Celebrating International Women’s Day 2024

“Girls everywhere are strong, they are capable, and they will determine our future. It is our responsibility to help them fulfil their dreams.”

– Angelica Fuentes

In 1911, the first ever International Women’s Day (IWD) was marked by over a million people who gathered in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Later in 1914, the 8th March was agreed upon as the date for IWD and it has taken place on this day every year ever since.

International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate and advocate for gender equality globally. There continues to be an immense amount of progress to be made to reach gender equality, as it covers countless aspects of society. Some examples include tackling violence against women, upholding women’s human rights, providing women with equal access to education and employment, among many others. Reaching these goals has proven challenging, with the United Nations reporting the “$360 billion annual deficit in gender equality measures by 2030”. The fight for equality therefore must continue.

The theme of this year’s IWD is ‘Inspire Inclusion’, which aims to encourage people to inspire others about what the world could be like if women were fairly included. The theme also aims to reflect how International Women’s Day is a day for everyone. All IWD action and all people are included on this day because when people come together, they can achieve extraordinary things.

How ACT supports the mission of global justice for women

The work we do here at ACT could not be done without the widows, mothers, and women guardians of the children we support in Africa. ACT aims to provide opportunities for women, support them in their struggles and help them care for their children and community.

ACT currently works with widows in 8 African countries to enable them to support themselves and their children. In rural Africa, where much of our work is carried out, women often rely on the husband as the breadwinner, while they look after the children. The death of the breadwinner can bring great hardship on the family and places widows in a precarious and vulnerable position in African society.

ACT helps women learn to support themselves. We provide counselling to widows and training in business skills to start their own small businesses. This allows them to generate income in a sustainable way to provide for their children.

The ACT Sustainable Whole Life Skills programme provides small loans to widows to start their own small businesses. ACT also provides training in inheritance rights and in AIDS/HIV awareness. You can find out more about these projects here.

We are addressing gender disparities in education

We are passionate about reducing the gender gaps in education in the countries where we work.

In some of these countries, girls miss out on a quarter of their education because they feel safer staying at home during their menstrual period because of lack of access to menstrual pads, and the poor sanitation and lack of water at school. Described as ‘Period Poverty’, it disadvantages girls and affects their educational progress, as they are more likely to drop out of education.

Mgala BSc (Chemistry) Tanzania, 2023

The ACT ‘Dignity for Girls’ programme aims to educate girls about menstrual health and provides the girls with a sustainable source of affordable menstrual products (Dignity packs). You can read more about our Dignity Project in Malawi (click here).

The Martin Phillips Girls University Scholarship Fund addresses this issue of gender equality specifically in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Fund was set up in 2020 by ACT supporter, Martin Phillips alongside ACT, and has so far sponsored the education of three young women who have completed or are about to graduate from university education.

ACT is for the people otherwise forgotten

As we celebrate the International Women’s Day, you can help us to make a difference in the lives of many more widows and women in-need in Africa through our sustainable whole life skills programmes, so that they can generate income to support their families and sustain the education of their children, particularly the girls.

Our child sponsorship programme gives disadvantaged orphans and fatherless children the opportunity of an education so that they can reach their full potential in life. With £15 a month (£180 a year) you can help to educate a girl like Mgala and support their family. In one year, your gift will buy school uniforms, feed a child and pay school fees. To find out how you can support a child with ACT and help to transform their life, please Click here.