‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!’

Photo courtesy of AJ Heath

Along with the hashtag #MakeItHappen, the phrase ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!' is the 2015 theme for International Women’s Day, celebrated globally on 8 March each year. 

2015 will highlight the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, signed by 189 governments 20 years ago, which has set the agenda for realising women’s rights. The platform envisions a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics, getting an education, having an income, and living in societies free from violence and discrimination.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says "To be truly transformative, the post-2015 development agenda must prioritise gender equality and women’s empowerment. The world will never realise 100 per cent of its goals if 50 per cent of its people cannot realise their full potential."

Children on the Edge is a rights based organisation. We believe in doing everything we can to release the potential of each girl we work with, and as children benefit most from the stability of their parents, our work naturally extends to empowering women in the wider community as well. 

As the theme of this year describes, we invite you to ‘Picture it’ by reading some examples about how our current work is making small steps towards gender equality. 

‘Picture it’ 1:  Encouraging small business start-ups for women in Uganda

‘Picture it’ 2: Changing the future for girls in Bangladesh

‘Picture it’ 3: Preventing Child marriage  -  a mother’s perspective 

‘Picture it’ 4: 
Female teachers in Bangladesh