LWR'S Gender And Development Expertise Featured At Capitol Hill Briefing

Baltimore, October 3, 2003 — Lutheran World Relief President Kathryn Wolford joined an African ambassador and a World Bank specialist at a congressional briefing on "Gender Equality and Economic Growth" this week in Washington, D.C.

For LWR, increasing women's status and participation in society is not only the right thing to do, Wolford said, it is also the smart thing to do. She cited evidence from LWR and other programs indicating that family well being increases and poverty is reduced when women and girls have access to education, credit and land, and can use devices like wells and oil seed presses that reduce their heavy workloads.

Wolford challenged policymakers to use available data to better anticipate the impact of trade policies and development programs, so that steps can be taken to maximize the actual benefits for women and children.

Zambia's U.S. Ambassador Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika described how women deal with discrimination, chronic poverty and the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Despite these challenges, she noted that African women are providing strong and inspiring models of leadership in conflict resolution, in peace-making, in AIDS response and in positions of power in several southern African nations.

Ambassador Mbikusita-Lewanika cautioned against the privatization of health, water and other services because that trend has made life more difficult for poor Africans in general, but especially for impoverished women.

The briefing was convened by InterAction, a coalition of over 160 U.S. organizations working in international relief and development. LWR is a founding member of InterAction, and Wolford has served as chairperson of its board of directors. For an example of an LWR project addressing gender and development, see www.lwr.org/swa/projects/burkina.html.