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April 2012 - Vol 4 #4 GFI Newsletter: Celebrating Economic Inclusion
Commemorating SEWA's 40 years of success It is with great happiness
that GFI joins the Self Employed Women's Association to celebrate
forty years of inspired work to help empower small-holder women
producers in India and throughout the globe. In over 10 years of
partnership we have witnessed their steadfast dedication to advancing
decent work and sustainable livelihoods for India's poorest and most
disenfranchised women.

SEWA has been at the center of the fight to end poverty in India and
beyond, finding strength in unity and building a global membership of
over one and a half million women workers. They have successfully
organized and empowered millions of women over their 40 years of
work, serving those at the bottom of the pyramid who have little to
no access to formal employment, infrastructure, or services. What
makes SEWA stand apart in their work to address poverty is their
approach and philosophy, which is rooted in respect for the dignity
and voice of their members and in venerating the Ghandian principles
of self-help, non-violence and inclusiveness. At GFI we have seen
first hand the remarkable impact of SEWA and its indelible role on in
poverty alleviation.

Food Security and Informality?

Since our founding in 2003, GFI has worked with SEWA to implement
models and programs to create greater access to high-value markets
for smallholder producers. Through our partnership SEWA has launched
multiple Trade Facilitation Centers (TFC), which provide an efficient
and effective tool extending valuable training, infrastructure
investment, production and processing improvements, and high
standards of decent work and fair prices and wages. From our work
with SEWA in India, we have expanded the reach of the TFCs to Central
America, where thanks to financial support of the Swedish Postcode
Lottery, we started working in Northern Guatemala to implement market
access programs for smallholder Guatemalan farmers. Lacking the
organizational capacity of SEWA, communities in Guatemala had no
cooperative structure and poverty and food insecurity were rampant.
Drawing on our work with SEWA, GFI began our Guatemala market access
programs by addressing the core needs of food security and
inaccessible water for irrigation. Working with the community we
brought together a partnership that shared knowledge and provided
accessible training and irrigation technology to begin tacking
fundamental needs.

Eighteen months later, the 2500 farmers involved in GFI's Verapaz
Community Empowerment Program (VCEP) have a registered Association
and have launched the first Agro-Ecological Market in Northern
Guatemala. Drawing on lessons we learned first in our work with SEWA,
we ensured that the legal and economic inclusion of workers remained
central to the program so that farmers gained more than just a better
crop yield; they gained the benefit of a strong collective voice to
negotiate fair prices, and later to represent their issues to
government and progressively access full economic citizenship. We
have one more proof that entrenched poverty can be solved by
establishing the legal rights needed for sustainable and competitive
economic growth.

View the video below to learn more about the success of VCEP:

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http://cts.vresp.com/c/?GlobalFairnessInitia/3458a52bac/b91e6a0e30/b4918975e5/v=BS5Zt4u4Npg Click to View Video
Women and Informality: From Obstacles to Opportunity
GFI recently launched the report "Women and Informality: From
Obstacles to Opportunities" delving into the underlying causes of
female informality in 16 developing nations. Using quantitative
analysis the report provides recommendations addressing the core
issues. Key findings of this report include:

Strong cultural and social attitudes in developing nations limit
economic opportunities for women, creating an incentive to informal
employment, including self employment. These attitudes include the
relegation of household and childcare responsibilities to women, as
well as limitations regarding where females can travel. Working
mothers are particularly vulnerable to informality as a result of few
affordable childcare options. However, female informality among
working mothers is especially detrimental to income equality. Data
analysis consisted of a comparison of female informality rates with
quantitative measures of gender-based societal norms. These measures
included data series for fertility rates, the percentage of women
married by the age of 18, the portion of the population below 14
years of age, and labor force participation by gender. Female
informality rates were lowest in developing countries with more
equitable allocation of work and family tasks. These countries
include Ukraine, Botswana, Macedonia, Mauritius, Moldova, Russian
Federation, Serbia, and South Africa. The findings indicate that
an effective strategy to reduce informality levels must include
provisions specific to the needs of working women. Such a strategy
focuses on the progressive transition of informal workers to the
formal sector. Once entering the system the poor can use the law to
advance their rights and interests as citizens and economic actors.
It is only through legal empowerment that we can achieve long-term
sustainable livelihoods and eradicate poverty. In the words of
Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the 2010 Fairness
Award, "talent is universal, but opportunity is not."

"Sustainable long-term solutions require a mentality change. If we
can see that we are all a large family living in the same world, we
realize
that the struggle of 15 million waste pickers is our struggle."

Albina Ruiz
2011 Fairness Award Honoree

Get Involved: Can $40 Really Make a Difference? -
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?GlobalFairnessInitia/3458a52bac/b91e6a0e30/ab85b475f9 Did you watch the video? Well the impact you see there starts
with just a $40 investment in a small irrigation technology that has
made a big difference. The Global Fairness Initiative launched the
BeFair Campaign to bring low-cost technologies that improve
livelihoods. Farmer Livelihood Kits use low-cost drip irrigation and
specialized trainings to help farmers improve their nutrition and
increase their incomes by as much as 50%. Your contribution of $40
will deliver one irrigation kit plus technical trainings to an
indigenous farming family in Guatemala and lay the path to real
opportunity and empowerment.

Donate just $40 or more and receive a
BeFair water bottle!

LEARN MORE AT
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http://cts.vresp.com/c/?GlobalFairnessInitia/3458a52bac/b91e6a0e30/d3a0151ee6 BEFAIRCAMPAIGN.ORG

DOES YOUR BUSINESS OFFER
MATCHING FUNDS? -
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?GlobalFairnessInitia/3458a52bac/b91e6a0e30/aa6bf6f9b9 Together we can make a big difference in the lives of thousands of
farmers. Want to engage your colleagues in a high-impact campaign?
EMAIL AALAP at ashah@globalfairness.org and find ways your office can
help improve food security and economic opportunity to Northern
Guatemala!

News: Follow us on Twitter and hear straight from the VCEP Farmers -
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?GlobalFairnessInitia/3458a52bac/b91e6a0e30/b432aeb00c Sra Juana Hernandez Ordonez reinvests her new income in buying
school supplies and clothes for her children. She is happy her work
is paying off and now she looks forward to better working conditions
at the local market!
For the last ten years Elias Xol only planted maize, beans and chili.
Today he harvests 11 crops, including mangoes, jocote, pineapple and
coffee. His goals are to establish a demonstration farm and expand
his crops so he can secure the future of his children.
Elma Caal has seen that with less work she can make more money out of
her crops and now even hires a fellow farmer to help on her plot. Her
entrepreneurial spirit shows as she speaks of her vision of the
future: her priority is to improve farming methods so she can expand
her papaya, cocoa, and annatto crops.

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