Building leadership through the Power to Change Fund
The Power to Change Fund is a permanent fund of the World YWCA, that endows leadership development programs for women and girls worldwide. A number of exciting and empowering projects have been successfully developed since April 2009, when the Fund policy began to allow direct grant-making to YWCA member associations. Three such projects are those carried out in Georgia, Argentina and Solomon Islands.
Information services enable community recovery in Georgia
The war in Georgia in 2008 left many people homeless and several refugee camps were set up in the capital, Tbilisi. Although the camps provide basic shelter, they do not provide the population with proper social and material support and it has been a challenge for people to move out of the camps back into society.
The YWCA of Georgia has organised a team of 30 young people to conduct a survey to determine the needs of the local communities. A database containing information on gender, age, education, employment and place of origin of over 100 women refugees and their families is being developed.
English language and computer classes are organised twice a week and YWCA volunteers also regularly attend the classes and offer the women further information on human rights, domestic violence, women’s rights and marital law. The YWCA of Georgia has also provided the women with clothes, books and other basic household items.
Improving the health of women and girls in Argentina
Approximately 50% of the population in Argentina lacks basic social and health services. Typically, women are the most affected by this as they usually do not seek out medical care for themselves.
The YWCAs of Buenos Aires, Rosaria and Formosa have recently launched a joint project that aims to offer capacity building through local and sustainable actions on health, prevention and individual care. With the help of volunteers, over 1,000 women, 50% of which are young women, will receive training in physical, mental and nutritional health; early detection of cancer; family planning; and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV and AIDS. The women will also receive personal hygiene kits, condoms, and other contraceptives as prescribed by a doctor.
The women participating in the project will share the information and skills with their husbands, children and wider communities and it is estimated that the project will thus reach approximately 5,300 people.
Women “Rise up” in the Solomon Islands
The YWCA of Solomon Islands has been offering exciting programmes in leadership, human rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The activities target marginalised women and young women and offer leadership and capacity building training on health, microfinance, politics, decision-making, gender based violence, media, networking and communication.
One such programme is the Rise Up! Leadership Programme where 19 young women leaders completed workshops aimed at building their capacity to bring positive social change to their communities. The workshops integrated a variety of creative and innovative teaching methods, including drama, art, video, guest speakers and games. In the words of the YWCA of Solomon Islands General Secretary, “like its women members, the YWCA is powerful, passionate and energetic and it is growing every day and we are doing more to achieve our goal of creating safe spaces for women to be leaders of change.”
The Power to Change Fund is making a difference. It is bringing change to the lives of individual women, to girls and to their families. It offers them a chance to learn and grow, and to feel empowered to make the right choices. It is a fund which is available when YWCAs are in greatest need and it leverages resources from other organisations. The Power to Change fund also makes the YWCAs stand tall, since when they talk to partners they can do so with confidence. It builds the capacity of individual women as leaders and of YWCAs as agents of change.
