Every day, around the world, women are shaping the future of their communities, cities, and nations. From business to sports to diplomacy to medicine, women have made huge strides forward in recent decades. As we mark the 101st International Women’s Day tomorrow and celebrate the achievements and contributions women have made to the international community, [...]
Tag archives for International Womens Day
Vivian’s Story—Breaking the Cycle of Poverty by Educating and Empowering Girls
By Linda Lockhart, Founder of the Global Give Back Circle and Nicole Goldin, Senior Advisor in USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning Vivian O. was born in the outskirts of Kisumu, Kenya, and is said to have entered the world smiling. Life for Vivian and others in her rural fishing village was challenging, requiring [...]
Maryam’s Story—Reflections on International Women’s Day
Submitted by Meghan Feeley After the International Women of Courage Award ceremony at the U.S Department of State I had the opportunity to speak with Maryam, a special guest from Afghanistan. This is the story she shared… Maryam: As a child growing up as a refugee in Iran and Pakistan, I had seen the white [...]
USAID@50 – International Women’s Day
By: Abby Sugrue and Laura Rodriguez, USAID We were rummaging through historic USAID materials in the basement of the Ronald Reagan Building and found this photo of a young nurse and a baby. We couldn’t find a project name, date, title, or country – just “USAID” scrawled in pencil on the back. Still, the image [...]
Inspired and Humbled by Nepal’s Female Health Workers in the Rural Villages of Salyan
By: Margy Bailey, Director for USAID International Communications, Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs After a one-hour prop plane ride from Kathmandu, followed by an 11-hour rocky drive through the stunning hills and valleys of Mid-Western Nepal’s upper hilly region, our team reached Salyan District’s remote and rural villages. We were there to video the [...]
Educating 1+ Billion Girls Will Make the Difference for Women’s Equality
Submitted by Elizabeth King, Director of Education for the World Bank. Elizabeth blogs on Education for Global Development, at blogs.worldbank.org/education. This week we celebrate International Women’s Day and it’s as good a time as any to remind ourselves of the remarkable accomplishments toward achieving gender equality—and of the challenges that remain to ensuring that the [...]
Improving Access to Education for Girls in Sudan
Submitted by Angela Stephens, USAID/LPA Following more than two decades of civil war, southern Sudan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. The areas in Sudan’s north-south border zone also suffered greatly during the war, including Blue Nile state, bordering Ethiopia. Girls have been disproportionately affected, with lower rates of literacy and [...]
