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At Heifer, Gender Equity Means Social and Economic Justice for Women and Men

Learn how and why…

Heifer Believes in Gender Equity

The Gender Equity Movement Transforms Family Members

Our Dedication to Gender Equity
Heifer's Gender Equity Initiative is rooted in our vision of justice — a vision that values women, men, girls, and boys equally and enables them to be crucial partners for truth, justice and sustainable development. 

Our focus on gender and families is one of our Twelve Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development. Gender Equity also cuts across all the other Heifer Cornerstones and is woven throughout Heifer's global programs and internal departments.

In short, we at Heifer believe Gender Equity is vital to our work in ending hunger and poverty. Learn more.

The Gender Equity Movement Changes Lives
Our experience from around the world teaches us that families and communities are strengthened when women and men recognize, support and value each other in all aspects of their lives. Statistics tell us that 70 percent of the world's poor are women; women also make up two-third of the world's illiterates, and own only one percent of the world's property. But on the other hand, women produce 55 percent of the world's food and even up to 80 percent in some parts of the world. Heifer recognizes this situation and works toward bringing more visibility to women and their family and community roles to fight against hunger and poverty. Read stories of transformation.

Women in Livestock Development
One way we accomplish this is through WiLD — Women in Livestock Development — a program that began in 1988 with the following three purposes: (1) to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and methods for women and resources for those women who are working with limited resources in livestock development; (2) to address gender equity issues in small-scale livestock agriculture; and (3) to enable women to care for themselves, their families, the earth and each other. Learn more about the program and meet some recent WiLD Award winners.