An appeal for ten million dollars to help women and girls affected by conflict or natural disaster was launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) earlier this month. In seeking the funds, the agency pointed to the disproportionate impact of crises on women and girls while underscoring their potential to contribute to solutions.

This two year initiative has been welcomed by World Vision's Middle East and Eastern European region that encompasses 9 of the world's 13 disputed territories,12 of the world's 34 conflicts and is continuing to work with survivors of the devastating 2005 quake in Pakistan.

'Women and children can comprise up to 80% of the refugee population in this high-conflict region, which is currently hosting one of the largest refugee populations globally. Moreover, these vulnerable persons are prime targets for human trafficking, which is a modern day form of slavery involving labor and sexual exploitation. We believe that women and children must be empowered to combat exploitation and violence in practical ways which this funding can support," said Sharon Payt, Regional Advocacy Director Middle East and Eastern Europe

'One of the most common and disturbing images of war is of women uprooted from their homes and communities, reeling from the effects of sexual violence and struggling to provide for their children in the harshest of environments,' said UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Crisis Bureau Kathleen Cravero. 'But if we continue to see women only as victims – and not as problem solvers and decision makers – we do so at their peril, and at the peril of peace. We need to seize opportunities to 'build back better' during the recovery period,' she added.

World Vision's Micro-enterprise Development Programs are specifically targeted at women in order to do exactly that in a region that has been ravaged by ethnic conflict and the desperate poverty after the fall of communism in the region.

'The results vary by country but on average 70% of our loans go to women. This specifically impacts families and is a major part of our peace building strategy as well, explains Neil Cuthbert, Middle East and Eastern European MED Regional Director.

'It is women's resilience that keeps families and communities going' agrees Dana Palade, World Vision Pakistan communications manager. 'The natural and man-made crises in Pakistan hit hardest on women's lives, unveiling and aggravating economic disparities, and social or cultural injustices. In a society that values patriarchal input and decision-making, we cannot think "development" unless we build on women's wisdom and strength'.

'When the October 2005 earthquake hit, an estimated 800,000 women were affected, and the total number of women dead is still not known. Female-headed households in the remote and conservative North West Frontier Province continue to survive on incomes one fourth the size of what comes into a male dominated home', explains Palade.

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