Nigeria is currently the »poverty capital of the world« (Brooklyn Institute, 2018). More than 82 million Nigerians (40% of the population) live on less than USD 1 per day. The vast majority of them are women and girls living in underserved, impoverished rural communities and informal communities in cities with very poor conditions. A deadly mix of gender-based violence further exacerbates living conditions.

The current lockout measures and the associated economic downturns due to the global COVID-19 pandemic have further worsened the situation of already vulnerable groups across Nigeria, especially women and girls. Single mothers, widows, women and girls with disabilities, divorced and orphans are the hardest hit.

The needs:

1. Basic foods specifically for single mothers, widows, divorced persons, women and girls with disabilities and old people.
2. Protection for displaced persons (in Lagos, for example, with frequent government evictions) or people in condition of eviction/homelessness as well as lack of work with no chance to pay housing. Moreover, this comes within a context of great poverty considering the absolute lack of social assistance programs.
3. Setback for small businesses of women due to lack of credit, due to the current economic crisis and unstable markets.

The project will find a sustainable way to address these poverty-related problems by setting up close-knit groups in each target community to empower women and girls. It will be a Community empowerment point for women.

Nnimmo Bassey

For 42 years, there has been war in Afghanistan, which is constantly destroying the infrastructure that is already scarce. Various regimes came and went, but the violation of human rights unfortunately continued with impunity. As a result of the intervention of US and NATO forces after September 11, 2001, there have been some positive changes, including access to education and work outside the home for women and girls.

But the continuation of the war prevented society from developing. Due to the lack of health facilities, access to health care, including access to contraception, was insufficient; the average family has 6-7 children.

As we all know, most of the poor in the world are women. With the pandemic, this poverty continues to increase. The majority of people depend on the daily wage, which they have also lost as a result of the loss of their work. This particularly affects women who work as domestic workers or as simple service providers.

We support them, first of all by procuring basic food, because people in Afghanistan are starving, especially women with children and elderly family members. We also support projects that enable these women to earn their own income and help them to stand on their own two feet.

Sima Samar