Throughout the world, on March 8, women celebrate International Women's Day. This day commemorate the challenges and struggles women have to face to realize their human rights.
OWDEB, one of our grantees in Bangladesh wrote to us and sent us photos from their celebration. Each year, to honor the day OWDEB organizes a rally and march in Chittagong to support sending girls to school by providing the required uniforms the girls need to go to school.
OWDEB's Chief Executive, Shyamoli Mazumder email us about the event and writes:
Poor mothers are our participants, a mixed awareness and cultural activity keeping the theme for Women and girls child we are observe this day gloriously. At the same time we hope that our fight for equal property rights will [be successful] in this year in Bangladesh, for which we are working from 1995 from our OWDEB through various campaign. It will help us to promote and protect our women's human rights here more effectively.
Fresh from our visit to Bangladesh, comes some good news from the Association for Community Development (ACD). ACD and its founder, Salima Sarwar* have both been selected to receive the UN-Habitat Award for Gender and Rights-Responsive Sustainable Cities in Asia and the Pacific.
The award acknowledges excellence and innovation in the creation and implementation of either programs or policies in urban communities and cities throughout Asia and the Pacific. And this was certainly borne out by what we saw.
Angori, 15 dropped out of school as her family needed her to earn and income. She became involved with ACD 12 months ago and attended life-skills based education, and training on vegetable cultivation. After her training and with the help of ACD, Angori took a small loan of $29 to plant guava trees.
Her friends supported her and helped her care and water the trees. Angori travels to market about one hour away to sell the guava fruit, this income has helped her family immensely and Angori hopes that one day soon she’ll be able to return to her studies.
It is this type of work that creates lasting solutions to poverty in communities around the world. IDEX congratulates Salimar Sarwar and ACD for receiving the UN-Habitat Award.
*Photo courtesy of Jan Stürmann.
Labels: ACD, Bangladesh