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Women and Girls Empowered

Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) is a global programming consortium to advance the status of women and girls worldwide, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise, Grameen Foundation, Search for Common Ground, and 43 international, regional, local, and corporate resource partners.

WAGE enhances the capacity of civil society organizations to strengthen their response to gender-based violence, advance the women, peace and security agenda, and support women's economic empowerment.

WAGE empowers women and girls by offering them the information, resources, and services they need to increase their agency and collective voice, assert their rights, and thrive as changemakers.

WAGE engages in collaborative research and learning to build a body of evidence on promising practices aimed at advancing the status of women and girls.

In close partnership with local civil society organizations and other key stakeholders, WAGE implements a range of strategic initiatives in target countries to strengthen their response to gender-based violence; advance the women, peace and security agenda; and support women's economic empowerment. By using cutting-edge technological solutions, socially connected crowd-funding, and public-private partnerships, WAGE strives to create innovative opportunities for women and reach traditionally excluded populations in a highly impactful and sustainable manner.

Program Highlights

Reducing Barriers to Women's Economic Empowerment in El Salvador and Honduras

WAGE's first strategic initiative, Reducing Barriers to Women's Economic Empowerment in El Salvador and Honduras, takes a holistic view of the challenges that female entrepreneurs face in starting and growing sustainable businesses, including linkages between financial inclusion, gender-based violence, and conflict. Together with Kiva, an online loan platform that connects lenders to indigent entrepreneurs across the globe to alleviate poverty, WAGE provides financial support to women entrepreneurs and works with local microfinance institutions (MFIs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) to reduce barriers that women in both countries face in the world of business.