Why women are climbing a mountain to shout for their rights – and I’m doing it with them.

By Holly Miller, Head of Communications at ActionAid Australia

We all know it – while we’ve come a long way on the journey towards equality, us women are still getting the raw end of the deal. In Australia, we’re still not making the same amount of money as men – even when we’re doing the same jobs (and often when we’re doing them better).

We’re still spending more of our time caring for our kids and looking after our homes – which means we take time out of our careers, don’t accrue as much superannuation, and often miss out on that promotion.

When we are at work, we have to work extra hard to be taken as seriously as our male colleagues – who seem to have their ideas and points recognised really easily – even when they’re not that great.

It’s more than a little bit frustrating. I find it absolutely infuriating, quite frankly.

Women from Kitui County in Kenya climbed to the peak of the local Ulonzo Hill to proclaim their charter of demands for women’s land rights. The charter was handed over to Kitui’s Deputy Governor, who made commitments to protecting women’s rights – in particular, their land and property rights. Women from Kitui will join many more from across Africa this October to demand equal land rights from their governments and world leaders. See the link in our bio find out more about the #women2kilimanjaro land campaign & how you can support them! Photo: ActionAid

A photo posted by ActionAid Australia (@actionaidaustralia) on Aug 23, 2016 at 12:26am PDT

And elsewhere, it’s the same old story – women don’t have equal rights. In some countries, women are denied the right to own land.

In many African countries, this is what women farmers are told every day. That they have no right to the land that they work so tirelessly on, simply because they are women.  

Women’s rights are something we have to keep fighting for – not just here, but all over the world.

That’s why I work for ActionAid – an international organisation that stands with women living in poverty all over the world, supporting them to take action to demand their basic rights.  We work with fierce, hardworking women farmers across Africa who are championing the fight for women’s land rights.

You see, while African women have long faced many obstacles to achieving gender equality, a groundswell is building and women are driving change.

That’s why this October, hundreds of women from across Africa will mobilise at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro to build an agenda for action. They’re going to declare their demands loud and clear – and make sure that their governments and world leaders hear them.

Led by experts from Intrepid Travel, some of these fearless rural women’s rights leaders will climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, and from the top of Africa, they will raise their voices for the world to hear.

By climbing Kilimanjaro together, they’ll show the world that they can do anything. That when women come together, raise their voices and demand change, they can move mountains.

The Kilimanjaro climb is a rallying call. A call not only to African women, but to women all around the world. Women like you and me who, thanks to the amazing women who fought for gender equality before us, can enjoy so many rights other women can only dream of.

When I was in Uganda earlier this year, I met Penninah, the leader of a group of women farmers working together to farm their land, and to campaign for their rights. She spoke to me about Kilimanjaro. “I am going to climb to the top,” she tells me, “because I have to go and speak.”

Penninah Aujo, the head of the Ailwaritoi women farmers’ group from Bukedea, Uganda. Photo: Stephanie Simcox/ActionAid

I’ve seen the power of women in action before. I know that when women are empowered and mobilised to work together, they have huge potential to create change.

That’s what Kilimanjaro is about - and I’m lucky enough to be joining the women in their historic climb. 

ActionAid have partnered with Intrepid Travel to support the rural women of Africa in this historic climb for women’s land rights, and you and a friend can join them on their epic adventure.

We want to spread the word far and wide about the campaign for women’s land rights in Africa. We know that when women collectively raise their voices to demand change, they can move mountains. Be a part of this game-changing moment, and stand in solidarity with our sisters fighting for equal rights.

Visit womenmovemountains.com.au for http://www.intrepidtravel.com/au more information.