Photo Essay: ACDI/VOCA Salutes International Women’s Day 2011
ACDI/VOCA staff around the world celebrated International Women’s Day 2011 with local partners, communities and beneficiaries.
The events—from Bangladesh to Liberia—highlighted the contributions women bring every day to their countries and local communities.
Below are photos and information on the various events. Click the following links to jump directly to a particular country:
Bangladesh
ACDI/VOCA celebrated 2011 International Women’s Day with local partners and community in Khulna Division.
Staff discussed better ways to integrate gender-related strategies into their day-to-day work.
They also brainstormed gender-appropriate strategies for overcoming gender-based constraints in Bangladesh and discussed ideas for better serving beneficiaries, both men and women.
Egypt
Staff from ACDI/VOCA’s Farmer-to-Farmer (FtF) and Heinz Global Development Alliance (GDA) projects joined the West Nubaria Rural Development Program (WNRDP) in Amareya, Egypt, to host an exhibition of women's handicrafts and agricultural products. Attendees included approximately 75 women and 75 men.
The event started with a minute of silence for attendees to reflect lives lost in the recent Egyptian revolution. WNRDP’s Dr. Hussein Awad opened by speaking about how the three projects have cooperated to support women in the region with skills training and enterprise development.
FtF Field and Administrative Officer Omnia Morsi and GDA Managing Director Alexandra Harrison thanked the women for their efforts and emphasized ACDI/VOCA's commitment to working hand-in-hand with them to develop their local economies and communities.
In an exhibition tent at the event, local women entrepreneurs displayed a wide range of products, including hand-loomed carpets, home decor, women's and children's clothing, jams, cheeses, olive oil and breads. The women expressed their appreciation for the day’s event and recommended that program staff allow the women to exhibit their wares every month to help market their products to the broader community.
India
More than 1,200 rural women attended a “Women’s Conference” in Pratapgarh to celebrate International Women’s Day. Organized by one of our Sunhara program partners—a women’s collective called Skahti Mahila Mandal, which means “women’s group for power”—the event provided the women a public platform to share their experiences on three core themes: access to education and health services, violence against women, and women’s rights, including property rights.
Women shared personal experiences and staged short plays. For many, it was the first time they could speak and perform publicly on such sensitive issues. Participant performer Maya Srivastava highlighted the precarious situation of women’s health. She shared a real-life example of a woman and baby girl who died during childbirth because the mother did not reach a hospital in time.
In an exhibit, women also displayed advanced agricultural techniques they learned from the Sunhara India Project, including vermin-composting, growing plants in raised beds, using low polytunnels and creating value-added products.
Some local agricultural input suppliers participated in the exhibit as well to showcase their products.
Liberia
ACDI/VOCA staff partnered with the Ministry of Gender and Development in Gbarnga City, Bong County, to celebrate the day, highlighting the local theme, “Celebrating Women’s Involvement in the Rejuvenation of the Liberian Cocoa Sector.”
To start events, over 450 women comprising 10 women's group paraded down the main street of Sanoyea Town. Members of women’s groups then gave talks on women’s roles in economic and political affairs. Women farmers supported by ACDI/VOCA programs presented a paper on their roles in the Liberian cocoa sector and exhibited their byproducts from cocoa beans and husks, including roaster cocoa nibs, cocoa shell mulch, and organic soap and dye.
Mali
ACDI/VOCA’s agricultural development program, Agriculture Development Systems Activity (ADSA), hosted a fête for 33 villages in the Alatona zone.
Local officials made speeches about women’s important roles in economic development.
Attendees participated in singing and dancing to celebrate the day.
Paraguay
ACDI/VOCA-Paraguay held an internal event to discuss issues related to gender roles, tools and methodologies in international development work.
Staff began the event with a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Gender: A Key to Development and Empowerment.” The presentation provided information and techniques on gender approaches and tools to allow staff to bring awareness of gender issues to program design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation activities in Paraguay. Attendees also discussed the importance of assessing different gender roles in developed and developing countries and how the concept of gender varies depending on the culture.
United States
ACDI/VOCA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., hosted an interactive exhibition of its gender technical approaches presented by staff members through posters and multimedia presentations.
Topics included gender analyses and assessments, Farming as a Family Business training, involving men through men’s peer groups, gender and value chains, and gender and communication.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Gender Specialist Lindsey Jones also recognized the contributions of staff and volunteers in integrating gender-based approaches to its development programs with the announcement of the first round of ACDI/VOCA Gender Equity awards to Shipra Deo and Nancy Walker.
The award recognizes outstanding commitment to gender equity and exemplary efforts to promote gender approaches and analysis in our global programs.
>>See more photos of ACDI/VOCA's development work with women around the world.
