It would be wrong to paint the developing world as the repository of all human misery, very wrong. In the past four decades life expectancy has increased by some 20 years, while the infant mortality rate has fallen by more than half. Writes-Concern Chief Executive David Begg.
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As Begg states aid is making progress and it is centred in the changing role of women in these developing societies. In Ireland gender equality is taken for granted but this is not the case in the developing world.
In the poverty stricken country of Azerbaijan females are treated as second class citizens. Efforts to prevent this are being made by the International Rescue Committee though aid. They train women as community health outreach workers, focusing on the issues such as basic first aid, reproductive health, pre and post-natal care, nutrition, hygiene, and immunizations. This is giving the women the opportunity to put back into their country what they receive from others. .
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It cannot be argued that women hold the key to poverty eradication, and education is the key to women's empowerment. Aid investments in education for girls is the single most effective way of reducing poverty. Like in Afghanistan where for the past 20 years the IRC has been training Afghan women to be teachers and school administrators, so that their children have educational opportunities and they can provide an income for their families. .
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Lady's and gentlemen, research has shown that women with even a few years of basic education are economically more productive, have smaller, healthier families, and are more likely to send their own children to school. Yet almost two out of every three illiterate people are women. In Mozambique class-rooms have been built to accommodate more than 2000 children. Financial and technical support for teacher training has been supplied. While in the war torn country of Liberia Concern provides aid helping local communities repair and restore damaged schools.