By Heidy Hochstatter, GSIF Latin America Regional Manager & Martine Buijs, GSIF Latin America Project Manager
According to the United Nations, “social justice may be broadly understood as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth.” In other terms, social justice cannot be fully achieved unless everyone enjoys equal economic, political, social rights and opportunities.
Therefore, there can be no social justice if women, girls, and children continue to live in vulnerable situations due to violence, poverty, exclusion, and the limited exercise of their rights. Since the concept of social justice is central to our work in Latin America, we base our actions on a rights-based and gender-based approach, where participants are at the centre of the mission, agents of their own transformation and that of the community. Our programs specifically focus on empowering women, girls, and children so they can fully exercise their rights. However, we are aware that this must be a comprehensive and collective effort where equality is achieved not only by working with women and girls but with all stakeholders, including men, communities and decision-makers, who together must be engaged in building more just societies, especially those free of violence.
Despite significant progress and a reduction in income inequality, countries across Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region are still struggling with gender inequality in economic and human development opportunities, and agency. Women are underrepresented in top and decision-making positions, work more for lower pay and continue to bear the majority of unpaid household and caregiving responsibilities. Traditional societal norms expect women to take care of the family and give up on employment opportunities to do so, liming their economic participation.
The Latin American and Caribbean countries are also characterized by rich multiculturalism and ethnic diversity: between 770 and 800 indigenous groups live in these regions, accounting for 8% of the population, and afro-descendant represent ¼ of the population. These groups face considerable inequalities in terms of access to opportunities and economic well-being: poverty and illiteracy rates are significantly higher among this share of the population, with women particularly affected by discrimination and exclusion.
In this context, GSIF supports initiatives that focus on violence reduction, economic empowerment for women, women’s voice and agency, and the inclusion of traditionally excluded groups, such as Indigenous and Afro-descendant women. Since 2018, the GSIF Regional Office in Latin America has been coordinating the Good Shepherd Economic Justice and Financial Inclusion project to promote economic justice and ensure financial inclusion for women. The program provides holistic services to respond to the social and economic needs of women in situation of violation of their rights, generating opportunities to reverse their situation of exclusion. Women develop their skills and abilities to start-up and manage small sustainable businesses to improve their livelihood and that of their families.
Many women come to the Good Shepherd services to learn practical skills that can help them generate an income. But what they find goes far beyond economic opportunity and empowerment: they expand their social network, learn strategies to deal with violence within their lives and improve their well-being, including by experiencing a diminution of their depression symptoms. Participants report regainging self-confidence and increasing the capacity to make decisions within their families and communities. Many women comment that when they came to the Good Sheperd services, they were timid and had a very low self-esteem. After engaging with our program, they not only acquire new skills to generate income, but are educated about their rights, value themselves as a person and are empowered to speak up for themselves and others. They are autonomous, engaged individuals who are agents of change for their own lives, that of their families and that of their communities. A powerful ripple effect often follows: throughout the activities, participants develop a mindset of solidarity. Their dream entails creating employment and opportunities for other women, to help them transform their reality just as they have been able to transform their own.
At GSIF, we see empowerment as a means to tackle poverty and exclusion. Through the Economic and Financial program in the Latin American region, we promote inclusive growth and poverty reduction and enhance financial and digital inclusion. By empowering women economically, we move closer to fairer, more just and human societies and communities.
Because there is no peace and progress without social justice, and there is no social justice without gender equality.
