Story type: Story

On the anniversary of the Syrian War, Mariam remembers the horrors she lived through in the last 8 years.

Emiline, 39, is a married Syrian mother of three. When she fled from Syria to Jordan in 2012 with her husband and children, she found herself trapped inside four walls. She was too afraid to leave her home, and wouldn’t let her children leave either. Her husband couldn’t find work and they had no source of income. This turned their household into a place where no one felt happy, or even safe.

Rihab lives in Zarqa, Jordan, along with her husband and five children. She became a member of CARE’s Zarqa Women’s Leadership Council when it first began in 2016.

Rehab Alkhouja, who works for CARE in Yemen as a Women’s Economic Empowerment Field Officer, celebrates International Women's Day by highlighting the role of women in war-torn Yemen.

The story of Hadjo Djibo, a woman on the move from Hamdallaye a small village in Niger about 30 kilometers from the capital Niamey. Hadjo has become a superwoman that advocates for women of her community, she has risen from full housewife to an activist, inspiring entrepreneur and politician through the VSLA program of CARE.

What will this year look like? First, the economic landscape in 2019 will certainly be “wobbly,” as detailed in The Economist. Protectionism, populism and anti-immigration continue to be top issues across many countries, along with increasingly turbulent financial markets and high levels of debt.

On the idyllic hilltop in Ebinat, a group of 20 women are meeting and greeting each other. One of them is carrying a small lock-box that looks like a treasure chest.

If you want to change the world, start with yourself first. This saying particularly holds true when it comes to changing gender norms.

Almaz is one of the 1 million people who were displaced during the most recent ethnic conflict in Gedeo and West Guji zones in southern Ethiopia.