Dedicated Lives: Women organising for a fairer world

Overview

In many different countries, women are coming together to organise for a fairer world. Women’s organisations focus on many different aspects of women’s lives – health, income generation, employment rights, community activities – but they share a concern to counter the disadvantages experienced by women as a result of gender constraints. The eight women whose lives and work are described in Dedicated Lives demonstrate the commitment and will to promote positive change in favour of women which is shown by so many women with whom Oxfam works. The interviews on which the book is based took place when the eight women were visiting the UK and Ireland as the first stage of a South- North linking project organised by Oxfam’s Gender and Development Unit to mark the organisation’s 50th anniversary. Although the women come from different countries and backgrounds, they are united in their vision of a world where South and North relate on terms of equality, based on a recognition of the value of individuals and a respect for human rights which transcends divisions of race, nationality, class, and gender.