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An IFAD-funded project in the Dir district has pioneered a new approach to rural financing that conforms to Islamic regulations. In its initial phase it has helped women set up micro-enterprises. In just nine years it has demonstrated how economic and social empowerment can transform women’s status and self-esteem. 

Since 1999, four districts in the predominantly rural province of Balochistan in Pakistan have been working to address the education challenges facing children, especially girls. Where no schools existed within walking distance of many villages, 80 have been built.

In a remote village in northern Pakistan, a woman trained in a health care program funded by Canada saves the life of a mother giving birth. A small fishing town outside of Karachi gets a health centre, thanks to the work of an energetic Canadian-trained nurse who convinces doctors to provide their skills and cajoles local businesses into donating equipment. Throughout Pakistan, people are beginning to receive better health care because of a program to train women health professionals that is funded and supported by Canadians.

For Najma, becoming a ''change agent'' wasn't easy. After taking community-mobilization training from the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK), she returned to her village in the North-West Frontier Province and started organizing other women. It was the first time in the history of the village that women had spoken up and dissented. The tribal elders reacted swiftly

Around the world, women largely bear the responsibility for reproductive work such as childcare, housework, and cooking. Such work tends to be undervalued and taken for granted, but places a huge burden on poor women. In Mohammad Hassan's village, in western Pakistan, women must walk five to six kilometers every day to collect the water supplies that their families need.

Oxfam's Drought Response Programme has been installing water facilities, such as hand pumps, in partnership with ECHO - The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office - to bring water closer to vulnerable women whose only access to water is five to six km from their homes.