There are a plethora of charities around the world that focus on helping women in many ways; however, the most insightful and impactful charities are not just those helping women, but those that are enabling and empowering women to help themselves. As the adage goes: give a woman a fish and feed her for a day but teach a woman to fish and feed her for a lifetime. Women are strong, ambitious, and determined humans who have the power to create incredible change in their own lives and the lives of those around them if only they are given the freedom and access to the tools they need to do so.
1. Girls Not Brides
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of hundreds of civil society organizations around the world spanning more than 90 countries that aims to bring an end to child marriage and grant girls the freedom and opportunity to reach their full potential. Girls Not Brides provides a platform for like-minded organizations to learn from one another and call for the laws, policies, and programs that are needed to ensure a safer, freer, and happier future for millions of girls around the world. They do so by bringing the global issue of child marriage to the world's attention. As well as by exposing the realities of violence and entrapment that many young women face on a daily basis.
2. Women on Wings
Women on Wings focuses on improving the lives of women in rural India by providing business consultancy to social entrepreneurs who create employment for women trying to provide for their families. Through the growth of these businesses, they aim to create one million jobs for women that provide income and economic autonomy, an escape from the cycle of poverty, and hopefully a chance at education to improve the futures of their children. They believe that by investing in one woman, “you invest in a whole family.”
3. Days for Girls
Days for Girls began in 2008 with a visit to an orphanage in the outskirts of Nairobi where girls were being forced to stay in their rooms for days while on their periods due to a lack of feminine hygiene products. This international organization aims to leave no girl in the world without ready access to feminine hygiene products and health knowledge by the year 2022. Not only do they provide access to products through their DfG kits, but they also provide health education and training, so that these women can continue to help future generations in their communities.
4. Friendship Bridge
Friendship Bridge is a non-profit that aims to empower Guatemalan women to find their own solutions to poverty through microfinance and educational programs. By providing small loans and financial education, Friendship Bridge enables women to start, grow, and diversify their own businesses and create lasting change for themselves, their families, and their communities. They make it possible for women to choose their own paths and become the change they want to see in their communities and the world.
