Women in Colombia face employment challenges due to the gender stereotypes ingrained in their culture. Our artisan partners in this country is a group of talented women in a small town where women are rarely able to find steady work. Throughout the years, we’ve been thrilled to see the country as a whole taking steps to strengthen gender equality, reduce female unemployment, and implement a plan to end gender-based violence.
In previous blog posts, we’ve outlined the economic impacts that a country can expect when they empower women workers. For example, India’s GDP would rise by $5.5 billion if only an additional 1% of girls continued to secondary school. Think of the impact that would have on impoverished communities, infrastructure, hunger, and quality of life. Colombia’s pledge to fair treatment, regardless of gender, is not only the right thing to do, their economy is expected to grow and quality of life for all citizens will improve as a result.
