86%

of women

community health workers are unpaid (1)

286

years

to remove discriminatory laws and close prevailing gaps in legal protections for women and girls (2)

736M

women

have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime (3)

Through our programs and advocacy, we’re working to ensure women have a seat at the table

Pathfinder opens doors for women and girls to forge their own path ahead, live the lives they choose, and build the healthy, prosperous future they deserve. Pathfinder places women at the forefront, ensuring their voices and ideas are represented and put into action, and they have the resources they need to succeed.

Pathfinder is working to increase women’s leadership and participation at all levels of society, from increasing representation within the workforce to community-driven solutions to climate change. By investing in women, we invest in a healthier, more equitable and resilient future for all.

The backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are diminishing the outlook for gender equality.
Cultural, structural, and educational barriers continue to challenge women’s participation and inclusion, limiting their ability to ascend to leadership positions.⁴
Established gender norms perpetuate unequal power relations between men and women that can limit women’s leadership.⁵
Exclusionary structures, practices, and policies—such as child marriage, unequal inheritance laws, and restricted access to family planning services—preclude girls and women from accessing education, trainings, and resources that provide essential, marketable skills to become leaders.⁶

What We Do

Having women in leadership is critical for a more equal world. Pathfinder’s interventions put women at the forefront, ensuring their voices, and ideas, are represented – and implemented.

Women Economic Empowerment: We encourage women’s participation in the workforce; generate demand for financial services; promote tailored, market-based solutions to women’s economic empowerment; and strengthen gender-based violence prevention and response such that women become more economically and socially resilient.
Women and Climate Change: We engage women in developing solutions to climate adaptation, accelerating climate resilience, furthering climate justice, and advancing reproductive rights.
Women in the Health Workforce: We strengthen career pathways for women in the health workforce, elevating them to leadership positions and supporting them to drive the health agenda in their countries.
Advocacy: We advocate to transform laws and policies that perpetuate gender inequalities; promote policies that support the agency and rights of women, girls, and marginalized groups; and ensure health and key equity measures are disaggregated by sex and age.