International Women’s Day
As the Mastercard Foundation marks 20 years of Creating Impact Together, International Women's Day 2026 offers an opportunity to reflect on the defining lessons from two decades of collective action with partners, communities, and young women that have enabled impact embedded in local contexts.
Our work in education and financial inclusion is rooted in uplifting young people facing the highest barriers – particularly young women – and creating viable pathways to improve their livelihoods and well-being. Experience has taught us that the most impactful initiatives are led by young people, grounded in their leadership, needs and aspirations, and reflecting their diversity.
Inclusion is more than a guiding principle; it's what drives deeper impact. Through our women‑centred design approach, we are enabling our programs to serve significantly more women, alongside initiatives aimed exclusively at young women.
When young women and girls have access to education and employment, they transform their lives, care for their families, accelerate progress in their communities, fuel economies, and inspire the next generation of changemakers.
#InternationalWomensDay #IWD2026
Inspiring Videos of Young Female Leaders
Refugee Mental Health Network
Kampala, Uganda
Empowering Young Women and Girls in Rural Senegal
WAEMU
Empowering Mothers: Mastercard Foundation Scholar Sala Sow's Inspiring Story
Senegal
Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026
The Africa Youth Employment 2026 Outlook provides insights on the state of youth employment across the continent, with a focus on how gender dynamics influence young people's access to work.
This Africa Youth Employment Outlook is produced by the World Data Lab in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and the University of Cape Town’s Development Policy Research Unit.
Young Women Entrepreneurs in Kenya Call for Action to Unlock Finance for Their Businesses
Learn more about the young women entrepreneurs from Kenya, calling for financial inclusion.
Watch the Mother and Daughter Team Running Bee Tree Farm
Bee Tree Farm is a mother-daughter team reimagining the role of women in agriculture through the WISE initiative.
Stories like Bee Tree Farm's illustrate why the WISE Program, an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation and IDH, exists: to amplify women's leadership in agriculture and strengthen enterprises that are building a sustainable future.
Read the Impactful Stories
Scaling Poultry Farming in Rwanda: Clemence’s Journey from Startup to Supplier
For years, Murekatete Clemence’s mornings began with physically mixing poultry feed by hand. Without access to machinery, she bought maize, soya, and other ingredients, spread them on the ground, and blended them herself using sticks or her bare hands. The process was exhausting and time-consuming, yet she persisted, determined to keep her poultry business running.
Read Murekatete's story
More Than Bread: Sekina’s Bakery in Bambasi
Sekina Hassen was born in Gizen, South Sudan, and fled to Ethiopia in 2016 to escape conflict. Since then, she’s steadily built a thriving business that feeds her community and supports her family.
Read Sekina’s story
Indigenous Women Rise
A Q&A with Dr. Jacqueline Ottmann, President of First Nations University of Canada on the role Indigenous post-secondaries play in removing barriers faced by Indigenous women, creating better outcomes for everyone.
Read the story
How Cone Bag Farming Helped a Young Woman in Kenya Become a Leader in Her Community
In the quiet village of Kambi Mawe in Makueni County lives Felistus, a young woman living with a physical disability. Farming is a common livelihood in her village, but it always felt out of reach because, for her, bending, lifting, and long hours under the sun were difficult. She often wondered whether it would ever truly be hers to work.
Read Felistus' story
Resala Rashid Ayoub: Opportunity knocks twice
Resala fled Sudan to South Sudan with her family at a young age when war broke out in 2011. She arrived in South Sudan with her siblings and neighbours, where, for six months, she had to fend for herself because there was no one to support her and her siblings, and her parents had not yet arrived.
Read Resala's story
Making Waves for Change with Winfred Muchiri
Winfred Muchiri, who goes by the name DJ Wiwa, defies expectations by pursuing her passion for music while tirelessly advocating for young women with disabilities.
Read DJ Wiwa's story
From Side Hustle to Full-Time Thriving Business: Martha’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Raised by entrepreneurs as parents, Martha started her business while studying community development at Kenya’s Maasai Mara University. While still a student, she would use her pocket money to travel to Nairobi to sell baby clothes, exemplifying her business-oriented mindset at a young age.
Read Martha's story
