Asociación Aurora Vivar

Ninety percent of single-parent households in Peru are headed by women; however, among Peru’s economically active population, women’s average monthly income is only 72% of men’s.

Founded in 1985, the Lima-based Asociación Aurora Vivar (AAV) works to improve the status and leadership of working women in Peru via advocacy, research, campaigns, and trainings for women and women’s organizations on leadership, technical skills, entrepreneurship, and labor and other human rights, with the goal of ensuring that women have equal access to quality jobs and training opportunities (including in male-dominated careers or trades), and that women’s rights are respected in local and national economic development policies and in the workplace.

EMpower’s first grant supports AAV’s efforts to address the multiple barriers preventing young women from following training, career, and entrepreneurial pathways traditionally reserved for men (electricity, appliance repair, and refrigeration, among others) by providing direct trainings for young women in partnership with vocational training institutes in low-income areas of northern Lima, and by engaging key local employers, authorities, and ministry representatives to address secondary barriers that prevent young women from accessing these opportunities.