The theme for this International Women’s Day is #Breakthebias.
For this year’s International Women’s Day, IPPF is highlighting what women humanitarian actors are doing to break the bias of humanitarian aid.
Imagine a humanitarian crisis.
What images come to mind?
Who is delivering aid?
Who is receiving it?
It is well documented that in a humanitarian emergency such as a conflict or natural disaster, women and girls face heightened risks of gender-based violence, rape, trafficking, and child, early and forced marriage.
What is less well documented, however, is the incredible resilience and resourcefulness of women affected by crisis – as well as those responding to it.
For this year’s International Women’s Day, IPPF is highlighting what women humanitarian actors are doing to break the bias of humanitarian aid.
As both providers and recipients of aid, women are at the heart of IPPF’s global humanitarian response efforts to deliver lifesaving sexual and reproductive healthcare to women, girls and other marginalized communities during a crisis.
In 2021 alone, female staff helped respond to 15 crises in 10 countries, reaching a total of 683,136 beneficiaries.
Read on to learn more from seven women from around the world on their roles working in humanitarian response, and how we can collectively build a more inclusive world.
For more please go to: Women #BreakTheBias in humanitarian response | IPPF
This month we also showcase Sarian Karama who is the Founder of Keep the Drums, Lose the Knife, a grassroots organization campaigning to end FGM in Africa. She tells us about some of her work in Sierra Leone.
Sarian Karama is from Sierra Leone, but is now based in London, UK from where she runs her organization, Keep the Drums, Lose the Knife. As a survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) and traumatic childbirth, Sarian was determined not to remain silent about her own experiences, sharing her story so that others can live free from the harm of FGM. This International Women’s Day, Sarian spoke to IPPF about her activism to end the practice of FGM both in Africa and the UK.
My organization, Keep the Drums, Lose the Knife, is a community interest group which sets out to educate our communities in Sierra Leone and the Diaspora in the UK – communities from Nigeria, Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Somalia, and Guinea.
FGM is a global issue, and in London we have a big representative of all these different nationalities, and we all share the same concern about FGM for our families and friends. We wanted to make changes back home and here where we live, so we come together as a group of women who have already been through it. We use our experience as survivors of FGM to educate our people, and to help other people who probably have been through this practice at a very young age to understand what it means. We help people understand the laws around FGM in the Diaspora because there are some people who see it as cultural, and we want them to understand that it is actually against the law.
For more information go to: Ending FGM through grassroots activism | IPPF