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News Blog

World news on the fight to alleviate poverty – follow innovations in microfinance, technology and community development that are changing lives in developing countries.

Let’s #pressforprogress on closing the gender gap

by Robert Dunn, Global Executive Director, Opportunity International

This International Women’s Day let’s #pressforprogress on closing the gender gap in economic, educational, health and political opportunities for women, particularly those in developing countries where women and girls face extraordinary barriers to achieving gender parity. Last year, the World Economic Forum reported that the gender gap across health, education, politics and the workplace widened for the first time since 2006.[1] On average, the 144 countries included in the report closed 96…

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Helping women and girls find their voice

by Chikondi Mpokosa, Director, Women and Girls Program, Opportunity International

International Women’s Day is the perfect time for us to remember the unique challenges young women and girls face when it comes to getting into and staying in quality schools. Globally, nearly 130 million girls are not in school and nearly 40 per cent of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, if all girls had a secondary education there would be:  2/3 less child marriages 59 per cent less teenage pregnancies 1/2 as many child deaths universal declines in gender wage gaps greater reduced maternal…

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Let’s press for progress and empower Indigenous woman in India to live lives free from poverty

by Deepak Kindo, CEO, Sambandh Finserve

As we approach International Women’s Day, I’m reflecting on the way millions of Indigenous tribal women in the Chhottanagpur region of India now have sustainable livelihoods, a voice, futures filled with opportunities. It hasn’t always been this way for them. Indigenous women in Chhottanagpur, India These women, who are from the Santal, Kharia, Munda and Oraon tribes, have lived in the forests of Chhottanagpur for many years. There are nine million tribal households in the region and the…

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Let's get girls in India into quality schools this #IWD so they grow into empowered women

by Nathan Byrd, Head of Global Programs, Opportunity International

International Women’s Day is the perfect time to reflect on all that we’ve achieved over the last few decades in our efforts for gender equity in education.  Much of the work focused on access to education has brought powerful results in gender parity, achieving an equal percentage of girls and boys in the average classroom across many developing countries, thanks to a concerted effort by governments, development agencies and funders. What is becoming very clear, however, is that just getting…

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Everyday Social Justice: How to press for change in your 'regular' life

by Sara Bolst

If you're reading this, you have definitely encountered social justice movements in your lifetime. It's likely you've encountered one in the last week. It may not have been a march or a rally, and you may not have had to knit yourself a pink hat. It could have been as simple as a Facebook friend sharing a post on the state of Syrian refugees, a petition to support animal rights, or a post with #metoo.The idea of social justice is intentionally broad and has changed somewhat over the years. It's now…

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‘I can dream, plan, create, live. Live fully. Today and tomorrow. Because I have the means to do so.’

by Deanne Carter

We’re at the start of 2018. A moment is just a moment. These moments quickly roll into days, weeks, then months.  And in no time it’ll be Christmas, again. Will yours be another year, another missed opportunity without taking control of your financial future? On New Year’s Eve, will you be able to say: ‘I’ve moved my financial needle this year. I can dream, plan, create, live. Live fully. Today and tomorrow. Because I have the means to do so.’ Deanne Carter For a woman, there is a specific…

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Opportunity’s supporters are changing the world!

by Robert Dunn

Listen: https://youtu.be/o9zW-GKRl5w As we try to squeeze in just one more Christmas party and one more meeting so we get everything finished before the holidays, I’m reflecting on 2017 and the immense impact Opportunity International Australia’s supporters had this year in the lives of families living in poverty. Because of the generosity of Opportunity’s supporters in 2017, thousands of families in Asia can live lives free from poverty, free of preventable illnesses, free of domestic violence.…

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The global community needs a pathway of action to eliminate violence against women

by Farzana Khan

  Sunday 10 December is Human Rights Day, the culmination of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. Violence against women and girls is a human rights issue, not a women’s issue. We must say “no” to violence against women and girls on Human Rights Day…and every day. The global community must recommit to a pathway of action, a pathway that involves policies, programs and resources to achieve progress as a society. At My Choices Foundation in India we want women, children and families…

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Health and livelihoods a means to prevent domestic violence

by Mukti Bosco

During the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence that follow the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25 November, we must mobilise people everywhere to bring an end to domestic violence. You can’t isolate poverty from domestic violence or domestic violence from poverty. They go together. We need to look at domestic violence as an aspect of poverty although it occurs in all social classes and goes beyond poverty. One of the main reasons women are excluded…

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Violence against women is in everyone’s backyard. Let’s join together to eliminate it

by Hannah Surabhi

My parents are American, but I was born and grew up in India. India is home, and I love this country. As a woman living in India, however, I’m acutely aware of the gender issues that prevail in this country. I’ve experienced it. My closest friends have experienced it. Too often, women are perceived as being owned by their father, brother or husband; in some households, this means that they’re the last member of a household to be served food and in others, it means that parents only invest in…

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