GreenLamp was created in response to the call-to-action of Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to address the systemic and endemic abuse of women throughout the developing world in Half The Sky: How to change the world.
Our founders recognised rural Ethiopia as a key area in which significant impact could be achieved, particularly in terms of maternal health and corresponding education and economic opportunities. There are less than 650 obstetricians/gynaecologists in the country and approximately 18,000 trained midwives for a population of over 120 million.
In rural areas especially, women have extremely limited access to quality healthcare and family planning resources. Maternal mortality rates are among the highest in Africa and the world at 353 female deaths per 100,000, compared with 5 per 100,000 in Switzerland. Lack of medical support also results in increased infant mortality, long-term health problems for mothers, and subsequent social stigma. Unreliable or non-existent power supplies further endanger women in labour.
We established our grass-roots Zurich-based group in 2012 and our Swedish team in 2020 to address these issues, and have been working to fund and support community-based projects that contribute to improving access to healthcare, education and economic opportunities for women and girls in rural Ethiopia. We have adopted a holistic approach: training midwives, empowering women to become role models, and ensuring safer, more dignified labour conditions.