SDG 5 - Gender equality

Time and again, we receive stories from our employees in the projects about the imbalance between men and women. In African countries in particular, many communities and families are still a long way from achieving gender equality due to tradition.

One example of such a story is that of Zanifa Swalehe from Tanzania. The 17-year-old lives in the small village of Ruo Village, around 40 km from Nyangao. Joan Laiser, our "Gender Officer", became aware of Zanifa during one of her external workshops on "Gender-based Violence". The young woman lives alone with her 2-year-old twins in a poor hut. She finished school after the first four years because she was needed as a worker in her parents' household. Due to her early pregnancy, she was unable to start an apprenticeship. She also saw no reason to earn money herself, as her husband at the time provided her with enough to survive. But now he has abandoned her after the birth of their two children - he refuses to pay any maintenance. So Zanifa has to provide for her small family all by herself. As she has no regular income, the three of them live from hand to mouth and are among the poorest in the region. Nevertheless, the girl is in luck: by meeting Joan, she has now been helped and will be able to claim the money from the child's father in court.

Many women around the world feel the same way as Zanifa. Structural barriers, legal discrimination, outdated social norms and disadvantages prevent the female population in many countries from freeing themselves from dependence on men.

It is therefore a key point of Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) of the 2030 Agenda to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls and to eliminate violence against them. Other targets deal with individual forms of gender-based discrimination, such as forced marriage, lack of equal opportunities to attain leadership positions and unequal rights to economic resources.

We are glad that we can support this goal with our help and projects and are happy about every young girl who goes her own way. But we are also happy about every man who has recognized this discrepancy and supports the women around him.