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The Right to Economic Security and Social Protection

Older women in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of poverty, especially those living alone and those caring for grandchildren orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. Older women are often denied their right to decent work, and to property and inheritances that rightfully belong to them. Very few have access to pensions and other social protection measures such as credit programs and affordable healthcare. GRAN is committed to promoting economic security and social protection for grandmothers and older women.

GRAN Campaigns related to the Right to Economic Security and Social Protection:

COVID-19 Response and Recovery: Building Support for International Assistance

The federal Liberal Party made a commitment in its 2019 election platform to “…continu[e] to increase Canada’s international development assistance every year towards 2030, reflecting our commitment to realizing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.”

More than a year into the pandemic, governments around the world are still scrambling to deal with the health emergency and its economic repercussions. Developing countries have been especially hard hit.

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Climate Justice and sub-Saharan Africa

The climate emergency disproportionately affects the disempowered and most marginalized across the world – the poor, the old, the very young, and women in particular. Protecting the vulnerable is a matter of justice.

Climate justice is a human-centred approach to responding to the challenges of climate change that embraces human rights, equity, and fairness.

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Mining Justice

GRAN's Mining Justice campaign is undertaken in support of women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa experiencing human rights abuses in mining communities.   

Widespread well-documented human rights abuses have been associated with the activities of many Canadian mining companies abroad. These companies must be held accountable for their actions in the communities in which they operate.

Not surprisingly, women are disproportionately affected by human rights abuses in mining communities, including:

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Child, Early and Forced Marriage

Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) is a human rights violation which has devastating consequences for women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world.  It perpetuates the gender inequality that grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere experience throughout their lives.  It increases the spread of HIV/AIDS and creates barriers to education, economic security, healthcare and safety – challenges identified by African grandmothers for themselves and their grandchildren.

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