empower women and end the discrimination they suffer in their communities. In Ghana, the Economic Empowerment Programme for Women is now in its third edition, in which 35 new women will participate.
October 15th is the International Day of Rural Women, and at Juan Ciudad NGO, we wanted to emphasize the importance of fighting for equality and progress for this group. According to the UN, "women represent just over 40% of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, and may reach over 50% in certain parts of Africa and Asia." Therefore, ending poverty is not possible without empowering women in these areas and achieving gender equality.
To contribute to this much-needed goal, Juan Ciudad NGO carries out various projects that seek to provide women in rural areas (and also in urban areas) with the necessary knowledge to boost their economic independence and improve their situation.
Practical training in Africa
One of the most notable programs we have promoted at Juan Ciudad NGO is the Economic Empowerment Program for Women, which is implemented in the capital of Liberia and also in the rural Koose District of Ghana. In the latter case, the initiative is being implemented at the St. John of God Clinic in Amrahia. As its name suggests, the program's objective is to strengthen this group by providing them with the necessary tools to generate new income opportunities for women at risk of social exclusion within the health center's area of influence. Access to economic resources for these women, whose income in most cases does not exceed 2 UDS per day, helps end the discrimination they suffer.
The objectives of this project are aligned with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promoted by the UN. SDG 1, which addresses the End of Poverty, and SDG 5, which refers to Gender Equality.
The success of this program has led us to its third edition, which aims to benefit 35 new women, who will be joined by students and entrepreneurs from previous editions, completing a group of approximately 50. The initiative has an eminently practical approach, complemented by theoretical content to provide these women from rural areas with skills and knowledge that will enable them to later pursue their entrepreneurial projects. To carry out the training, Juan Ciudad NGOD is collaborating in the construction of a new space, which will also include a small daycare center, with the aim of promoting work-life balance and facilitating the success of this program as much as possible.
Equal participation in Latin America
Our work on behalf of rural women is also present in Latin America. One example is the project that has been underway for several years in the Department of Chuquisaca, Bolivia. This initiative aims to guarantee the right to health for the population in the area of influence of the Cristo de las Américas Hospital in Sucre. This project works with beneficiaries based on an Intercultural Community Family Health policy, and women are the leaders responsible for planning and monitoring the social changes taking place in their communities. To successfully implement this project, we work in coordination with seven public health centers that together serve 51 communities. Since 2018, the Cristo de las Américas Hospital and Juan Ciudad NGO have been collecting data to define the social and operational impact indicators for this project.
It is estimated that more than 7,000 vulnerable people in Chuquisaca could benefit from this project, improving their health quality thanks to community participation and the involvement of women in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of actions. Furthermore, the public and community health knowledge acquired by the staff of the seven health centers and the Local Health Agentsâthe women leaders of the projectâis expected to facilitate a reduction in the rates of acute respiratory and diarrheal diseases among the beneficiary population and improve their nutritional status through dietary diversification and the incorporation of healthy lifestyle habits into their daily routines.
