World Food Program: The Reason Behind Giving Priority to Women for Cash Assistance

Halima

This story probably doesn’t end the way one would imagine. It begins in Somalia, a country suffering from a severe drought. More than a million people, like Halima and her family, have already had to leave their homes.

Halima struggled against the scorching sun to find enough water for her family. She had to make difficult decisions. Her crops withered to shells and she watched her 60 goats die one by one. The goats were the family’s bank account, savings that could be sold to get some cash in hard times, and the dowry for the marriages she hoped to see her daughters in.

When they were gone, the family had nothing. There was nothing to stay for, there was no food in the village, so Halima and her five children had to make their way to a camp for displaced people hoping to get food there.

Along with thousands of others, Halima registered for WFP assistance. Halima has a cellphone account that she uses to receive her cash assistance in the form of a transfer that she manages through her phone.

“Cash is good for us because you can use it not only for groceries around the house, but also for many other things. For example, if I get sick, I can use it for medication. I can also use it to cover the health costs for the children It’s something I have on hand and I can also save to use for other purposes,” says Halima.

The “other purpose” is a small business. After saving $5 to $10 of her cash each month and taking out an extra loan, Halima was able to build a small shack out of tin and wood. Now she sells small things like pens, batteries, tomatoes and bouillon cubes in her shop.

“It’s going very well and when the store runs out, I get support just in time and go to the dealer to pay off the old loan and buy new stock,” says Halima.

Halima’s story is similar to that of many other women around the world. Women who, despite overwhelming adversity, are able to build a future for themselves and their families when they receive money in their own accounts that they manage themselves.

When women are economically empowered, everyone benefits: the economy grows, more girls stay in school longer, fewer children are married off, and children’s nutrition improves. The potential of women is enormous. When this potential is unleashed, poverty and with it hunger will decrease.

Pythshlande

Pythshlande is part of a women’s cooperative in Haiti that sells rice. WFP helped the group increase their income by building a rice mill for them. Padded rice is easier to sell and at a higher price, which has increased the group’s income. All women opened a mobile money account to save.

Their profits increased so much that most of the participants opened regular bank accounts and took out loans to rent more land and grow more rice. Pythshlande stands in the middle of a field of pale young rice and points out how her harvest now spans several fields. She has become the family’s main breadwinner and is proud of the status she has achieved as a result.

“When you are totally dependent on a man, he sees you in a different way. But if you work and have your own money, you can share the burden – he can pay school fees, for example, and you can pay for something else,” she says.

Last year, WFP distributed over US$3 billion in cash assistance to more than 50 million people. We are increasingly targeting our cash assistance towards women.

We hope that the women we support with our cash transfers will follow the same path as Halima and Pythshlande and build a future where they no longer depend on humanitarian aid.