Seattle Chapter SID Event on Women's Health & Empowerment

Seattle Chapter, SID Event

January 29 or 30, 12:30 – 2:30 PM

Imagine a woman in Ghana leaving the clinic with her newborn.  She has been prepped on what she needs to do when she gets home. But, once home, she can’t spare the taxi fare to return to the clinic for support,  and the leaders in her community think that the measures she was taught at the clinic are too costly and not in line with tradition.  Is this a health issue?  Or an economic justice issue?  Or both?

The Seattle Chapter of SID is partnering with the SID Washington, DC Chapter (http://www.sidw.org/)  to produce a bi-coastal discussion on recent breakthroughs at the intersection of health and women’s economic empowerment.  Each Chapter will feature two speakers who will share recent breakthroughs.  The discussion will include conversation from both cities  so that Chapter members in each location will be able to participate with both sets of speakers and each other via video feed.  We are currently looking for the best site and speakers. Please check our website for updates.  The event will take place either January 29 or 30, depending on speaker and site availability… updates soon.

The Seattle SID Chapter is dedicated to breaking down the silos in the practice of international development.  Seattle SID is intended to be a “home” for development professionals to come together across the boundaries of their organizations to share their experiences, learn from each other, and foster a more inclusive conversation about the art and practice of Development.

Who should attend?  Anyone interested in the topics of health and women’s economic empowerment.  For more information please contact

Thessalonika.benny@gmail.com
Monika.aring@gmail.com
Sumibhatkincaid@gmail.com

Background

According to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2012, which focuses on gender equality, the world’s 3.5 billion woman and girls still face an uneven playing field in education, employment, earnings, and decision-making power. The report shows that gender inequality comes with a cost, while equality for women can create economic opportunities and boost efficiency and productivity. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that if women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education, and markets that men do, agricultural production could be increased and the number of hungry people reduced by 100-150 million. For these reasons SID has focused on  Woman and Economic Justice to look at how women’s economic empowerment links to other development areas.