Discover the Femmes Du Monde platform: a space dedicated to women’s empowerment

Women of the World is an organization founded in Geneva whose concrete action unfolds in the tea sector in Sri Lanka. Its stated goal: to improve the living and working conditions of women by acting on their professional and personal environment. The model is based on creating value-added platforms aimed at opening professional pathways for women, regardless of their level of education.

Tea Sector in Sri Lanka: A Rarely Documented Field of Action

Most initiatives related to women’s empowerment focus on professional coaching, networking, or institutional advocacy. Women of the World has chosen a specific sectoral anchoring: Sri Lankan tea plantations, where women make up the majority of the workforce for harvesting.

According to recent sectoral sources reported by JANAT Paris, initiatives linked to this organization support over 1,000 women engaged in tea harvesting. The broader Sapphire Valley project mentions support for over 7,000 families in the Sri Lankan agricultural ecosystem.

This positioning distinguishes the organization from purely activist structures or individual support platforms. The action focuses on a concrete link in the agricultural value chain, where working and pay conditions remain among the most precarious in the sector.

By exploring the Women of the World platform, one can access a mapping of the actions taken, testimonials, and development axes of the organization, from Sri Lanka to Japan.

Union Representation of Tea Workers: A Persistent Blind Spot

Economic empowerment is not limited to training or access to the job market. The issue of collective representation remains a structural barrier for women in the tea sector.

The organization THIRST, in its report “Listen up, EU” updated on September 29, 2026, reports that tea workers feel insufficiently represented by unions predominantly led by men. The recommendation made is straightforward: train union representatives from the communities themselves, rather than imposing external structures.

This observation poses a limit to empowerment models focused solely on developing individual skills. Without a collective bargaining lever, wage improvements or social protections remain dependent on the goodwill of employers or purchasing brands.

Women of the World Facing This Collective Challenge

The Geneva-based organization adopts an approach based on “shared added value” and the engagement of all stakeholders. Available field feedback does not allow for precise measurement of the impact of this model on the union representation of workers.

The question remains open: can a project led from Geneva and Tokyo influence local union dynamics in Sri Lankan plantations, or is its role limited to improving material conditions without altering the internal power relations within the sector?

Climate Change and Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture: Fragile Objectives

An external factor complicates women’s empowerment projects in the tea sector. THIRST, in its September 2026 newsletter, establishes a direct link between climate change and the degradation of incomes for workers and small producers.

The mechanisms at play are concrete:

• Rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall affect yields and the quality of harvested leaves, impacting purchase prices
• Extreme weather events disrupt production cycles and weaken agricultural infrastructure
• Declining incomes reduce families’ ability to invest in girls’ education or in complementary activities led by women

The social objectives of the tea sector become inseparable from climate policies. THIRST recommends fairer prices, adaptation financing, and strengthened social protections for workers.

Sustainability Claims and Organizational Communication: A Stricter Regulatory Framework

Organizations claiming a social or environmental impact face an increasingly strict European regulatory context regarding environmental claims.

For an organization like Women of the World, which emphasizes “sustainable growth” and “shared added value,” the credibility of stated commitments depends on the traceability of results. Publicly available data on impact indicators remains limited: number of women supported, income evolution, access to vocational training.

An International Network Between Geneva and Tokyo

The organization relies on a network of engaged women in Japan, with gatherings at the “Nikkei Woman” forum. This Franco-Japanese network is an asset for fundraising and media visibility.

However, the distance between decision-making centers (Geneva, Tokyo) and the field of action (Sri Lankan plantations) raises classic governance questions. Do direct beneficiaries participate in defining priorities, or is the agenda set by international donors and partners?

• Transparency regarding the allocation of funds between operations, communication, and field actions
• The involvement of Sri Lankan women in the organization’s decision-making bodies
• The regular publication of impact reports verifiable by independent third parties

These criteria distinguish credible women’s empowerment organizations from those whose real impact remains difficult to assess. This issue is not unique to Women of the World: it concerns the entire international nonprofit sector operating in the agricultural sectors of developing countries.

The model promoted by this Geneva-based organization has the merit of being anchored in a specific sector rather than in general statements about women’s rights. The strength of this approach will be measured by its ability to publish verifiable results and to integrate the voices of those most affected into its governance.