Why invest in women and girls?
Doing so is now considered “smart and actually kind of cool,” Women Moving Millions chief executive Jacki Zehner told The New York Times.
There are currently at least 165 women’s funds around the world, according to Women Moving Millions, a group of donors aiming to empower women and girls — a far cry from the 35 women’s funds in 1985. Even known personalities such as Annie Lennox and Melinda gates are investing in women’s causes too.
Women share the same feelings and fears, wealthy or not. They are all afraid to lose their children to preventable diseases and are all against rape. And no one certainly wants to die from giving birth.
There are now several initiatives and innovations targeting women, including the Saving Lives at Birth Challenge, Saving Mothers, Giving Life effort, Wello Water Wheel and Mobile Midwife.
But with women facing a number of challenges, the need for more action from the government, nongovernmental organizations and even the private sector is high.
Lennox said in an NYT article: “The genocide that goes on on a daily basis, wiping out women and children — illness, poverty, rape as a weapon of war. This is not fiction.”
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About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
