Women’s Empowerment in Asia

Technical Approaches

Women’s Empowerment in Asia

The Corus International family of organizations has worked in Asia since the 1940s, led by Lutheran World Relief. With a focus on women's economic and social empowerment as well as inclusive disaster risk reduction and response, Lutheran World Relief’s livelihood strengthening efforts strive to advance gender equality across the region.

Throughout programming in Asia, the Corus family applies our IDEAL approach, which stands for intersectionality, delivery, equity, access and leadership. The approach, first developed by Lutheran World Relief to ensure women’s voices were present in disaster risk reduction efforts, can be applied across sectors to recognize how individuals' diverse identities, such as age, race, religion, geography, class and gender, influence their access to resources and opportunities for equitable participation in decision-making processes. This inclusive strategy also informs our comprehensive technical approach for preventing, mitigating and responding to gender-based violence in all of its forms. Whether by creating enabling market environments where women's voices are valued, improving women’s health care access, or ensuring that disaster response efforts prioritize the inclusion of women and marginalized populations, Corus embraces the IDEAL approach to champion gender equality and social inclusion.

Furthermore, Corus' women’s empowerment work is guided by our longstanding accompaniment methodology, which centers individuals and organizations from the communities we serve as the primary agents of change. We collaborate with local experts, trainers and organizations to ensure that interventions are contextually relevant and responsive. In prioritizing local capacity strengthening and partnership, we understand that our role may take various forms depending on local priorities and sustainability needs. Whether acting as technical specialists, conveners or intermediaries, Corus organizations facilitate connections between local partners, the government and the private sector, enabling communities to access knowledge, resources and networks for long-term inclusive development.

To date, Corus’ work across Asia has reached hundreds of thousands of women. By combining the IDEAL approach with our accompaniment methodology, Corus is committed to empowering women, promoting equity and advancing sustainable development.

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