International Women's Day 2019: How Children on the Edge are working to ‘Better the Balance’

Better the balance, better the world. This is the theme for this years International Women’s Day on Friday 8th March and we couldn’t agree more.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women - while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender balance.

To help create safe places for vulnerable children around the world, we empower women (and men) to realise their rights. We work with the community as a whole, rather than providing stand alone children's services. Communities have a right to build protective environments for their own children, and over the years we have seen that this ownership is the key to lasting change.

You’ll see this as a core aspect of all our programmes (see below for some examples). We work with so many inspiring women every day; through our partner organisations and in the communities we support.  All these women are working to 'better the balance' and you’ll see us celebrating their achievements all year long if you follow our Latest Stories or sign up to our monthly email updates.​

Uganda

India / Nepal border

In Uganda, we train women to join our Child Protection Teams; who work together with their communities to make them safer for children. The teams deliver workshops on family planning, women’s rights and domestic abuse in the slum communities they live in. The majority of our small business loans administered by these teams in Uganda go to women who, as a result, are able to build a solid income and afford to send their children to school.

On the India / Nepal border, the precedent is for young girls to follow their mothers into prostitution. We run two training centres with our partners, offering basic education. By ensuring children realise their value and rights as children, the hope is that young girls will explore alternative options to the sex trade. Our sewing skills programme currently provides training to 30 adolescent girls, offering a critical way out of prostitution for 30 women each year.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, children in the slum communities of Cox’s Bazar struggle to access education, as their families often need them to contribute an income to the household. Child marriage is prevalent; limiting opportunities for women and girls in the future. Our Learning Centres ensure flexible access to education, with equal opportunities for girls. Most of our teachers are women, and express their role changes perspectives in the community. Women are increasingly independent, their opinions matter, and they take part in more decision making within the community.

India

In Patna, India, crippling discrimination and abuse means many Dalit women living in poverty in India aren’t aware of the services that are available to them. We run 50 Women’s Groups to empower women to claim their rights. The groups offer meetings and workshops which talk about health issues, governments schemes and free services available for poor women. We help these women to access vital medical services, like maternity care, by accompanying them to the hospital, or assisting with filling in the correct paperwork. As a result women have started to see incredible change in their lives; they often go on to support other women realise their rights and educate their wider communities. 

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Last year's theme on International Women’s Day, was 'Press for Progress'. Since then we have been supporting our partners to do just this, ready to celebrate their achievements this year, with the theme ‘Balance for better’. 

​You can read some of the amazing positive change stories from India here.

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