Johanne is a restavèk, a word in Creole meaning “to stay with”. She was sent away from her family at the age of nine. Two years later, she lost her left hand in the 2010 earthquake, which devastated Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince.
Restavèks are mostly girls, and can be as young as five. Their parents hand them over to other households hoping that in exchange for their labour, they will be fed, housed and educated.
The Haitian based NGO, Restavèk Freedom Foundation says, in recent years, these children have become victims of a contemporary form of slavery. They are now trafficked by recruiters who are paid to find a source of cheap labour for families, themselves quite poor, who live in neighbourhoods where there is no basic infrastructure, including water and electricity.
Francoise, a child advocate from Restavèk Freedom Foundation met Johanne in 2011. Living with a woman she called “Aunty”, Johanne cooked, cleaned and carried 20 litre buckets of water up the road to the house. She was abused and not allowed to attend school.
Historically climate policy has not addressed the differing ways in which climate change affects men and women. The Foundation is working to contribute to the development of gender-informed climate policy. At the international level this is policy which sets out commitments to address the gender dimensions of climate change and which provides guidance on how best to do this.
The Foundation aims to strengthen references to gender and gender equality and women’s leadership in international policy in order to facilitate more gender responsive action on the ground. Our work in this area is guided by our Climate Justice Principle: Highlight Gender Equality and Equity.
"No society can develop - economically, politically or socially – when half of its population is marginalised." - Mary Robinson
Historically climate policy has not addressed the differing ways in which climate change affects men and women. The Foundation is working to contribute to the development of gender-informed climate policy.
Promoting gender balance and improving the participation of women in the UNFCCC negotiations and in the representation of Parties in bodies established pursuant to the Convention or the Kyoto Protocol is essential to ensure climate justice.
In 2006, FAO, the UN Food & Agriculture Organization, published a 58-Page text on – GENDER: THE MISSING COMPONENT OF THE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE. Now, we have read the challenges of our women climate advocates at COP 20, the Sustainable Innovation Forum on Climate Action, and look ahead to continued Sessions of the FCCC, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Women Gender Constituency of the UNFCCC gave an objective analysis of COP 20 - http://www.wunrn.com/news/2014/12_14/12_15/121514_cop_files/COP%2020-Women's%20Press%20Release-Climate%20Change.pdf and noted the launch of the Lima Work Programme on Gender. http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/lima_dec_2014/decisions/application/pdf/auv_cop20_gender.pdf
“Although COP 20 did see the launch of the 'Lima Work Programme on Gender', which aims to advance implementation of gender-responsive climate policies and mandates across all areas of the negotiations, this critical initiative faced challenges as well, with governments trading language on ‘gender equality’ for ‘gender balance.’”
The Nike Foundation (co-founders of the Girl Effect) and Unreasonable Group have partnered on an intensive two-week program for entrepreneurs leading wildly innovative startups that are positioned to benefit millions of girls in poverty: we are calling it the “Girl Effect Accelerator.” The Girl Effect Accelerator launched our inaugural program in November 2014. We connected 10 select ventures with world-class mentors, strategic financing and access to a global network of support. The accelerator aims to rapidly increase the positive impact these ventures already have for girls living in poverty. We also welcomed 3 entrepreneurs in residence to join the program in an effort to help take their efforts to scale.
Are startup accelerators the future for women and girls?
It costs only $25 per woman per year to save millions of lives, according to a recent UN-backed report by the Guttmacher Institute on reproductive health services in developing countries. The research shows that the low cost needed to cover contraception services, pregnancy and newborn care, and HIV care to prevent mother-to-child transmission would significantly reduce maternal and newborn deaths. Unfortunately, current funding levels for these services—$18 billion annually—cover less than half of the amount needed to make that a reality.
Ebo was 8-years-old when his mother handed control of him to his older sister and her husband. They put him to work. Until he was 16, Ebo spent long hours, every day, in highly dangerous conditions on Lake Volta, in Ghana, paddling a canoe, casting nets and diving deep to untangle them.
He fished with his friend Malik, who had been trafficked and also forced to work on Lake Volta. They had very little to eat, endured scorching heat and survived storms that upended their boat. When Ebo was not working on the lake, he had to smoke and package the fish for sale at the market.
“We work three times daily. We start work at 4am, work till noon, and then come back home and go again at 2pm, until 6pm; then we go to cast the last net at night,” said Ebo, adding that he was often beaten and insulted if he made a mistake.
Ebo recounted the tragic day his friend Malik drowned, after being forced to dive to free the nets. “I was afraid and begged to be sent back home because I could also die,” he said.
