Empowering women in economic activities is key to achieving gender equality and boosting the growth of national economies. Women’s economic justice is at the core of some of the most successful initiatives across CARE International.
CARE International defines women’s economic justice as the fulfillment of women’s fundamental human right to economic resources and the power to make decisions that affect their lives. This requires women to have equitable access to, and control over, economic resources, including by having the time and opportunity to engage in economic activities.
It also requires changes to discriminatory social norms and economic structures, laws, policies and practices that marginalize women.
Our goal is that by 2030, 50 million will have more equitable access to, and control over, economic resources and opportunities.
The disadvantages and discrimination faced by women and girls severely limits their ability to lift themselves out of poverty. As a result, women are more likely to work in informal, low-wage jobs with exploitative and unequal working conditions, and have restricted access to affordable, quality financial products and services, like a savings account or small loan.
Investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a path for poverty reduction and for advanced gender equality. We empower women to build better livelihoods, earn more income, and create businesses that provide jobs and boost local economies.
Women, in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, have made significant progress towards women’s economic justice:
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the deep inequalities in our societies and economic systems. The next ten years will see the world deal with the fallout of the pandemic, including an anticipated increase in multiple forms of inequality. This trend will be exacerbated by increasing risks from climate change and other protracted crises.
Globally, patterns of increased political polarization, shrinking civic space, concentrated private sector power, and a growing dependence on digital technology threaten to compound barriers to women’s economic justice even further.
We focus on supporting women to access financial services, participate in dignified work, and thrive as entrepreneurs and small-scale producers. Through an emphasis on economic justice, we are committed to changing the discriminatory social norms and economic structures, laws, policies, and practices that marginalize women.
CARE International works with economically marginalized women who have no or limited access to and control over economic rights, resources, and opportunities. We work with workers, entrepreneurs, and small-scale producers, as well as Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) members. This includes women living in fragile or conflict-affected contexts, and those who have been displaced.
We will build on our past successes, including on dignified work, financial inclusion , and entrepreneurship. We also look forward to building on our advocacy successes related to the ratification of ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work and our engagement as part of the Generation Equality Forum’s Economic Justice and Rights Action Coalition.
Read our Vision 2030 Impact Area Strategy for Women's Economic Justice here.
The report provides an overview of WEJ’s accomplishments in advancing economic justice for women worldwide, including the success of its savings groups, which have improved the lives of 17.7 million people around the world.
The new alliance between ILO, IFAD and CARE will promote decent work and productive employment, with the aim of tackling poverty and inequality in the sector while also promoting sustainable business.
Women in the region still have significantly lower participation in the job market and often work in sectors with lower wages
Coffee production and tourism in Honduras are two very recognized means of livelihood with the potential to reduce poverty in rural areas. Promotion of the Rural Economic Development of Women and Youth of the Lempa Region of Honduras (PROLEMPA) led by CARE Canada, CESO - SACO and TechnoServe aims to improve the economic well-being of entrepreneurs and producers, particularly women, youth, and indigenous people in this region.
Globally, 339 million people need humanitarian assistance, and this figure is growing. When crisis hits, the lack of access to the formal financial system can worsen these conditions. Since 2017, CARE has been refining our VSLA(Village Savings and Loan Association) in Emergencies (VSLAiE) model to address these issues. When VSLAs are properly sequenced and integrated into interventions, they can be a powerful tool for livelihood recovery in humanitarian settings.
CARE aims to directly address underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition while reinforcing and strengthening community systems and resilience in Maradi, one of the most malnourished and food unsecured regions of Niger.
61% of Ukrainian domestic workers in Poland have experienced unequal treatment, discrimination, harassment or abuse at work, new research by CARE has found.
The Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model with its focus on establishing low cost, self-administered informal financial services - with the ability to link to formal financial institutions where available - has the potential to help address this gap and lay a foundation for future economic recovery.
Since 2017, CARE has piloted and refined our VSLA in Emergencies model to reach people in need of humanitarian assistance and provide an approach that can reduce long term vulnerability while being more sustainable.
In FY2022, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, defeating poverty, and achieving social justice.
