Mary Beth Powers of Save the Children shares a special story for International Women’s Day.
Whenever I travel to Bangladesh, I can’t help but imagine how it would be for my 12-year-old daughter to grow up there instead of in suburban New York.
My daughter is still a child, barely an adolescent. But in Bangladesh, plans for her marriage might be well underway by now, her education nearing its end.
The shy and fleeting faces of Bangladeshi girls have made such an impression on me during the 20 years I’ve been traveling to Bangladesh for public health work. That’s been the case even though girls in rural areas were barely seen and never heard –- especially in those early years.
But increasingly, things are changing for girls. It’s extremely exciting. Imagine the full potential of half population being unleashed!
Check out this video of Shathi. She got married at 14 and became a mother at 15. She’s expected to stay home, like most girls and women in her community. But, today she’s raising her voice to influence those around her to think differently about girls and their futures.
What did it take to make the quiet and unassuming Shathi a powerful agent for change? A safe space to talk, play and learn with other adolescent girls and young women, and support for her to express herself in her own family.
Shathi is just one of 42,000 girls who’ve benefited from Save the Children’s Girls’ Voices project, thanks to support from the Nike Foundation. Today many of these young women are talking about early marriage and the increased risks of maternal and newborn death that come with young pregnancies.
And armed with new life and business skills, many of the girls are contributing to their family’s wellbeing in ways never before imagined. (Check out Shilpi’s story to see how).
These girls are no longer shy and fleeting but are instead outgoing and active members of their families and communities.
I can hardly wait to see what these girls do next.
Mary Beth Powers leads Save the Children’s newborn and child survival campaign, which you can join at www.goodgoes.org.
Last night, we hosted a Girls Night Out Twitter party with Mom It Forward, an organization that works to empower women and the communities that they live in for International Women’s Day. For two hours, @ONECampaigntweeted videos, photos and facts about females living in the world’s poorest places to mommy bloggers and other tweeps across the US (including actress Jessica Alba, who retweeted us a couple of times!). Policy expert Erin Thornton and activist Christy Turlington from maternal health NGO Every Mother Counts participated in the panel as well. Here’s a little sample of what kinds of stuff we were tweeting:
As you can tell from these photos (taken by our seriously awesome photographer Morgana), we took the word “party” pretty literally and threw a little shindig of our own. There was wine, cheese, Madonna on the turntable and a whoooole lot of tweeting. It truly was an evening of highs and lows — we laughed (because of funny retweets), we cried (not really, but we were really sad when Twitter kept freezing on us) and we were surprised by how quickly time flew. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye…
Special thanks to ONE staffers Kara (@karadeese), Chris (@iamchrisscott), Lauren (@LaurenBalog), Erin (@Global_ErinH) and Lorraine (@LorraineChu) for tweeting like madmen last night!
Today is officially International Women’s Day, which means that tonight is finally the Girls’ Night Out Twitter party. Needless to say, we’re pretty excited –- maybe even a little too excited. As you can see from this crazy photo shoot, ONE staffers Malaka Gharib and Erin Hohlfelder (who will be Tweeting on behalf of ONE tonight) had their party hats on and ready to go at 9AM this morning!
And we’ve got even more exciting news – Every Mother Counts’ founder Christy Turlington (@CTurlington), and executive director Erin Thornton (@ETThornton), who specializes is maternal mortality, will be joining us on the panel -– so be sure to look out for their tweets.
So what are some things you can expect from tonight? For starters, we’ll be discussing empowering women, including the great strides that women in Africa have made and the work that still needs to be done. We’ll be sure to include inspiring photos and videos on agriculture, education, health and maternal care throughout the night.
Confused on how a Twitter party works? Check out my post from last week to catch up on all the details so you don’t miss out! Some of us at ONE will be getting together later tonight for the party for a little fun, and Malaka will be tweeting from our ONE handle, @onecampaign while Erin will be tweeting from the policy perspective on her account, @Global_ErinH. So call up some friends, bring out the wine and cheese and join us!
Sign onto your Twitter account tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. EST (8 CT, 7 MT and 6PT) for Girls’ Night Out.
Female farmers in the Uwamwima Growers Association in Zanzibar
Women can feed the world. This was the simple message of this year’s International Women’s Action Day Breakfast, organized by Women Thrive Worldwide, an organization that advocates for the empowerment of women through US foreign aid programs.
You might be surprised to know that women make up about 70 percent of farmers in Africa, the world’s fastest growing continent. This means that we will increasingly depend upon women to scale up agricultural production and chip away at the number of hungry people worldwide, currently a staggering 1 billion. The World Bank has estimated that if women had access to the same inputs, land and training as men, the developing world’s agricultural production could increase by more than 20 percent.
Last Thursday’s breakfast, which was attended by policymakers, journalists and members of the development community, featured speakers from the US and the developing world who champion the cause of women, and also focused on food security.
Florence Chenoweth, Liberia’s agriculture minister, discussed her achievement of reducing the country’s food insecure population from 80 percent in 1980 to less than 50 percent today. Ms. Chenoweth thanked USAID for sponsoring programs that Liberia had itself prioritized, such as becoming self-sufficient in seed production and training 32,000 smallholder farmers, 72 percent of whom were women.
Lydia Sasu, head of the Development Action Association, inspired the audience with the story of Eva, a Ghanian woman who turned a donation of five pigs into a 400-pig farm, investing in vehicles to bring all of the village’s produce to market and winning national farmer competitions.
Making an impromptu appearance was Sen. Amy Klobucher, the first elected female senator from Minnesota. Sen. Klobucher noted the contribution of high food prices to continuing turmoil in North Africa, saying that, “As a point of compassion, but also as a point of national security and our own economic stability, we can’t let [developing world food insecurity] go unchecked.”
While the focus of the event was women, the threat of serious budget cuts to US aid programs was also a hot topic among the speakers. Ms. Chenoweth, no stranger to the competing demands of donors for influence and prestige, summed up the situation elegantly: “Don’t quit when you are leading,” she said, “Otherwise another country will simply jump in and take all the credit.”
ONE is currently campaigning to prevent cuts to foreign aid funding, which represents less than 1 percent of the US budget. Sign our petition here.
Looking to perk up your Tuesday night? Look no further –- we’re having a Twitter party, and you’re invited. ONE is teaming up with Mom It Forward, a worldwide network dedicated to enhancing the lives of women, their families and the communities in which they live, on Tuesday, March 8 to discuss women’s empowerment in the developing world. Perfect timing, since that just so happens to be International Women’s Day.
So how does this Twitter party work? Every 10 minutes, Mom It Forward will tweet a question on empowering women, and ONE will tweet back the answer. You’re free to discuss via Twitter…until the next question comes along! There are some serious chances to win ONE swag, so keep your eyes peeled!
Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to join (so guys, that means you, too!). And we would love if our members and blog readers could be there to represent ONE and help boost awareness around our Senate budget petition.
Here are the details:
What: Girls’ Night Out Twitter party. Use the Twitter hashtag (#gno) to show that you’re participating! When: Tuesday, March 8 from 9 to 11 p.m. EST (8CT, 7 MT and 6 PT) Where: From your computer or mobile phone Who: Brand Panelist: @ONECampaign; Moderators: @jylmomIF @Dadventurous @troypattee and @MomItForward RSVP: Click this link and enter your Twitter URL and Twitter ID
There’s so much potential in Africa’s females, and with 430 million women and girls currently driving Africa’s economy, we’re getting there. When women are given the proper tools, they can help lift communities out of poverty and transform millions of lives.
Jill Sheffield, president and founder of Women Deliver, shares some exciting news on women and girls ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.
This week, Women Deliver announced the “Women Deliver 100,” a list of the top 100 people in the world -– men and women, young and old -– who are delivering for women. When I read the stories of the individuals honored, I am overcome with inspiration and gratitude. These are some of the most intrepid and committed people in the world, who are dedicated to improving the lives of girls and women…at many costs. These are people who get that girls and women make the world go round, and that investing in them -– prioritizing them, protecting their rights, telling their stories -– pays.
Last year was truly a momentous year for girls and women, as we saw new donor commitments, new policy decisions, and an overwhelming swell in support for protecting their well being. It was beyond fabulous, but it also raised the stakes considerably. Looking ahead into 2011, we are under even more pressure to keep this momentum going.
The Women Deliver 100 is part of our effort to do so. First and foremost, it is our offering of gratitude and recognition to one hundred heroes. We will celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day next week, and it’s a time to really celebrate the leaps and bounds we’ve made, and how hard it’s been to get there. Many of the Women Deliver 100 honorees work amidst incredible adversity, without much fanfare, and often without a light at the end of the tunnel. They are committed in their efforts to improve the lives of girls and women -– whether through scientific discoveries, human rights campaigns, or the delivery of health services –- because they believe in the value of women and girls. They don’t count on recognition and they don’t count on an easy road, though they deserve it.
Here’s another great post in honor of International women’s Day from our partners at Opportunity International.
This International Women’s Day (and week), let’s come together and celebrate the stories of women who show resilience, strength and courage every day. Opportunity International works with many of these women. In fact, more than 85% of our clients are women. With determination, knowledge and the support of microfinance services, these women have transformed not only their lives, but the lives of their families and communities.
Here is the story of just one of these amazing women, Rosemary Namande. Rosemary’s life has been deeply affected by the AIDS epidemic. The disease has taken her daughter, two siblings, a nephew and the parents of 11 children in her community. Rosemary was able to adopt these children and provide them with shelter, safety, support and an education in large part due to her entrepreneurial spirit. Forty years ago, Rosemary opened a school for infants. Today, equipped with a staff of over 50 people and Opportunity loans, she has five permanent buildings that house an orphanage and an elementary school that allows over 900 children to go to school.
But Rosemary’s impact doesn’t just end with the children. She uses the increased income from her loans to reinvest in her community. She adopts orphans, hires widows to teach marketable skills, helps women establish businesses, leads a local women’s council, and opens her school to other community activities.
I believe that Susan Gillette of the Women’s Opportunity Network had Rosemary in mind when she said “Strong women mother the world.” If you know other strong and inspiring women like Rosemary, please post a tribute to them on the Global Opportunity Quilt. Help us celebrate women in honor of International Women’s Day.
-Ruth-Anne Renaud, Vice President, Women’s Philanthropy & the Women’s Opportunity Network, Opportunity International
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
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