International Women’s Day

Celebrate Women Who Are Improving Their Lives and Their Communities Through Clinton Foundation Programs

On March 8, we joined as the world celebrated International Women’s Day, an acknowledgement of women’s economic, political, and social achievements. Year round, the Clinton Foundation works to sustain this recognition and to further the empowerment of women and girls everywhere, from the United States, to Haiti, to Latin America, to Africa. Through our programs, women are starting their own small businesses in Colombia and Peru, helping their children lead healthier lives, and learning sustainable farming techniques in Africa – improving their lives, the health of their families, and the strength of their communities.

Despite the many achievements of women, this day also serves as an urgent reminder of the social imbalance women still experience worldwide: Women comprise more than 50 percent of the world’s population but own only 1 percent of the world’s wealth. Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn only 10 percent of world income, facts that may account for why women make up 70 percent of the world’s poor.

The Clinton Foundation recognizes the power women have to positively change social and economic conditions for themselves and the world. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families. And investing in the education and empowerment of women has lasting returns: Each year of schooling increases a woman’s income by 10 to 20 percent and closing the gender gap in education adds 0.5 percent to a country’s per capita GNP – benefits that are shared by boys and men.

Clinton Foundation programs aim to provide girls and women with the education, training, and resources they need to sustain productive and healthy livelihoods for themselves and their families.

This year’s International Women’s Day is focusing on the challenges that confront displaced women every day – a particularly urgent need when as 80 percent of displaced populations are women and children and when the world is still reacting to the overwhelming need in Haiti. The assistance for Haiti galvanized by President Clinton – in the form of tents, medical supplies, latrines, women’s and girls’ clothing, and lights for protection in camps – is reaching thousands of women and girls displaced by the January 12 earthquake.

Below are stories of inspiring women who participate in and further Clinton Foundation programs that are:

• Creating opportunities for women in South America
• Catalyzing sustainable development in Africa
• Mentoring women in America’s underserved communities
• Encouraging leadership and healthier living through the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
• Empowering girls and women through the Clinton Global Initiative

The Colombian region of Chocó has been affected by violence for years. Few economic opportunities exist, especially for displaced Afro-Columbian single women who are often the sole providers for their families.

In partnership with the Asociación Red de Mujeres Productoras de Plantas Aromáticas del Chocó and the government of Colombia, the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI) is upgrading an organic spice business called TANA, owned and operated by women in Chocó.

CGSGI is working with the group to improve project management, monitoring, and evaluation; assist TANA in marketing its products efficiently; and finance the upgrading of TANA’s processing facility. Since CGSGI began working with the group, TANA has increased the number of women producers from 65 to 150, has improved its processing center for the production of its spices, adopted new organic growing practices, and is developing organization and marketing capacity. Three major supermarket chains now are selling TANA’s organic spices, such as basil, cilantro, ginger, and turmeric.

TANA’s success and sustainability are uplifting incomes for women and encouraging additional entrepreneurs in the area. Read Maritza’s story about how she helped TANA grow.

Eighty percent of smallholder farmers in Africa are women, and the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) is helping farmers to increase their incomes. Ifijenia Kamtaza, who lives in Kapalamula Village in the Mchinji District of Malawi, is in the Tiyanjane Club, which grows soy in collaboration with CHDI. Through the development of a large commercial farm in partnership with local investors, CHDI is able to negotiate lower prices on seeds and fertilizer as well as fair prices for mature soy. By expanding the availability of these price reductions and fair prices to small farmers surrounding the commercial farm, CHDI assists small farmers to significantly expand their incomes, in a sustainable manner – while also expanding food security in the region.

"When I was growing groundnuts, I never made as much money as I do now from growing soya," she says, emphasizing her gratitude to CHDI "for coming to help us in Mchinji, and I hope they continue this good work so more can benefit as I have."

She adds: "With advice from [CHDI], we are reaping 20 bags of soya per acre while in the past we only harvested 5 bags per acre. New farming methods allowed me to earn more from sales, which I will use to send my daughter Esinter to boarding school."

Watch Ifijenia tell her story.

In America, the Clinton Foundation is helping to empower women through the Entrepreneur Mentoring Program of the Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative (CEO). The program helps small business owners in America’s underserved communities succeed by connecting them to the support, ideas, and tools that can help them compete and grow in the marketplace.

Monique Greenwood is one such business owner. She owns the Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns, which has five locations nationwide. In addition to running her business, Monique works to improve the quality of life in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, the headquarters of her business. She has helped convert a run-down block into an upscale retail strip that includes a fine dining restaurant, a quaint coffee house, a general-title bookstore, an art framing and gift shop, and a hair salon.

As a participant in CEO’s Entrepreneur Mentoring Program, Monique received an operational and financial baseline assessment of her business from Booz and Company consultants and students from NYU Stern School of Business. Additionally, Monique has been matched with mentor Norm Brodsky, a veteran entrepreneur and columnist for Inc. magazine. By working with Booz and her mentor, Monique is learning to improve Akwaaba’s branding, marketing, and operations to help her business succeed and grow.

"My main goal in participating in this program is to have a firm understanding of my business and its greater potential. Part of this is to increase revenue and better prepare the staff to take on what I have done so that I can concentrate on looking at different and bigger opportunities," Monique says. "As a result of participating in the Entrepreneur Mentoring Program, I have been able to increase my bottom line sales in this tough economy. For example, my consultant has shown me different opportunities to create new revenue sources. He showed me how to better capitalize on my gift shop and as a result I’ve been able to increase sales by an equivalent of four rooms a week without adding an additional guest room!"

Watch videos about more female entrepreneurs in CEO’s mentoring program.

In Harlem, New York, Karina Malave attends the Coalition School for Social Change, and is on the Youth Advisory Board for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation – a group of 25 young people from across the country who are inspiring their peers to make healthy behavior changes. She joined the board to "be able to be a leader in my community and teach kids about healthy living and tell them all these things they may not know any other way. And I feel like I could make a difference."

She adds: "Witnessing people all over New York City living unhealthy lives has been motivation for me to do the opposite. I have now been making smarter decisions about my food choices and attempting to get more exercise into my daily life."

Watch Karina tell her story.

In 2009, the Clinton Global Initiative focused specifically on the topic of Investing in Girls and Women. Through a series of events and sessions, the 2009 CGI Annual Meeting program examined solutions that empower girls and women around the world and uplift communities and economies.

Innovative businesses and organizations have recognized that investments in girls and women foster stable societies and prosperous markets. Research shows that each year of schooling increases a woman’s income by 10 to 20 percent and closing the gender gap in education adds 0.5 percent to a country’s per capita GNP – benefits that are shared by boys and men. This is not just a women’s issue.

CGI members have developed Commitments to Action – development programs of the members’ choosing – aimed at helping girls and women overcome challenges of in the areas of education, global health, poverty, energy, and climate change. CGI’s 2010 Annual Meeting this September in New York will again focus on Empowering Girls and Women.

Watch a video about CGI member commitments that are already empowering girls and women.