SAWERA strives to empower women in rural northwestern Pakistan through innovative projects that promote literacy and employment opportunities, while also combating domestic violence.
The challenge(s) that SAWERA is addressing:
On July 4, 2012, Farida Afridi, a 25-year-old women’s rights activist and Co-founder of W4 Field Partner, Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA), was murdered in the Taliban bastion of Peshawar. The loss of such a courageous and committed individual is a tragedy, but W4 is proudly supporting her legacy and the continued work of SAWERA.
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), in a remote and predominantly rural region of northwestern Pakistan, are home to a number of different communities, many of whose members today live in fear both of raids and attacks by Taliban militants and of deadly US drone strikes.
Sadly, poverty is an often unavoidable reality for many of the women in the FATA, owing to the prevalence of poor sanitation, a lack of electricity, and limited access to clean water. Furthermore, fewer than one in ten females over the age of 10 in the province can read and write, compared with over 20 per cent of its males, and 40 per cent of the nation. In areas under Taliban control, much of the progress made over the past decades has been erased as girls’ schools have been destroyed. Unsurprisingly, therefore, positive employment opportunities for women are rare and extremely restrictive, meaning that very few are able to pursue an economic livelihood.
It is not only a lack of education and employment that burdens the women of the FATA; the relatively low number of local community organizations and the dominance of local male elites have meant that domestic violence has continued unchallenged in many households. Sadly, local pro-women reform processes aimed at addressing these issues have similarly been disrupted by the Taliban.
Enter Farida Afridi and the creation of SAWERA, a local, women-led grassroots NGO bravely fighting to empower girls and women in the FATA. Despite the tragic loss of Farida, her legacy continues to grow and the organization has already witnessed huge success in the fight for girls’ and women’s rights. Since its foundation in 2004, 30 community-based women’s organizations have benefitted from ‘Leading Management Skills’ and ‘Community Management Skills’, empowering them in local business ventures. Encouragingly, even women living in the most acute poverty have been given grants to pay off debts and start businesses, which has fundamentally equipped them with a chance of creating a brighter future for themselves and their families.
Importantly, maternal healthcare has also been boosted by SAWERA, with health and hygiene kits already distributed to over 6,000 women in the area, which, owing to its remoteness, has sparse medical facilities.
The help offered by W4’s field partner is, crucially, intended to be sustainable. SAWERA recently helped found the Takrah Qabayali Khwende (TQK), a forum that engages individuals, civil society networks, unions, academics, professionals, and business people, bringing many different groups together with the aim of collectively achieving what Farida set out to do: empowering the women of the FATAs to create a positive and dignified future for themselves and their families.
The difference you can make: the impact of your giving
Your gift makes a huge difference to the lives of girls and women in the FATA. You can give a FATA girl the chance to go to school, protect her from a life-threatening disease, or help empower her to speak out against domestic violence. Even the smallest donation can be life-changing.
You can be a changemaker!
You can also support W4 and SAWERA’s work by spreading the word about our vital initiatives—all aimed at putting an end to illiteracy, poverty, and poor health among girls and women in northwestern Pakistan!
Relevant Country Data:
Capital: Islamabad
Population: 176,745,400
GDP per capita: $2,369
Population living below $1.25 PPP per day: 22.6%
Adult literacy rate, both sexes (aged 15 and above): 55.5%
Infant mortality rate (probability of dying between birth and age 1 per 1000 live births): 57.4
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths of women per 100,000 live births): 260
Life expectancy at birth: 65.4 years
