CARE Affair #11 - Power

Being your
own boss?
Mable Chibala
Kafwembe from
Zambia has made
it. Her shop means
financial independence
for the widow
and mother of two.
Yet this sort of independence
is still out
of reach for many
women around the
world.
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Photos: Peter Caton (left), Okke Bouwman (right)
FAMILY
In many countries around the world there is a clear division of power within families: The man calls the shots.
Women worldwide earn on average almost a quarter less than men, while at the same time doing two-and-a-half times as
much unpaid work, for example as caretakers, looking after children and the elderly and managing the household chores. A
study by the World Economic Forum reveals that in 18 countries around the world, women are only legally allowed to work
with their husband’s permission. Children have the fundamental right to an education but often it is only the boys who are
sent to school while the girls have to help with housework and are married early. Father, mother, child – that’s what we call a
family in our cultural area. But polygamy is widespread in many areas of the world, where one man can marry several women.
On page 83 we ask a polygamous family in Niger what power means to them. And we take our readers to a supposed
tropical paradise: Vanuatu in the Pacific. You can read what Martha and her husband Balkon have to say from page 23.
CARE affair N o. 11 — Power
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