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Breakthrough Commitments: New Initiatives to Support Women and Girls
Scores of organizations across the globe have responded to the Women, Faith, and Development Alliance’s call to action to make concrete commitments to new programs that will support women and girls around the globe.
Find out how you can make a commitment or help us spread the word about supporting women and girls.
Featured Breakthrough Commitments
Inter-Religious Commitment: Announced by Hajia Katumi Mahama, Federation of Muslim Women's Association in Ghana
The Inter-Religious Commitment unites religious leaders from around the world in the campaign to end gender-based violence and forward the directives expressed in the Millennium Development Goals. The alliance will work to call upon male religious leaders to become role models and promote education about gender-based violence. It will also partner with local interfaith organizations to aid women who are victims of domestic violence. Additionally, it will raise community and faith-based awareness about the MDGs as well as pressure governments to honor commitments made when signing the Millennium Declaration. See page 10 for list of signatures. www.wfd-alliance.org
Whole Planet Foundation: Announced by Jeff Klein
Whole Planet Foundation commits to supporting womens entrepreneurial success by providing grants to micro-finance institutions in developing world communities and contributing tangible support for other community partnerships. It will expand its $5.9 million pledge to support international microlending programs by more than $1 million. It will extend its operations to Mexico, Kenya, Ethiopia, East Timor, and Colombia, in 2008. www.wholeplanetfoundation.org
United Way: Announced by Brian Gallagher, President and CEO
The United Way will leverage its global network to support work in financial stability and engagement through women leaders. Specifically, it will allocate $30 million to strengthen its global network to provide communities with tools and resources necessary to increase the financial capacity of women and their families. It will also leverage the United Way Women's Leadership Councils to target issues focused on education, income and health that move women to financial stability and independence. www.unitedway.org
Islamic Relief Services (IRS): Announced by Dr. Ahmad El Bendary, Founder of Islamic Relief USA
IRS commits to help over 1 million women and girls in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to break out of the cylce of poverty by providing aid that makes life-changing impact through increased programs for girls education, provision of jobs, income generating projects, clean water, support of female orphans, basic nutritional and medical support. IRS will measure the number of female beneficiaries served and sustainable types of projects undertaken; future projects and efforts will primarily benefit women and girls. www.irw.org
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): Announced by Kemal Dervis, Administrator
UNDP will build on its comparative advantage as the largest provider of electoral and parliament assistance worldwide to help increase the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments, whcih includes giving women the skills and strategies to mobilize support and raise campaign finance. In addition, through an Eight Point Agenda on gender equality in crisis prevention and recovery, UNDP is committed to strengthening women's voices during times of conflict, as well as peace. Finally, UNDP commits to continue working towards achieving gender parity at all levels of the organization. www.undp.org
Women's Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO), Oxfam, Mercy Corps (Cluster Commitment): Announced by June Zeitlin, Executive Director, WEDO
WEDO, Oxfam, and Mercy Corps are teaming up to increase their programs for women and climate change. Among other work, WEDO is working with civil society in developing countries to ensure that national adaptation policies and planning includes a gender perspective and women's participation. Oxfam America has launched a domestic and international campaign to create equitable solutions to the climate crisis. Mercy Corps is working in nearly 40 countries to promote secure, productive and just communities, all of which depend on the ability of civil society, private and public sector actors to adapt to climate impacts. www.wedo.org; www.oxfamamerica.org
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD): Announced by Robert Radtke, President
ERD commits to launch the formation of a Women's Development Council, which will support women's empowerment strategies in all of ERD's programs. Their integrated community development programs give 1.6 million women in more than 45 countries access to resources and tools that promote self-reliance and are distinguished by a vow to move beyond recognizing women as recipients of development services. Based on previously successful fundraising efforts, ERD hopes to raise $2 million over the next year to support the Council's programs and estimates that it will impact 1.6 million women and children. www.er-d.org
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): Announced by Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director
Over five years, UNFPA commits to raising $500 million to sustain and launch a wide range of programs. In partnership with key stakeholders, it is setting up a fund to reduce maternal mortality, collaborating actively with the UN Secretary General's campaign to end violence against women, working to eliminate female genital mutation in 17 countries; ending the occurrence and devastating impact of fistula in 44 countries; empowering adolescent girls and indigenous women, and strengthening collaboration with faith-based organizations. www.unfpa.org
Women's Learning Partnership (Cluster Commitment): Announced by Mahnaz Afkhami, Founder and President
As a coalition of 20 human rights, women and development organizations, working in 20 countries across three continents, the Women's Learning Partnership commits to invest $5 million dollars over three years toward increasing the number of women in decision-making at the household, community and national levels. This collaboration will multiply grassroots trainings, advocacy initiatives, media outreach, and the reach of the participatory leadership concept to grassroots constituencies, thus contributing to the transformation of discourse, and gender norms about women's role in society. www.learningpartnership.org
Women Moving Millions: Announced by Helen LaKelly Hunt, President, Women Moving Millions
This is the first time in the history of the world that women have funded women at the $1 million level. Working together over the past 20 years, the Women's Funding Network and its 130 women's funds around the world have raised $850 million with gifts at all levels. The Women Moving Millions campaign will bring together donors making gifts of $1 million or more toward the last $150 million that will crash them through the $1 billion mark. They are more than half way there. www.womenmovingmillions.org
World Vision, U.S.: Announced by Richard Stearns, President
World Vision is committed to integrating a social change component into all of their expanded work on prevention of HIV/AIDS. This work will transform gender norms and harmful traditional practices that make women more vulnerable to HIV infection and its impacts. Through engagement of over 6,000 faith leaders and their local communities, World Vision aims to scale up their social change work to 400 projects and districts in 20 African countries, directly impacting as many as seven million people by 2015, half of them women and girls under the age of 18. www.worldvision.org
United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF): Announced by Ann Veneman, Executive Director
UNICEF commits to collaborating with partners to: provide access for all children to quality primary education; promote equal rights of women and girls; protect women and girls against violence, abuse, and harmful traditional practices; ensure that women share equally in household decisions; advance policies and legislation that promote gender equality and support women, children, and families; fostor economic growth that reduces gender inequalities and empowers women; and collect and analyze data disaggregated by gender and age. www.unicef.org
Population Services International (PSI)/Youth Aids: Announced by Ashley Judd, Global Ambassador of PSI/Youth Aids
PSI is committing to reach over 15 million people with safe drinking water in 24 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America this year. PSI will support millions of women and children to lead healthier lives by placing the solution in their hands. Through increased access to safe water and education about disease prevention and management, women all over the world can prevent the devastating effects of diarrhea and cholera on their families. www.psi.org
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