5 min inspiration :- Women on strike change the world

For months, refugee women in Uganda had been asking humanitarian actors to move food distribution points closer to where women lived. The women were tired of walking 10 kilometers to get to food and 10 km home, often getting attacked along the way. But the months rolled by, and nothing happened. So women took charge.

The Yoleta Women’s Group organized a sit-down strike at the food distribution point, boycotting food distribution. They got men who support women’s rights to write a memo to UNHCR explaining why they were on strike. Now, UNHCR, WFP, and others deliver food directly to communities, and women don’t have to walk. Better yet, everyone in the community sees women as leaders who get things done and gets them involved in humanitarian decisions.

Women Lead in Emergencies is a small pilot inside a Global Affairs Canada project supporting South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda from 2018-2020.  It worked with 5 local women’s groups to help them build the networks and confidence to lead humanitarian responses.
What did we accomplish?

• Women are more satisfied with the services. 93% of women were satisfied with the actions CARE took in the community.
• Women feel safer. 81% of women say they are facing less risk in their lives. 100% of GBV survivors who reported their experiences got support.
• Conflicts are going down. Women organized inter-ethnic peace groups to overcome conflict in their communities and convinced their community leaders to reconcile between tribes. “I initially felt uncomfortable sitting next to the tribes we have been fighting with back at home but I realize I have been holding a grudge with the warring tribe for too long and yet we are all facing the same displacement problems. Now I am more confident to relate as well as eat with the same tribe and this is a great transformation in my attitude.”
• Women are more confident. 91% of women—more than twice as many as in 2018—said they are confident in their negotiating skills. As one woman says, “I used to fear speaking before people. When I am selected to conduct prayers in the church, I would start shivering; but after CARE’s intervention, I have developed confidence and I can lead prayers including speaking confidently before people just like now.”
• Women get things done together. 92% of women—more than 3 times as in 2018—say they can work together to achieve their goals. This includes setting up literacy classes for women that reached far beyond the women in the groups CARE worked with. 90% of women’s savings groups have started saving and exploring business opportunities.
• Men are changing their behavior. Role Model Men are supporting women and are coming to believe that women are leaders. “I used to feel I was everything in my family right from planning to implementation of whatever I felt is good for my family without involving my wife. However, from this training, I have realized I was wrong. It is important to involve women in planning and making decisions in the family as key to attaining family growth.”

How do we get there?

• Ask women what they need; and listen to their answers: The project conducted 3 Rapid Gender Analyses to understand what barriers women face in participating in humanitarian response. Women said their families didn’t want them to participate, for fear they would pick up “bad influences.” They also had lower confidence, were afraid of violence, and didn’t have much money—all of which made it hard to participate.
• Don't plan for us, plan with us. The project--including locally-hired staff who knew the context--worked with women to plan project activities, like creating safer latrines at meeting centers, and setting up literacy classes.
• Help women get together. The project sponsored 2 Women’s Conferences, where women’s groups got together to speak about issues that mattered to them, develop action plans, and brainstorm solutions together. They checked progress on their plans and staged mock elections so women could practice public speaking. Women’s groups also got together to create inter-ethnic reconciliation plans they presented to leaders.
• Support women’s mental health. Women identified the trauma of their experiences as a barrier to participating, so the project helped them have a 2-day mental health and “psychological first aid” session for 83 women to come to terms with what has happened in their lives and find a way forward.
• Focus on practical skills. Women’s literacy classes, public speaking sessions, and training in savings groups and business skills were all critically important to women themselves, who felt these boosted their confidence and ability to get things done.
• Work with men and boys. Role Model Men were a key part of the project, men who go through training to better support the women in their lives, change fundamental social norms about gender equality and teach other men to change.

Want to learn more?
Read about Women Lead in Emergencies here.