Women’s Economic Empowerment Programs

General Aim

We believe that violence against women and social issues can have lesser negative impact if women and girls are empowered economically. VfC works to improve the financial literacy and technical abilities of women and community members engaged in the informal sector, including horticulture, livestock and fisheries, as well as helping individuals and local groups to access and manage microfinance and savings schemes. National and Provincial government investment into community development is low and inconsistent. At the district and community level, the current state of the market is very poor. Working and trading conditions for rural women are hazardous and women have limited access to land rights. Land size is under pressure due to population increase. This changes traditional cultivation practices, including loss of fallow land and crop rotation. Weather and climate patterns are changing crop cycles and food shortages are emerging. The quantity of water in the rivers is observed to be dropping. Increasingly, there is less security for youth linked to land than former generations due to traditional land being sold to commercial real estate investors. Youth are engaged and excited by technology as the means to connect and learn, but Jiwaka Province is largely excluded from new technology. Potential changes to work prospects and the future job markets caused by the digital and technological shifts will be significant and challenging.

VfC works to improve the financial literacy and technical abilities of women and community members engaged in the informal sector, including horticulture, livestock and fisheries.
Our Village Based Agricultural Extension Service Program works with rural women farmers and their families to improve skills and knowledge in agricultural production to maintain food security, increase financial literacy, enhance cash income and sustain their livelihoods.
We operate a Training Centre on human rights and skills building linked to economic empowerment and employment.
We advocate for safe markets and new commercial enterprises for rural women.
We work with the Jiwaka Provincial Budget Priority and Planning Committee to ensure gender responsive budgeting.

(Photo: Lilly Be’Soer, Voice for Change Director, presents to Jiwaka Women Human Rights Defenders Network, August 2015)

Savings Club

VfC encourages women to establish their own financial savings by managing women’s savings through a savings club. VfC looks after their savings on the condition that they withdraw in times of need for medical attention or school fees. We help individuals and local groups to access and manage microfinance and savings schemes, including mobile phone banking and acting as a banking agent. This has helped women to support their families and children.

Village Based Agricultural Extension Program

Village Based Agricultural Extension Service Program follows a village-based farmer–to-farmer extension approach in order to provide opportunity of skilled service providers to share and pass on their experiences and knowledge among and within the members of the community. The program utilises the local expertise to train fellow men and women in own local dialect. This program is targeting rural women and their families on improving skills and knowledge in agricultural production to maintain food security, enhance cash income and sustain livelihoods. (Photo: an extension worker (community facilitator) trains local women from remote communities on vegetable growing, July 2014.)

Capacity Building on Livelihoods Skills

This project focuses on training rural families on improved methods of production for sustained income and consumption. It also incorporates financial literacy trainings which are given alongside other trainings. (Photo: VfC runs women’s economic empowerment trainings for local communities. Here women are learning how to make compost, March 2015)