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What types of programs does herproject offer and what kinds of skills are taught?
HERproject consists of three main programs: HERhealth, HERfinance, and HERrespect.
HERhealth raises awareness of critical health topics that affect women in particular: nutrition, personal and menstrual hygiene, and maternal health, among other issues.
HERfinance helps women build confidence to manage their wages, contribute to household financial decision-making, and utilize formal over informal financial services.
And HERrespect aims to address gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace by tackling some of the gender and social norms that are at the root cause of the problem.
Are the classes free for the women? Can all female employees take part?
HERproject programs are delivered during work hours free of cost to all employees. The cost of programs are usually covered by a combination of contributions from the employer, the brand which sources from that factory or farm, and through some grant subsidies that BSR receives.
We encourage all female employees to participate in programs, and also involve men where appropriate. For example, HERfinance programs involve all men and women at a workplace, and HERrespect addresses gender norms held by men and women, in both low-level positions and at the management or supervisory level.
What successes have you seen from the program?
For us, one of the most important measures of success for the program is that the empowerment of women, whether it is factory work or work on a farm, is on the top of the agenda in a way that it wasn’t ten years ago. We have reached over 700,000 women in over 620 workplaces with our program, and the majority of that has been in the last three years.
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One of the most important measures of success for the program is that the empowerment of women.
Global companies such as Columbia Sportswear and their suppliers are prioritizing the needs of women workers and realizing that gender equality is not just about human rights, but it is also imperative in order to achieve business success.
How many corporations are involved and in what countries?
HERproject has worked with over 60 multinational companies to date in 14 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
What kind of impact do you think the project has made on the workforce?
Across all areas in which we work we have seen significant impact. For example, we see more women seeking care from the onsite health clinic at their factories. Women are significantly more likely to use sanitary napkins rather than rags from the shop floor to manage their menstruation.
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The empowerment of women and gender equality are essential to the achievement of our global development objectives.
Women are also increasing their savings, keeping a larger portion of their savings in a formal bank account, and getting more involved in spending and saving decisions with their families. In addition, equally important to us from a program scale and sustainability perspective, the employers we work with are seeing a significant reduction in absenteeism and turnover, which means there are bottom line benefits to investing in women workers.
Why do you think it is important to empower women around the world?
The empowerment of women and gender equality are essential to the achievement of our global development objectives.
Women represent half of the world’s population, but they still lag [behind] men on nearly all development indicators. Women represent 70% of the world poor. Women make up only 8% of the world’s executives. And women work two-thirds of the world’s hours but make only one tenth of the world’s income.
According to McKinsey, addressing these inequalities could add $12 trillion to global GDP by 2025. But it’s more than an issue of sustainable economic growth–it’s also a human rights issue.