* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
As we celebrate women around their world for their achievements in the economic, political, and social sphere, let us not forget the plight of women who struggle on a daily basis to secure food, water, healthcare and education.
This summer, I witnessed the horrors that women and children in India face firsthand. One night on a bumpy road while traveling- to our program site in Bihar, I saw a truck full of young girls piled in the back. All dressed beautifully, the drivers headed straight to the red light district where the girl would be sold shamelessly. Some were as young as seven years old! It breaks my heart that young girls are traded into a life of enslavement because of poverty and inequality, two common realities in Bihar.
According to UNICEF, Bihar is India’s third most populous state, with 40 percent of the population living below the poverty line in rural areas without access to basic necessities. Major challenges in Bihar include persistent poverty, social inequalities, caste discrimination, rapid urbanization and poor infrastructure. Bihar is also one of the most vulnerable states for the spread of HIV/AIDS due to high level of income-seeking migration, trafficking of women and girls, and decreased awareness of HIV/AIDS.
The question becomes how do you lift women out of poverty and financial instability. The key is access—access to healthcare, education and most importantly markets. For Nomi Network, we aim to provide an illiterate and unskilled population the skills needed to secure income-generating opportunities. Women in our program have all opened up savings accounts, and many are even pulling together money to hire a tutor for their girls. In Cambodia, we recently helped vulnerable women and survivors refine their products and secure orders from Walmart’s Empowering Women Together Program. - Their sustainable success depends on our support, helping them to timely deliver the orders under Walmart’s stringent sourcing requirements.
“Empowering Women Together is a simple concept; it connects shoppers in the United States with quality products made by women-owned businesses around the world,” said Andrea Thomas, senior vice president, Walmart. “And in doing that, it helps achieve so much more. Through Walmart’s Empowering Women Together, customers can help these suppliers increase their incomes, better their lives and create new jobs for others, and Walmart can help these suppliers gain experience with buying trends, scaling, product development and acumen they need to build their businesses.
This partnership with Walmart and Full Circle Exchange will help Nomi Network achieve its goal of creating 100,000 jobs for women by 2025. “We are proud to be a part of Walmart’s Empowering Women Together program, because we want to offer opportunities for retailers and consumers to combat trafficking by offering sustainable, chic products that are fair trade. According to recent McKinsey research, consumption by developing economies could rise from $12 trillion annually in 2010 to $30 trillion in 2025. As developing economies grow wealthier, some 1.8 billion individuals are likely to enter the global consuming class. This is an immense opportunity for women in rural Cambodia and India to be lifted out of poverty. This will have a ripple effect in rural India, an invaluable investment in their children, communities, and a future free of human trafficking. As we celebrate International Women's Day today, don't forget to visit www.buyherbagnotherbody.com today to vote for her success with your purchase.
