International Women’s Day is today! From March 4-15 the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will focus on the “elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”. Up to 7 in 10 women are affected by violence- a staggering figure. While 125 countries have laws against domestic violence, 603 million women live in countries where it is not considered to be a crime. (Retrieved from http://song.unwomen.org/)
Here in North America, it is easy to take for granted the rights and safety that women enjoy. One of the most important factors for women’s empowerment is financial independence. When Jane Wurwand started Dermalogica over 25 years ago, part of her vision was to help female entrepreneurs in the skin care industry to build their businesses. She has certainly had many successful partnerships over the last quarter century demonstrated in Dermalogica’s spectacular growth and world-wide recognition.
The development of a partnership with Kiva spawned Fite– launched in 2011- which has spread Jane’s dream of helping female entrepreneurs throughout the world. In some countries, women’s access access to micro-finance capital is limited. Fite helps to break this cycle of prejudice, greatly improving women’s prospects for economic prosperity and independence through micro-loans. The concept of micro-loans is a very interesting and offers a sustainable lending model outside of established financial markets. Click here to learn more about Fite.
Last year at this time, with our client’s help, we successfully financed a micro-loan for a female entrepreneur and in honour of International Women’s Day, we’re doing it again. For more details about our Micro-Zone for Micro-Loan campaign.
For more on International Women’s Day look at the UN Women page. Have you done a micro-loan through Fite? Tell us about your experience here.
