Women and Girls International Day

Seven ways to empower women and girls

Written by World Vision Staff on Mar 6, 2018 3:18:39 PM

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To celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, here are seven easy ways to make a big difference in the lives of daughters, sisters, and mothers around the world — and right in our own neighborhoods.

1. Provide the ticket to education: clean water.

Did you know that girls in poor communities often miss school because of a lack of clean water in their village? Instead of attending class, millions of girls and women are forced spend several hours each day fetching water for their families that is often dirty and dangerous to their health. Help provide clean water or walk the average 6 kilometers they walk for water and open the door to education for a young girl.

2. Support girls and women in crisis.

Millions of girls are subjected to abuse, child labor, sex trafficking, child marriage, and other offenses. Your gift will go where it’s needed most, protecting girls and women by equipping skilled, local staff to offer training, education, counseling, medical care, small business loans, and other programs that reach women and girls as well as boys — helping to end cycles of gender-based violence.

3. Mentor a girl close to home.

A growing poverty rate, poor-performing schools, and teen violence make it tough to be a girl growing up in the United States. Reach out and influence the life of a young girl in your own community by volunteering as a tutor or mentor. One way to establish a mentorship is through Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

4. Invest in a small business owner.

Through World Vision micro finance, you can connect with hardworking female entrepreneurs who are waiting to realize their dream of building or expanding a successful business. A small loan is all they need. Even better, when the loan is paid off, your donated funds are recycled again and again to help more people and make a bigger impact.

5. Use your voice to end preventable deaths of mothers and children.

Although incredible progress has been made over the last several decades, we can’t stop speaking up. Nearly 2.7 million newborns around the world still die each year, about 1 million on their very first day of life, over 300,000 women die annually due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth, and 16,000 children die every day, most from preventable and treatable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Congress listens to the emails and calls from you. Tell them to support the Reach Every Mother and Child Act (S. 1911, HR. 3706) to help implement a more efficient, sustainable approach for saving the lives of moms and babies.

6. Help a new mom.

The first weeks of a newborn’s life are the most critical. You can help save young lives around the world by giving a new mother the essential things like a bassinet, cloth diapers, blankets, a container for clean water, and soap. Your gift also provides life-saving infant care training. Know a new mom near you who might be feeling overwhelmed? Mothers of Preschoolers connects moms of young children all over the world to a community of women in their own neighborhoods who meet together to embrace the journey of motherhood.

7. Tell the women in your life that you care.

Empowering women starts right in our families, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Write a note of thanks to that teacher who encouraged you years ago, pick up coffee for that new mom in your office who’s struggling to balance it all, or tell your own sister, daughter, or mother how much you appreciate them.