8 March is International Women’s Day, a reminder to all of us, each year, of the critical role that girls and women play in our societies, and of the challenges they face.
This year – the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day – the theme is “equal access to education, training and science and technology: pathway to decent work for women.”
We know that an educated girl will make considered choices about her relationships, health, work, family and community. Without education, girls are more likely to be married at a young age, have more children from a young age and be relegated to informal or insecure forms of work.
We also know that as women progress, children progress. At ChildFund, we work to ensure that women are afforded the same opportunities as men through initiatives such as micro-finance programs, livelihoods training and healthcare training. We have seen first-hand the impact of educating and empowering women, for them and their children.
- Mother of three Basanti (pictured) has turned her family’s fortunes around by using a micro-loan to runs a successful business selling bangles in her rural village in India.
- Grandmother Benta from Kenya increased her income through a livelihoods program and is now able to feed, clothe and educate the 19 children in her care.
- Community health volunteer Joana is helping to improve the health of children in Timor-Leste by educating families and linking them with healthcare services.
Meet more inspiring women ChildFund works with by viewing this slideshow.
Extreme flooding in India’s coastal state of Orissa has affected more than two million people in 19 districts, claiming at least 22 lives. As a result, thousands of families have lost their homes, crops and livelihoods.
ChildFund India works in three of the affected districts, and approximately 20,000 people have now been evacuated from low lying areas to safer places. ChildFund is also providing communities with emergency food assistance with support from the Indian government.
Agricultural lands in the area have been submerged in floodwaters, resulting in a high loss of Kharif crop (crops planted in the rainy season) in the area. Rice, millet, maize, soybeans, vegetables and other staples have been ruined. Fish ponds are also submerged, and many fishermen lost their fishing nets, which are key to their livelihoods.
In the short-term, ChildFund and its partners will work with the government’s relief management authority and district administrations to ensure distribution of relief services. In particular, ChildFund will focus its sanitation interventions, and distribute bleaching powder, carbolic acid and lime to ensure the sanitation of water sources in the affected areas.
ChildFund will also provide a one-month supply of supplementary food for children, pregnant and nursing mothers and elders in the project areas.
Over the long-term, ChildFund will distributed vegetable seeds to families for the winter planting season and ensure that school buildings and Early Childhood Centres are cleaned and prepared to receive students when schools reopen.
ChildFund will also be convening a consultative flood preparedness meeting with disaster management experts and community members. The goal is to help communities become better prepared and less vulnerable to future flooding.
