Women are an important element in every society: They are the daughters, sisters, and mothers of the world’s population. But they are often the disregarded/unofficial pillars in their communities, homes, and workplace, and to this day, women are exploited, oppressed, violated, and marginalized.
Gender inequality is an issue facing the whole world, and it needs to be addressed, tackled, and solved. We need to have these uncomfortable and difficult conversations if we want to see women living in better circumstances, gaining their livelihoods decently, respected, and valued. Women need access to better education and job opportunities to live freely and with dignity, to be in control of their lives, to make their own financial decisions, to have equal rights, equal social status, equal pay, and a seat at the table.
Silatech seeks out opportunities for young women to secure decent employment opportunities through providing them with training and counseling, as well as financing their businesses, which brings economical and emotional stability and security for them and their families.
Greater emphasis is placed on women in rural areas and in conflict-affected areas where women suffer from poverty and marginalization. Silatech encouraged and supported the Gum Arab Agriculture project in North Kordofan in Sudan, which paved the way for women who did not get a proper education because of discrimination.
Silatech has signed an agreement with UN Women to economically empower more than 1,000 urban, peri-urban, and rural women and girls in the most vulnerable circumstances including women with disabilities and survivors of gender-based violence living in refugee and IDP camps in the Red Sea State and Khartoum State of Sudan.
Mr. Darren Peters, Regional Director of Operations, United Nations Women-Sudan: “The partnership between Silatech and UN Women will generate important and diverse interventions for projects that enhance women’s capacity to establish cooperatives and trade unions, and to use technology and services, enhancing their access to financial services and markets, thus enabling them to contribute to sustainable development.”
In Somalia, Silatech partnered with Yustan, a leading public seafood manufacturing company in East Africa with access to local, regional, and international markets for more than 100 million people, to raise the percentage of fishermen and their productivity and link them to decent jobs promoting economic opportunities for females in the male-dominated fisheries sector.
To financially empower Palestinian women, Silatech and our partner, The Palestinian Food Industries Union (PFIU), joined forces to create profitable job opportunities for women in the Food Industry sector in Gaza and the West Bank. We are training women from women’s associations to work in the food sector on proper safety and quality assurance, industrial ethics, food technology, packaging, and best practices so they start producing food products with precise specifications and standards, and connecting them with industrial sectors and relevant factories.
Outcomes:
- 15 women’s associations received capacity-building training workshops
- 1000 young women were trained on the fundamentals of food manufacturing, certifications, and storage
- Creating jobs at the associations
Gender equality and women’s empowerment are two of the most crucial issues on the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Plan, as women continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every corner of the globe. According to the United Nations, rural women suffer more than men due to discrimination and unfathomable gender disparities, making rural women and girls more vulnerable to poverty.
This is not an issue to be taken lightly if we are genuinely working towards a better future and a better world. I call on everyone around the world to do their part; start with your family and your community, take the first step, and you will be surprised how effective and influential one person can be.
There is no effort too small or insignificant.
Be the inspiration and motivation you want to see in others.