Monthly Archives: August 2013

1-year Results, Advocacy, Asia and Pacific, India, Project, Rights, Teen, Violence against women

Voices against violence

Stop the violence by educating girls and young women about their rights to live free from violence and to have the skills and confidence to claim them.

Why we care: It is estimated that up to six out of 10 girls and women will experience violence and/or sexual abuse in their lifetimes. This must stop.

How we’re solving it: By training 30 participants on facilitating the “Voices Against Violence” non-formal education program so they can help support girls, young women, boys and young men to identify violence, understand their rights, and end violence against girls.  

Girls in every country across the world are subjected to violence—in its many forms. 150 million girls under 18 have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact. Two million girls—ages five to 15 years old—are introduced into the commercial sex market each year. And, 60 million girls are sexually assaulted at or on their way to school each year.

WAGGGS is committed to ending violence against girls and young women and has been working to break the culture of silence on violence. WAGGGS—in collaboration with UN Women—has develop the “Voices against Violence,” non-formal education program to help girls and young women to understand and assert their rights and become powerful forces for transformation. At the heart of the program, girls and young women challenge gender stereotypes, reach out to boys and young men and address the root causes of violence.

The training program is a critical part of the “Stop the Violence” advocacy campaign that is mobilizing 10 million girls and young women and 1.5 million volunteers around the world to end violence against girls. It is delivered through a network of peer educators and youth leaders who have been trained on how to use the program and create safe spaces where girls, boys, young women, and young men can learn to stop the violence.

This project will help WAGGGS raise funds to host a train-the-trainer event in Pune, India, from December 7 to December 14. Specifically, funds raised through this project will help WAGGGS offer scholarships to five participants so they may review the curriculum, build capacity on gender-based violence, develop implementation plans, learn about safety and ethical requirements with offering the training, and be able to return to their communities and train more trainers. After the course they will train other people in their own countries and ensure the impact of the training is multiplied at country level.

Each scholarship covers travel, lodging, food, and community activity costs. 

1-year Results, Education & training, Health, HIV/AIDS, Maternal health, Mother, Project, Sub-saharan Africa, Togo

Support for an HIV-free generation

Help us fund a Community Health Worker (CHW) in Togo, who will provide invaluable support and hope to pregnant women with HIV.

Why we care: The likelihood of HIV transmission from a mother to her child is less than 2% with the right care. In 2011, only 30% of eligible women in the northern Kara region of Togo, West Africa received such care.

How we’re solving this: The use of Community Health Workers (CHWs) have  proven to increase enrollment in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programs. By deploying a network of CHWs to provide home-based peer support to expecting and new moms living with HIV, we hope to make the dream of an HIV-free generation a reality. 

Your support will fund one CHW, who will conduct regular home visits to answer questions, listen to concerns, follow up on missed appointments and encourage partner support. For a year’s worth of salary, trainings, and materials, our CHW will be able to visit 13 new and expecting moms on a weekly basis. This home-based peer-to-peer program aims to increase enrollment and completion rates of PMTCT programs in order to prevent new infant HIV infections.

In the words of one former PMTCT participant, “when a mother learns that her child is HIV negative, she is overjoyed. She gains weight, becomes healthier and no longer worries. The fear she had disappears and she finds hope for the future.” 

Our goal is for all women to experience this exceptional joy. Please help us achieve this! 

Economic security, Food & water, Project, Sub-saharan Africa, Tanzania, Woman

Sow seeds of change for Tanzanian women

Seeds, fertilizer, and training are catalysts of change for female farmers in Tanzania.

Why we care: Because female farmers in Tanzania have little access to agricultural training and resources, crop failures are frequent. Suffering from chronic food shortage and unreliable incomes, these women often find themselves unable to feed their families.

How we’re solving this: By training 300 community agriculture workers and providing quality seeds and fertilizers to nearly 5,000 female farmers.

We’re catalyzing change by focusing on women, who make up 80% of Tanzania’s agriculture sector and are most likely to reinvest their income in their families and communities. With your support, we’ll empower community agriculture workers to teach improved farming methods to their neighbors. In addition to providing knowledge, we’ll give the tools necessary for Tanzanian women farmers to transform their lives – quality seeds and fertilizers.

Our agriculture success model has been tested and proven in Bangladesh, Uganda, South Sudan, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. We help farmers through every step of the way – agricultural research, skills training, and accessing affordable quality supplies.

Over the next three years, we’ll improve agricultural productivity by 25% and increase the income of 70,000 farmers by 30%. Together, let’s be seeds of change for women farmers in Tanzania.