Sunday 8 March is International Women’s Day. It’s a day to recognise and celebrate women’s achievements, promote gender equality and create meaningful change, captured in this year’s theme, Make It Happen.

But before I go into what 'it’ is, let me fill you in on some of the things that have been happening in the lives of women, especially those living in poverty…

• Women make up 70% of people living in poverty
• More than 875 million women and girls are illiterate
• One billion women globally don’t have access to financial services
• Women in developing countries are 20% less likely than men to have a bank account and 17% less likely to have borrowed from a formal bank in the past year
• Women in developing countries who are lucky enough to have a job earn 27% less than men
• An estimated 500,000 women and children in India are trafficked every year. In India, trafficking is likely to occur in regions with a high incidence of poverty. Demand for women comes from regions with a high level of female foeticide and infanticide, skewing gender ratios.

Not exactly a good news reel.

That’s why Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and United Nations Special Adviser of the Secretary General for Timor-Leste, says:

“A woman’s face remains the picture of poverty.”

Despite the incredible adversities women living in poverty face, they have been called the ‘powerhouse of developing countries’. We see it all the time here at Opportunity - they become involved in small-scale farming or running small businesses, working from sunrise to sunset to earn the income they need to care for their children and give them brighter futures.

Take women like Albertina for example. She’s been running her business in Indonesia – selling nuts, corn feed for chickens and empty drums for water and petrol storage – for more than 14 years.

She applied for a small loan to buy more stock for her shop after her husband died from a complication due to diabetes. She now works alone to support her daughter, 14-year-old Fina.

“I struggle hard every day to earn Rp.200,000,” (A$20) says Albertina. She used to work with her husband in the business, but now she works alone – from 8am to 8pm every day. Aside from daily living costs, she has to pay for Fina’s school fees, her uniform and books. She also gives Rp.10,000 (A$1) to her daughter every day for pocket money.

“I hope my daughter can go to senior high school and then university. Every day, I save Rp.5,000 (A$0.50) for my daughter in my savings account.”

This International Women’s Day, what you can do is simple: change the face of poverty by making more stories like Albertina’s happen.

Your donation of $70 helps mothers in poverty access the financial services they need grow businesses, earn incomes, provide for their children’s basic needs and break the poverty cycle – with dignity and purpose.

And that’s well worth ‘making it happen’.

Sources:
Why technology matters for advancing women's financial inclusion, OECD Insights, 2015
Get financial inclusion on the agenda for one billion women, Womens Agenda, 2013
Is empowering women the answer to ending poverty in the developing world?, The Guardian, 2013

At Opportunity International Australia, Stephanie Hristovska is the Communications Coordinator, supporting the organisation in a range of communications activities.