By Caroline Moss
Source: Wells Bring Hope
International Women’s Day takes place on March 8th this year. On this day we celebrate women all over the world and highlight their importance and contributions.
Wells Bring Hope’s commitment to providing safe, clean water empowers women in Niger every day. Fewer than a quarter of young women are literate and only 31% attend primary school because their time is taken up by the need to walk miles every day to get water for their families.
Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80% of households that do not have access to water. When women have reliable access to clean water, the door to education and opportunity opens. This benefits not just an individual woman, but the entire community around her.
Here are some of the ways education changes lives for women in Niger and developing countries all over the world.
- Education decreases poverty. With basic education, women are more likely to obtain a job and earn a higher wage. And then spend money on things that support their children and household. One World Bank study found that a year of secondary school can mean as much as a 25% increase in a woman’s earnings later in life.
- Health education and water access improve hygiene. Education is critical for women’s health and wellbeing. Without access to clean water, proper hygiene and handwashing cannot be practiced.
- It improves the quality of life. If a girl in the developing world gets seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children than women with less education.
- Women help economies grow. Women’s economic empowerment boosts productivity and increases both income equality and economic diversification.
When women no longer have to walk for clean water, 50% of their time is freed up, allowing them to get an education, work, and generate income to support their families.
In addition, Wells Bring Hope is the only organization focused on safe water that provides microfinance training to women in every village where we drill a well. Learn more about the training that Wells Bring Hope implements here
When women are educated, they become empowered and have the ability to change the world for the better. Together, we can change the trajectory of women’s lives in Niger by providing them access to clean water.
During International Women’s Week (March 8-12, 2021), Wells Bring Hope will receive a 50% match on every donation up to $50 from Global Giving. Please consider making a donation to show your support.
SOURCES
Bourne, J. (2014). Why Educating Girls Makes Economic Sense. Global Partnership for Education. https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/why-educating-girls-makes-economic-sense
Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment. (2018). UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures#notes
Filipovic, J. (2017, October 6). How do you get girls to school in the least educated country on Earth? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/may/15/niger-girls-education-challenge-un
International Women’s Day 2021 theme – “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” (2021). UN Women.
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021
ONE. (2019, January 9). Why women and girls are the secret weapon in ending poverty. https://www.one.org/us/blog/why-women-and-girls-are-the-secret-weapon-in-ending-poverty/
Pursuing Women’s Economic Empowerment. (2018, May 31). IMF. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2018/05/31/pp053118pursuing-womens-economic-empowerment
Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (2018). UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/2/gender-equality-in-the-2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development-2018