March 8, 2011

Two Women Honored for Advancing Gender Equity

New Award Highlights Outstanding Gender Commitment, Expertise

ACDI/VOCA today, International Women’s Day, honors two of its own—Shipra Deo and Nancy Walker—with its first Advancing Gender Equity Award, which recognizes outstanding commitment to gender equity and exemplary efforts to promote gender approaches and analysis in our global programs.

Deo is an ACDI/VOCA gender and livelihoods specialist who works on the agricultural value chain development program in India called Sunhara, which uses tailored approaches for women farmers. Walker is a longtime ACDI/VOCA volunteer, who has helped build and integrate gender approaches into several overseas programs, including our recent agricultural and environmental development program in Sierra Leone called PAGE.

“I commend Ms. Deo and Ms. Walker for the tremendous work they do in the field to empower women and men in their communities,” says ACDI/VOCA President Carl Leonard, who presented them with the Advancing Gender Equity Award.

» News Release: Two Women Honored for Advancing Gender Equity at ACDI/VOCA

“By honoring our awardees today, we hope to highlight the crucial need for our community to continue to invest in the skills, knowledge and learning so necessary to gender approaches, so that more women and men benefit from international development efforts,” Leonard says.

Salute to International Women’s Day

This International Women’s Day, ACDI/VOCA staff worldwide will celebrate the economic contributions of women in their respective countries with the help of program communities, partners and beneficiaries. The following activities are just a sampling of what staff and communities have planned for today.

In Bangladesh, staff will celebrate with their partners and the community in Khulna, and will use the occasion to brainstorm ways to better integrate gender strategies into their work.

In Egypt, the team is hosting a workshop to celebrate women's economic and social achievements in the community. The workshop will include up to 75 women and will provide a space for women to share samples of their handicrafts and processed food products as well as their personal experiences and ideas on how to improve ACDI/VOCA programs.

In India, the team will host the “Women’s Conference” in Pratapgarh, where women will discuss the challenges and benefits they experience as farmers and organizational leaders.

In Liberia, ACDI/VOCA staff have organized celebratory events in Sinoe and Nimba counties to recognize the contributions of women in their communities.

In Mali, staff and the community in Dounkala will celebrate with a fête, where local officials will discuss women’s important roles in economic development. Media are expected to televise the event.

In Paraguay, the Concepcion community will see a play called “Mujer” and a photographic exhibit featuring the roles of women and men in the local programs.

In the Philippines, the day’s theme is “Magna Carta of Women, the Philippine CEDAW: In support of the MDGs." The team is hosting an event with USAID to highlight women’s roles in programs like SHIELD.

Commitment to Advancing Gender Equity

ACDI/VOCA continues to invest in gender approaches and strategies as part of its commitment to improving program effectiveness and mission to empower women and men worldwide.

While two ACDI/VOCA family members are honored today with the Advancing Gender Equity Award, without the full support of staff and donors, our successes to date would not be possible. For example, Alex Pavlovic, managing director of Sunhara, and James Dean, chief of party in Sierra Leone for Promoting Agriculture, Governance and Environment (PAGE), provided the support and program flexibility that Deo and Walker needed to integrate their gender strategies.

“On this special International Women’s Day—celebrating 100 years of honoring the unique role women have in global economic and social development—we reconfirm our commitment to gender equity in all aspects of our programs and operations,” Leonard says.

Learn more about ACDI/VOCA’s work with women.