Stopping gender inequality to improve health in the Côte d’Ivoire district of Divo

Forgotten skin-related diseases are closely linked to gender inequality.

Being a woman in a rural area and suffering from a Neglected Tropical Disease can have disastrous effects on all spheres of life for women and girls. 

In Ivory Coast, women are under-represented in authorities such as the National Assembly, in which female representatives only make up 11% of the total. Furthermore, their access to basic services such as health and education is far from easy and a serious obstacle to their full development and social and economic independence.

We work alongside the Ivorian organisation Génération Femmes du Troisième Millénaire (GFM3) in the Divo health district. Our aim is to drive forward local development by improving living conditions for women, with a focus on fighting NTDs by:

• Organising training workshops for five groups of women in Grégbeu, focusing on equality, women’s leadership and preventing gender violence.  
• Training political representatives and health and community staff on the role of gender in treating people affected by NTDs.
• Raising awareness on gender inequality in schools and secondary education centres, associations, religious groups and in traditional medicine practices in order to prevent gender violence and give women a voice as agents of change.
• Creating networks between women leaders and women from rural communities so they can exchange experiences on best practices of governance, investment and equal gender roles. Women leaders, upon telling their stories, can inspire and empower others and bring about positive change in Ivorian society.
• We promote new forms of masculinity among men to contribute to gender equality and to get them involved in the fight against NTDs.

Work with communities

Through work with Divo communities, we will ensure a more positive social environment for equality between women and men, articulating the fight against NTDs more inclusively.