Health, Economic Empowerment and Rights (HER)

Key components of advancing the cause of women’s health are promoting awareness of their rights-to-health and safety, as well as giving them a voice for advocacy in their homes, local communities, and countries. We believe women and girls’ access to health and safety is a fundamental cornerstone of their economic empowerment. Based on this belief, we are focused on Health, Economic Empowerment and Rights (HER) in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East, and East Africa. In these areas we provide ongoing training and mentoring to women and civil society leaders who can help advance the cause of women’s health and safety, and their economic wellbeing. Given the close connection between access to health/safety and economic empowerment, our training and awareness modules cover both of these closely related issues so critical to the well-being of women. We use distance e-training and mentoring through local partners and their trainees to advance the health and financial independence of women. This is of particular importance for women caught in the vicious cycle of violence. We supply our local partners in remote areas with V4D, to improve the reach of our HER – health, safety, and economic empowerment – programs to some of the most remote areas of the globe.

Health Prevention combined with Economic Empowerment Project

The UN estimates 4.5 million Ethiopians will be in need of food assistance due to shortage of rain. The tons of haricot beans stored in Meki are an excellent source of nutrients for malnourished populations of the region. Last Mile4D worked with community partners to design a sustainable business and marketing plan to promote the nutritional and health values of beans. The plan included an instructional poster, a YouTube video on “how to prepare the beans” and a micro-grant (by Last Mile4D) enabling women’s participation in the launch of the first educational demonstration. The marketing material assists the local community in their sustainability goal to reach hundreds of women farmers in the region and beyond. Special thanks to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) –Uganda office Faremer2Farmer program, Catholic Charities of Meki and Bora Denbel Farmers’ Cooperative Union for their cooperation in the Last Mile4D’s delivery of the demonstration.

Focus of the demonstration:

Health and nutritional value of haricot beans (calcium, protein, etc.) for children’s growth

Economic opportunities for women farmers to prepare and market the cooked beans

Market and business expansion for the Bora Denbel Cooperative Union

Sustainable farming