International Women's Day - 8 March 2008

Caption: Fuel efficient stove project in Kebkabiya - women with stoves. Copyright: Oxfam

Women make up 70% of the world's poor. Oxfam Ireland believes the empowerment of women is a critical factor in the eradication of poverty. Oxfam supports a range of initiatives aimed specifically at promoting and realising the rights of women and girls in developing countries .

Thousands of women in the conflict-torn regions of Sudan (Darfur), Northern Uganda and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have learned how to make/achieve? a little bit of security and dignity for themselves in the form of cooking stoves.

For some of the women in Kebkabiya, North Darfur , a town that is now bursting with more than 60,000 displaced people, the use of fuel-efficient stoves procuced with support from Oxfamhas changed lives. The stoves have allowed the women to cut by half, or more, the amount of wood they need for cooking family meals.

That means fewer wood gathering trips beyond the safety of the town's perimeter, where they are vulnerable to attack.

"The stove has made many changes in my daily life." said Khadija, who cooks food for 11 people every day. "It has increased the safety of myself and my children. And I also have more spare time to do other things." Small enough to tote home on the top of her head from the training centre where she learned to make it, the stove has reduced Khadija's wood-hunting trips from six a week to three.

Very importantly, these cooking stoves also give people and families a sense of dignity. Forced to flee their homes, leaving all their possessions behind, they are beset by food shortages, droughts, war, looting and killing. Gathered together in the fragile safety of the camps for displaced people, they have nothing but what they are carrying.

Michael O' Riordan, Oxfam Ireland 's Humanitarian Programme Coordinator, believes an appropriate approach to Gender Justice is 'doing it small'. He says that, 'it is much easier to accept a small step. Then you can make another and another. If you make a big leap it's too much to take and likely to get the whole thing rejected. If you take a small step and it's rejected you can go back to the previous small step and take a different tack. You haven't lost everything; you've already moved that much further.'

The cooking stove is an excellent example of how a small step can make a big difference to women.'s security. The stove also provides each family with the means to cook for themselves, rather than having to share with hundreds of others. As such, we return to them a small share of the dignity of independence.

Volunteer at Events