Goldman Sachs and Vagisil in the Half the Sky Movement
This paper compares two corporate partners of the Half the Sky Movement — Goldman Sachs's 10,000 Women initiative and Vagisil — examining how each organization approaches the goal of empowering women in developing and disadvantaged regions. Goldman Sachs functions as a third-party funding connector, channeling resources toward business and management education for female entrepreneurs worldwide. Vagisil, by contrast, takes a ground-up, individual-level approach through intimate health education and reproductive empowerment. The paper analyzes the strengths of each strategy and argues that both, despite their different methods, contribute meaningfully to combating gender-based oppression globally.
- Introduction: Women's Rights and the Half the Sky Movement: Overview of global gender inequality and Half the Sky
- The Problem of Global Female Oppression: How patriarchal systems perpetuate women's oppression globally
- Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative: Business education and third-party funding model explained
- Vagisil's Approach to Women's Empowerment: Intimate health education and ground-up empowerment strategy
- Conclusion: Comparing Two Models of Change: Both models assessed; Vagisil's approach highlighted as strong
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper establishes a clear comparative framework early, identifying both organizations by name and contrasting their strategies before analyzing each in depth.
- It grounds the comparison in a shared problem — global female oppression — giving the analysis a meaningful context rather than comparing organizations in a vacuum.
- The contrast between Goldman Sachs's macro, third-party funding model and Vagisil's ground-level, individual-focused approach is concrete and well-illustrated.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates the block comparison method: each organization is analyzed in its own dedicated section before conclusions are drawn. This approach allows the reader to fully understand each entity's strategy independently before evaluating them side by side, which is effective for shorter comparative essays where the subjects are sufficiently distinct.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with context on global gender inequality and the Half the Sky Movement, then defines the shared problem both organizations address. It proceeds to analyze Goldman Sachs's initiative, then Vagisil's program, highlighting their different scales and methods. The conclusion synthesizes the comparison and argues for Vagisil's ground-up model as particularly impactful. The essay relies on a single primary source — the Half the Sky Movement's funder page — cited consistently throughout.
Introduction: Women's Rights and the Half the Sky Movement
As much as we would like to believe otherwise, the world is not as equal and free as many had hoped it could become. In fact, many populations around the globe still suffer dramatically from clear violations of their basic human rights. One such population is women. In many areas — particularly in developing countries — women still hold a second-class citizen role within society, often being denied basic rights over their own bodies and minds.
This is what the Half the Sky Movement aims to combat, by providing funding and guidance channeled through philanthropic organizations such as Goldman Sachs's 10,000 Women initiative and Vagisil. These two organizations take very different approaches to promoting solutions for violations against women: Goldman Sachs provides funding and guidance for female entrepreneurs across the globe, while Vagisil aims to raise awareness and supply basic tools so that women everywhere can exercise greater power and decision-making over their own healthcare and bodies. Though their approaches differ, both organizations aim to empower women by providing them with necessary tools to navigate a daunting and male-dominated world.
Works Cited
Half the Sky Movement. "Funders." Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. 2013. Web. http://www.halftheskymovement.org/pages/funders
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.