Empowering poor women: microfinance – what works?

Ten years of experience and reflection in Vietnam: International Women’s Development Agency-Vietnam Women’s Union microfinance research project

IWDA was involved in microfinance activities in Vietnam from the late 1980s until 2003. With funding from the Australian Agency for International Development, IWDA and the Vietnam Women’s Union embarked on a collaborative journey to examine the legacy and learnings from a decade of designing, managing and implementing microfinance projects.

Findings from the participatory research confirm that microfinance is a valuable tool for facilitating the economic and wider empowerment of women in contexts where there are barriers to accessing financial services.  But the way in which it is provided, and the nature and scope of the support, assistance and learning available to borrowers is critical to overall impact, particularly on women’s empowerment. 

The research enables us to hear first hand from poor women about what works and how microfinance makes a difference.  Their voices are a powerful reminder of why microfinance is important in a world of imperfect markets and systemic barriers to women’s participation.  Importantly, the research also highlighted that what women particularly valued was the solidarity, training and access to new information, knowledge, and skills that were an integral part of the IWDA-VWU approach.

Thanks to the assistance from my family and women members in our group, our economic status has improved remarkably.  From training, I now have knowledge about balancing loss and profit and finding more feasible businesses to set up.  I keep all records on what I have earned, even if it is from corn or beans, and what I have spent after one day, even if it is money to pay study fees for my children as well as all other family expenses. Now I am able to set up a more feasible business plan and have learnt the lesson that you cannot have success without a good and detailed business plan.

Women spoke with pride about the positive changes in their status in the family and in society:

My status is now much better than before…if you visit my house you could not guess how poor we were…my status in the family is also improved…when I go out people look at me differently…

In addition, now I am the head of two women’s savings groups.  Previously, I hadn ‘t been capable of bookkeeping.  Now I skilfully manage the funds of two women’s savings groups and I am trusted by group members.

Men, too, spoke positively of the impact on their partner’s confidence and knowledge:

Previously, my wife rarely discussed anything with me.  If I wanted to do something, my wife agreed with me and sometimes I failed.  Since she has been involved in the project and able to access the training and meetings, my wife’s knowledge has improved and she is more confident.  She now discusses family issues with me…

Hard copy of this 110-page publication can be ordered from IWDA.  Order form

You can download the report Empowering Poor Women – Microfinance in Vietnam and the Appendices and Bibliography.

Meet Bonney Corbin, IWDA Program Manager for Solomon Islands

• Stop Violence TV Campaign, One News TV Ltd.
• Building community resilience: natural resource management – Tugeda tude fo tumoro, Live and Learn Environmental Education Solomon Islands
• Increasing rural women’s access to micro finance, West AreAre Rokotanikeni Association

How long have you been involved in development work?

27 years. I don’t think that ‘development’ is tied to a particular discipline, for me it’s an approach to life.

I’d like to think that anyone can choose to participate in the process of ‘development’ work, regardless of age, location, or employment status. We all have a choice about how we interact with our surroundings. 

What drives you to work for change?  

This world has a sea of inspirational people. I like riding their waves! 

I also like learning about our world, because it allows me to learn about myself. 

What are some of the approaches and methods you use? 

I’m probably most linked to community development principles. I like to practise what I preach. I try to live my values, and to constantly question my ethics. I like questioning myself and others around me. And although having strong ethics is great, I try not to get stuck on the finer details. 

Have you worked in NGOs before? What is it about this kind of work that you enjoy? 

I guess I’ve been involved with Non-Government and Community Based Organisations for most of my life. I enjoy working in non-profit environments, where communities are a central part of organisations and their work. 

I also find the dynamics of NGOs stimulating. For example if your board of management is representative of the communities you work within, the work really can be quite empowering. So the structure of NGOs and CBOs can create opportunities for a more flexible approach. I like the idea of flexible policies and processes which evolve alongside the communities around us. 

Can you think of particular influences which have motivated you to work with developing countries? 

I wouldn’t really say that I work with developing countries. I work with people. If some of those people were born or happen to live in particular countries, then that’s just an additional layer to the work that I do. 

I like working with people, because I learn about myself. I love to listen to other people’s stories, to share experiences, and to have some laughs. When you meet a person, you can measure yourself by creating a point of difference. I find it interesting. 

What are some of the challenges you encounter working in this field and how do you overcome them? 

Having just come from working in north Sri Lanka (with a different organisation), I would say that oppressive government processes are a big challenge for me. I lose energy fast. It’s hard to work alongside governments that restrict freedom of speech and movement within their own countries. 

At times of low motivation, I definitely regain energy from interacting with the people and communities around me. Sharing information, hearing amazing stories, having some smiles. It all helps me to pause and recognise how much strength and will there is out there. 

I’m also really lucky to keep in contact with a number of incredible people around the world. For me, bouncing questions and ideas off someone else with similar approaches is vital. Having that regular communication is an important avenue me to debrief, personally and professionally. 

Could you tell me a little about IWDA’s work with Live and Learn? 

Live and Learn and IWDA work in partnership throughout Melanesia. My role works closely with Live and Learn Solomon Islands on the Tugeda Tode fo Tumoro program, to work with communities affected by logging and other natural resource pressures. It’s a 3 year project funded by AusAID under the Solomon Islands NGO Partnership Agreement. 

IWDA provides some technical and gender support, whilst Live and Learn do the rest. Live and learn have staff working remotely from rural communities, who are currently developing networks, using learning circles, and facilitating community planning processes. They communicate with a central office in Honiara, who collate and share information, and work with government to keep the dialogue open on gender and natural resource management. 

The Solomon Islands NGO Partnership Agreement considers flexibility, process, and reflection, which is fantastic. It also links us with other NGOs where we can share information and skills. 

What are some of the changes you are hoping to see in the future? 

In the world? Like if I had a magic wand? 

Greater freedom of movement for IDPs and Asylum Seekers. I’d like to see more governments actively working towards freedom of speech- internationally. 

Let’s reduce consumption across the globe. And let’s think strategically about it. There’s a lot more to consider than what we are fed in commercial media. 

Have I got a wand for Australia too? Can we openly acknowledge that foreign aid budgets are linked to natural resource management and larger international relations processes? Can we have an overhaul of nationalistic and xenophobic immigration policies? 

What about in the Solomon Islands – what changes would you like to see there? 

Well to be fair, I’d pass that question to people living on the islands, so that they can work towards it. 

Although I must say- it’s sad to see a country with so much money going in, have so much money coming out again in military, natural resources, aid, and development. And I acknowledge that I am a part of the process! 

Let’s step back and look at why Australia and other countries started working there. Can the people and the natural environments of the Solomon Islands be the priority? Let’s keep asking questions of ourselves and of each other.

Interview (Part Two) with Eleanor Jackson – IWDA Program Manager – Papua New Guinea

Last week IWDA volunteer, Iona Roy, spoke with IWDA’s Program Manager for Papua New Guinea, Eleanor Jackson, to find out why development work is important to her. Below is part two of her interview. To read part one, please click here.

Part Two

How are the livelihoods of your project partners and their communities affected by the work that IWDA does, particularly in PNG?

In terms of Wide Bay, what we are actually doing is trying to support women in a remote community in East New Britain which is an island province of Papua New Guinea. We’re trying to support them to find mechanisms to increase women’s participation in land use and natural resource management. It’s an area where women were traditionally custodians of land ownership, in the clan sense, so not as we would formally think of land ownership here. But as more conventional development increases, as people get involved in the market economy, and as logging companies are interested in buying land, land and its use has become more formally the domain of men and male chiefs.  There has been a kind of ‘squeezing out’ of women in terms of “will we sell this land to these loggers?” “Who will we talk about it with?” “Who has an interest in this land?” “Well, we’ll just talk to the men”.

Typically in Papua New Guinea, still 85% of people are living basic rural and agrarian subsistence lifestyles. And a lot of the people who do the gardening to feed the family are women and it becomes really difficult if they don’t have access to land, or to firewood or to water or any of the other basics. People living a subsistence livelihood are really dependant on access to land because they don’t have formal economy alternatives to get a job, to work at a factory or be part of a services industry. Our program is trying to help women work collectively to try and influence the specific decisions that are being made in their own community, using a peer support network of women who are getting together, raising ideas, forming a collective platform, linking them up with stakeholders like other NGO’s, church groups, local leaders. They’re all working on slightly different issues because every community has their own particular interests, but land is so integral, both to cultural identity and your understanding of place in a community, and also very integral to basic livelihoods.

Arguably IWDA’s program is helping women resist some of the threat of the more conventional development forms which ask people to sell of land in order to gain easy resources, but don’t necessary provide more longtime solutions to peoples’ subsistence needs.

Could you tell me a little bit about the East New Britain Sexual Health Improvement Project?

The East New Britain Sexual Health Improvement Project is a co-operation that we have with the Burnet Institute which is another Australian based NGO with a long history in health, both from a research and from a community programs perspective. They have real strengths in HIV and sexual health and we have partnered together with them and the Cairns Sexual Health Centre. Together the three of us are looking at one particular component of a larger AusAID supported project which looks at sexual and reproductive health in East New Britain. We are working with them to develop training modules which will be used in all of the districts of East New Britain. They are training grassroots Stret Tokers (Straight Talkers) – these are people who are based in the community – men and women, usually in equal numbers. They will be equipped and trained with basic community development knowledge and background, basic STI information about how to diagnose (in the sense of “I might have an STI” as opposed to “I’ve been bitten by a bug”), and then what possible avenues there are for treatment. They are also equally training them with skills to understand the implications of gender and how that might relate to sexual health. It is hoped that those Stret Tokers will then, within their communities, run a range of awareness and information sharing activities, which could be anything from handing out condoms to a friend who’s interested to ask about safe sex, to coming and speaking after church and saying “you know, we need to talk about sexual health and how we will improve this, because these are the ways it will affect our community and we can do something to stop it”. Or they could be running a health expo or a training that’s specific and targeted. Either way, it’s encouraging members of the community to try and engage local people with sexual health and to access sexual health services.

It also works in combination with a higher level component the project which is about improving those services, as there are issues with the health services sector in PNG that are both about the supply of quality health services, and the demand for services. As services have continued to be bad for a long while, people are both disenchanted with the idea of going to seek a shoddy service, and then the shoddy services that nobody uses fall even more into disrepair. So the project looks at strengthening both the service delivery at a provincial level, and also at increasing the amount of demand that communities have for better health services in this particular area.

Finally, what are some of the changes you are hoping to see in the future in PNG?

I guess that one of the things I’m watching in the short term future is the new liquid natural gas project, which is estimated to double the GDP of PNG. They’re estimating revenues of a billion dollars or something ridiculous. I would love to see those funds directed in ways that provide for the economic stability of the country, but then also allow for the kinds of social investment and basic service provision that the people of Papua New Guinea really deserve.

There have also been real changes in standard of living in PNG; there’s been 33-34 years of continued democracy in a post independence environment. But I also think, regrettably, that with some gains there have been some real losses, and there’s a lot that the Papua New Guinean government could do to address those losses.

I think there’s been let downs for community members in terms of decreases in life expectancy in some areas, significant increases in infant and maternal health mortality, continued barriers for people to access suitable education, and real cultural changes that have negatively impacted on Papua New Guinean culture and some of its many great attributes. I do recognise there are some really amazing qualities to Papua New Guinean culture; it’s not just a place with high levels of gender inequality, it’s also a place that has had a strong sense of social cohesion and social safety networks and some real qualities that we could maybe learn from here.

So I think the reason I focus on that in particular is because of the extractive industry – the mining, the logging, the fishing, even to an extent copper, and palm oil and cocoa – those kinds of cash cropping. Although, less so than to the same extent as the mines, they haven’t necessarily brought what they promised the community. It’s like an island of gold swimming in an ocean of oil. It’s a place that’s full of resources that people still don’t have basic roads, quality education, water and sanitation; a few basics would be really important, particularly outside of the major regional centres.

Meet Eleanor Jackson, IWDA Program Manager – Papua New Guinea

Eleanor Jackson is IWDA’s Overseas Program Manager for Papua New Guinea and is currently working on five projects alongside our partners:

• Freedom from family and sexual violence, Eastern Highlands Family Voice;
• Women, communities and police addressing sexual and gender-based violence in the Highlands, Kup Women for Peace;
• Raising the voices of women on land and resources, Wide Bay Conservation Association;
• Raising young women and men’s voices on climate change issues, Tulele Peisa;
• and East New Britain Sexual Health Improvement Project, Burnet Institute, Cairns Sexual Health Centre, East New Britain Provincial Health, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.

IWDA volunteer, Iona Roy, spoke with Eleanor to find out why development work is important to her.

Part One

How long have you been involved with development work?

I suppose formally in the international development sector for about six or so years, but prior to that I’d also volunteered as a p2aralegal advisor with the Women’s Legal Service of Victoria. I was working as a domestic violence legal counsellor which included family breakdown and women’s legal issues. But formally, in terms of international development, about six years.

Before IWDA I worked as a consultant for an Australian managing contractor organisation that subcontracts for AusAID. I worked on an ASEAN project—so a very long acronym—but that was basically a capacity development program that looked at a whole range of ASEAN priority sectors, at which they wanted skills exchange and training, often for high level bureaucrats and ministerial staff. So it could be anything from fish training to customs standards. So it was a different level of development because that’s at a very bureaucratic and country to country diplomatic level rather than at the grass roots level.

I then spent some time volunteering in PNG working for Provincial Aids Committee in an island called New Ireland, doing program management support for their provincial HIV program. That was based at the Kavieng Hospital, and working with a couple of pretty dedicated staff who were working with some relatively limited resources, but trying to increase awareness and co-ordinate HIV activities both in terms of counseling and training and awareness, as well as access to treatment for HIV positive people.

Then I worked for Oxfam for a couple of years; in their emergency response work; program management; and then managing their field office based in Port Moresby.

What drives you to work for social change?

I think it is really connected to my family background. My dad is a seventh generation Australian and my mum is a first generation Australian, so she migrated here from the Philippines and I’ve always had a really strong connection through them with the Filipino-Australian community, and diaspora community issues.

I’ve also been keenly aware and grateful of opportunities that have been afforded to me as an Australian, particularly sometimes relative to my own family in the Philippines. Also, being really conscious and aware that for the coincidence of geography, of my mum deciding to get a job in Australia at a time when migration was a lot easier than it is now in some senses. They had been involved in a Filipino-Australia trades people association, they helped with multilingual radio program, and set up a Filipino-English newspaper here for newly arrived migrants.

So that was my family background, which has always made me feel like there are great numbers of people out there who are less fortunate than ourselves, and being in the position to help them is, in some senses, a really lucky responsibility – you actually feel oddly grateful to work for social change, because those inequities are sometimes so obvious and our ability to help is so clear.

So I think you’ve answered my next question, which is why do you think this kind of work is so important. Do you have anything else to add?

Number one I feel there’s a huge moral imperative to try and help those less fortunate than you. But that in some senses sounds like those less fortunate people don’t have really great skills themselves; where actually what you are doing is helping people who are already helping themselves, and being a part of a really great endeavor which is about people trying to improve the choices and options that are available to them in their lives.

What are some of the approaches and methods you use in your work? Do you need to have a different approach to this kind of work?

Well I work predominately in PNG, so in terms of how I work, I try to listen well and listen respectfully in a way that acknowledges that we come from different cultures, and have different ways of working. I think particularly in working with communities in PNG, I like to value some of the special strengths that Pacific communities bring: respect for collaboration and consensus, and working together, as opposed to ‘my idea is right, your idea isn’t, so take on board my idea’.

Otherwise I also think that I have been influenced by lots of reading and thinking about participation; ideas that communities themselves both have a right to be involved in the decisions in their lives that affect them, but also have particular and valuable skills that make them really well placed to influence the conditions that affect their lives. Which sounds absolutely like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised in some senses how different that can be to really traditional models of development.

Participation is definitely a way of working that I try to reflect at a personal level, in terms of being a good listener, embracing other ideas, and helping people come to a shared agreement about which way forward.

How do you find the balance between embracing the culture and trying to change those views?

In some senses, cultures that are marked by high levels of gender inequality – where women have less access to education, or women are marginalised in terms of formal representation or experience high levels of violence – it isn’t necessarily the same thing to say people acknowledge and accept gender inequality as a per se fact. A lot of women, themselves, appreciate that it is unfair that they don’t access education equally, or it’s unfair that they experience such high levels of violence or that so many of them die in childbirth. Most women recognise that and even quite a lot of men will acknowledge that that is a bad situation. So I don’t necessarily think that, even places where culture is commonly described as the barrier to gender equality, there isn’t any wiggle room or room for conversation. It’s that as a whole system as opposed to a set of personal acknowledgments it’s a much harder thing to tackle.

So, I do find it difficult. I guess it’s more difficult for me working as a woman – it’s harder to feel respected and valued in certain forums – but I try to stand my ground and be as competent as I can be so they can take me on my merits. But I would also say Papua New Guinean culture has changed a lot, even in the last 100 years. And I also think our ideas about cultural changes, sometimes, really are over inflated.  We have seen enormous changes in the lives of everyday women in the last 100 – 150 years in Australia, but we still have very low representation of women as head of boards, low representation in government, high levels of domestic violence, disproportionate impacts of women who are from low socio-economic backgrounds or have less education themselves, and different ways in which they will be more vulnerable to a whole range of different bad things, like poverty or gender-based violence.

I still think that being realistic about the rate of change required in a culture is important but also not taking it for granted that cultures don’t change, and that cultures don’t change from within. I think that there are many Papuan New Guinean women and men working from within to try and think about what kind of society they would like to live in and how they might go about making it better.

What do you like most about working as a program manager?

I like meeting with the partners and having a chance to see the places where they work and the communities that they work with. I think that is a really important grounding to have and I feel lucky to be able to meet those people in person because they are often working under really hard circumstances with limited resources and they’re just absolutely committed, amazing leaders in their own right. So to be able to meet women like that is actually a pretty cool experience – and then to call it work is even better!

But I also really like talking with members of the general public about development. I think sometimes inside the whole industry you can come to think that it is very normal to worry about infant and maternal mortality rates in another country that you don’t live in. But a lot of people have not even really heard much about what goes on in the developing world beyond the occasional tourism opportunity to go somewhere really cheap and really exotic. I think sometimes one of the most exciting parts of my job is talking about it with ordinary people so they might get a better idea about what goes on, what kind of realities people are facing in their lives.

How often do you get to travel to the different projects?

Probably only once or twice per year. Arguably IWDA has less funding that we direct to in-country visits. So in some organisations you would probably travel more, but we also run a pretty small program and have relatively low overheads. It’s bad for the environment to go all the time. So we do try to use telephone and email as much as we possibly can, but it is sometimes hard as a lot of places don’t always have good telephone communication and a lot of email is still really unreliable in the Pacific. It’s actually so much nicer to be able to meet in person, and some things need to be worked out in person.

What are some of the problems you encounter working in this field and how do you overcome them?

I think that one of the biggest problems that you face is that people are often trying to do quite a lot with very little. So, even in the instance with IWDA, often we are juggling multiple things, trying to wear more than one hat at the same time. That means that sometimes people are busy, or they’re stretched to do things in ways that they wished they had more time, or more space, or more support to do a bit better. So I guess in a resource constrained environment, trying to make the most of what you’ve got is a real challenge.

Stay tuned by Part Two of Eleanor’s interview…

Where are the women in local government in Fiji?

Although we are currently witnessing a increase in commitments to gender equality on regional and national agendas, there is an apparent apathy towards understanding the role and contribution of women in and to local level governments and therefore to basic service delivery. The Strengthening Women’s Participation in Municipal Governance (SWPMG) Program in Fiji has been raising the question: Where are the women at this level? Who is benefiting from council services? Are services being designed for those who access them?

The Strengthening Women’s Participation in Municipal Governance (SWPMG) Project is a collaborative project between the Commonwealth Local Government Association Pacific Project and IWDA with funding support from the UN Democracy Fund. The purpose of this project is to to respond to three key dimensions of women’s role in local governance: increase the participation of women in leadership and management roles in local government; increase women and men’s role in local government planning processes and increase the capacity of councils to ensure service delivery is gender sensitive.

Preliminary research undertaken by the SWPMG Project in Fiji suggests that women are significantly under-represented in local decision making processes (as leaders, managers and citizens). The majority of women employees hold support positions within the administration, finance and health service, and less than 25% of local government positions in total are held by women. Women in senior management positions represent less than 8% of the local government workforce. The statistics show that decision-making roles in local government have been largely held by men; 85% of councillors and 90% of senior managers in 2008 were men. Women’s poor representation in leadership positions has implications for women’s rights, democracy and service delivery at the local government level. This research has highlighted that whilst local government provides an logical entry point for women interested in a political career, or to participate in planning and implementing policies and activities that directly affect their families and communities, it is also here that many people still hold strong cultural beliefs that women ‘are not up to the challenge’

Local government service delivery in Fiji has a history of being gender-blind. Women’s limited role in management and decision making positions, the fact that none of Fiji’s 12 municipal councils have gender equality policies or collect gender disaggregated data, over 70% of council staff have never received gender training, and less than 30% are aware of Fiji’s national, regional and international obligations towards achieving gender equality are all contributing factors to the gender blind approach to service delivery. The lack of women’s voices in consultation processes together with the lack of data and information about women’s needs means that council services designed to support women are often based on men’s perspectives of women’s context and concerns, and may not actually serve women’s needs. Women’s lack of voice in council service provision can result in inappropriate or poorly designed services, ongoing difficulties for women in accessing services and inefficient use of council’s scarce resources.

The SWPMG project has produced two short reports to explore the issue of women’s role in local government in Fiji and the gendered aspects of service delivery at this level which can be accessed here. The SWPMG project is working to progress the goals of the project through:

• Raising awareness of the benefits of increasing the participation of women in leadership roles in local government
• Undertaking research on the current status of women in local government
• Establishing a national ‘women in local government network’
• Encouraging councils to adopt equitable and appropriate human resource practices
• Encouraging councils to adopt gender aware policies, consultation processes and programs to improve planning processes and service delivery outcomes

For more information about this project, please contact Claire Rowland.

Position Papers

Download position-paper-1-fiji-swpmg_creating-space-on-the-mat-where-are-the-women PDF

Download position-paper-2-fiji-swpmg_creating-space-on-the-mat-service-delivery PDF

Happy 10th Birthday Banteay Srei!

When, in 1985, IWDA began working in Cambodia, we hoped to build a strong and long lasting partnership with Khmer women, their families and communities, through income and food security projects, such as rice mills, empowerment and agricultural techniques training.

In 2000, after the phase out of the IWDA office, IWDA was proud and excited to support the establishment of Banteay Srei as an independent organisation.

Looking back now, in 2010, we can certainly say that a strong and long lasting partnership has been formed, through which we have learnt and grown together.

IWDA congratulates Banteay Srei for its reputation as a leader in the field, working to promote women’s empowerment and leadership for political, economic and social change. In particular we recognise Banteay Srei’s pioneering work to involve men in the struggle to end violence against women.

The holistic way in which Banteay Srei works supports the incorporation of gender awareness in economic and social project activities, integrated with existing village structures. It also ensures a participatory approach, where beneficiaries develop and implement social and economic activities which suit their own situation and needs.

All of us at IWDA are so pleased, proud and excited to still be able to call Banteay Srei our partner and friend after so many years.

Congratulations to all staff past and present, on this 10th anniversary, for the wonderful, important work which continues to improve the lives of women and their families in Cambodia.

We look forward to many more years of working together, solidarity and support.

Strength of Women Gathering

IWDA Program Manager for the Thai-Burma border, Renae Davies, shares her experience after recently returning from the field where she met with IWDA partner, the Karen Women’s Organisation:

While most people were celebrating the Easter holiday last week, I was at a celebration of a different kind – in a refugee camp on the Thai Burma border.  I was there to honour IWDA’s partner organisation, the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO), who were commemorating their 25th anniversary. Despite the scorching heat and dusty conditions in camp, the event was attended by over 400 people, and was a testament to the strength and spirit of KWO and a reminder of their considerable achievements over the last 25 years.  Not only have KWO provided essential support to women and their families, but they have been a tireless advocate for gender equality and human rights for all.  Bringing the voice of Karen women to the international stage, such as through their recent Walking Amongst Sharp Knives report, KWO have been a beacon for women’s rights in an often challenging environment, and have paved the way for other ethnic women’s organisations to mobilize in their communities. 

K'Nyaw Paw - Project Co-ordinator - Emerging Leaders Program

A KWO volunteer spoke at the event of the importance of support from donors, such as IWDA, who provide not only vital funds for projects, but also much needed information, networking and capacity building opportunities, as well as solidarity and friendship.    It was a great honor for me to attend the celebration on behalf of IWDA, who have proudly supported KWO for the last 10 years, in what is also our 25th year anniversary.  After a few words, I was pleased to present KWO with a small gift, of beautiful cloth depicting a women’s corroboree, painted by an aboriginal woman and celebrating the strength of women gathering.  KWO are a remarkable and resilient organisation, of strong and inspiring women, and we at IWDA look forward to continuing to work together with them in the future.

- Renae Davies – IWDA Program Manager – Thai-Burma Border

Read about KWO’s latest report, Walking Amongst Sharp Knives.

Three steps forward, two steps back – but still walking onwards

IWDA supports the face of courage: Kup Women for Peace

The Papua New Guinea of today is a country of great change and promise. Yet, as PNG’s Big Men make deals on their Blackberrys, and yesterday’s copra plantation workers train to be tomorrow’s heavy machine operators, the vast majority of Papua New Guinean women still find themselves not only responsible for primary food production, the provision of water and fuel, and the delivery of child and familial care, but also subject to widespread physical, sexual and emotional violence.

Against this backdrop, Mary Kini, Agnes Sil and Angela Apa of Kup Women for Peace (KWP) stand as passionate activists and development workers in PNG, committed to bringing safety and security to their communities. 

Based in Simbu Province, Mary, Agnes and Angela live in Kup, a community of some 18,000 people who have faced more than 30 years of tribal violence. Limited opportunities for young people and the amassing of firearms overlay traditional tribal conflicts. Kup Women for Peace was established in 2000 by these activists meeting in secret, determined to end tribal fighting and violence against women and children, and to build peace among clans and tribal groups. Despite the founders of KWP belonging to ‘enemy’ clans, they joined together – prompted by the killing of one woman’s son – and collectively said that violence must stop. 

Ten years later, these three women are still working together to combat tribal violence. From their small secret meetings stemmed a kind of voluntary hostage exchange program, with the respective women simultaneously offering themselves to their tribal enemies while calling for the violence to stop. Over the years, formalising as a community based organisation, with strong leadership of women and men, Kup developed workshops, training programs and education campaigns, with programs including community law and justice, youth mentoring, leadership, sustainable livelihoods, HIV care and counselling, curriculum development for schools and community health, including water and sanitation. 

My most recent visit with the women in PNG confirmed, sadly, that a prolonged outbreak of tribal violence - the first in almost nine years – has resulted in the death of tens of community members, including a member of the Kup Women for Peace community police corps, who was attempting to save roofing iron from the school building before it was burnt to the ground so that it might be rebuilt, only to be shot by enemy tribes people. 

There is no question that this violence has greatly affected the members of Kup, the work that they do, and the communities that they seek to support and serve. Because of their work, the women of Kup have been targets of aggression and together with many other families, they have fled their homes and are living in temporary shelters and tents in the mountains or along the Wahgi River while their homes have been burnt to the ground; food gardens and coffee plantations destroyed; pigs and livestock killed; and the Kup centre, schools and health centres severely damaged. 

In an era when public attention is often drawn to natural disasters as a result of climate change, it can be easy to forget the human disasters of conflict and violence. And while IWDA continues to work formally with Kup Women for Peace as project partners to rebuild their operational centre and to re-start operations slowly in the face of ongoing violence, IWDA is also calling on supporters to consider a personal contribution to the members of Kup Women for Peace. 

When I asked what Kup Women for Peace needed, they said: “your friendship, your prayers, for us and any money you can send to help our members rebuild their lives and pay for their kids go to other schools.” The women of Kup remain steadfast in the face of these challenges; they are continuing to work to secure peace, to see the maintenance of a ceasefire, and to re-build Kup Women for Peace. 

KWP hope to be able to get through the current crisis and plan to continue their peace building work.  To learn more about their personal appeal or to send messages of support, please use the form below, we will post them here on this page and make sure that they get through to Mary, Agnes, Angela and the Kup Women for Peace 

Eleanor Jackson
Program Manager – Pacific Programs (PNG) 

Kup Women for Peace Contact Form

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