REDEEM. RESTORE. RECONCILE.

Inequalities, injustice and brokenness are trapping women and young girls in lives marked by generational poverty and hopelessness. 

This heartbreaking reality includes: 

  • lack of paid work and earning opportunities
  • widening inequalities of paid work 
  • low-wage jobs
  • minimal resources and support for women to start their own businesses
  • exploitative business practices that target the vulnerable    

Today, approximately 736 million people live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 per day.

Without economically stable lives, women are unable to provide for their families, explore their full potential, dream about their future or walk with dignity and confidence. We desire to change that. 

We want to see human flourishing, where women around the world live dignified and redemptive lives through income generating activities. 

Our dream is to see human flourishing, where women around the world live dignified and redemptive lives through income generating activities. 

Women

As of today, women remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation.

Here are a few examples:

  • 60m

    women worldwide are married before they turn 18

  • 53%

    of those are married before they turn 14

  • 1 out of 10

    births worldwide are born to adolescent girls (age 15 to 19) every year

  • 20%

    of all landholders are women in developing countries

  • 37%

    of these women landholders have bank accounts

  • 1 in 3

    women worldwide have experienced some form of gender-based violence

  • 150 countries

    around the world legally discriminated against women

In many societies, women and girls often eat last—and least. They have more limited access to essential services such as education and health care, and fewer opportunities to work or earn a good wage.

Investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth.

Source: international.gc.ca

We empower
women through:

  • Micro-loans
  • Vocational Training
  • Financial Literacy Training
  • Counselling and Spiritual Formation
  • Savings Groups

When you empower women you:

  • Empower the entire family
  • Break the cycle of poverty
  • Increase household income
  • Give dignity and hope
  • Transform a community

We align with the Sustainable Development Goal 1 (No Poverty) that states: “ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance”. 

GAiN also aligns with Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) 

HOW Our ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT WORKS

Life-giving Impact

Income generating activities deeply impact a woman’s life.

Increased income is often channelled into family welfare. In fact, evidence shows that women tend to spend more of their incomes in ways that directly benefit their children, improving nutrition, health and educational opportunities for the next generation.

Source: USAID, 2015, Gender and Extreme Poverty

In 2024, our local partner in Paraguay saw

  • 7,804 women received microloans with $1.3 million portfolio size at 80% sustainability
    • whereas in 2023, 7,022 women received microloans
    • whereas in 2022, 6,105 women received microloans with $990,000+ portfolio size at 80% sustainability
    • whereas in 2021, 6,000 women received microloans and with a portfolio of $800,000 at 95% sustainability  
  • 444 Trust Groups
    • whereas in 2023, 407 Trust Groups
    • whereas in 2022, 360 Trust Groups
    • whereas in 2021, 332 Trust Groups  
  • 207 volunteer chaplains
    • whereas in 2023, 211 volunteer chaplains
    • whereas in 2022, 203 volunteer chaplains
    • whereas in 2021, 120 volunteer chaplains 
  • 3,150 women trained in financial literacy
  • 5,297 people trained in vocational training courses
  • 184 church partnerships
  • Church-facilitated savings groups launched in 3 regions of the country

To see the timeline of our involvement in Paraguay, click on the link below:


GLOBAL INTERACTIVE MAP

Here is a visual footprint of our economic empowerment projects.

Stories

Read stories of how women are experiencing freedom and hope in their lives.

Give the gift of dignity, value, freedom and a future for a woman.

Break the chains of oppression for a woman living in crisis and poverty. Help her realize her dreams and full potential by becoming financially independent and free from debt. Resource and empower an entrepreneur to start income generating activities whether through a micro-loan and/or projects such as agriculture, farming and gardens.

Give