With today being International Women’s Day, there will be millions of men around the world thinking – “This is so sexist! Where is my International Man’s Day?”
Heck, I used to be one of those people. I used to think that all the affirmative discrimination was sexist, backward and downright wrong. For my male friends nodding your head in agreement, I challenge you to watch the below video and read on.
It has only been in recent years that my stubborn mindset has changed. I happily admit that I am no expert on this issue, but you don’t need to be an expert to realise that things need to change.
I was truly shocked when I heard some of the horrific facts, facts like:
38% of girls in developing countries are married before the age of 18.
These saddening facts really hit home when I volunteered for an education project in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Teachers at the school would regularly have to confront parents planning to marry off girls in year 6 – much against the will of these 12/13 year olds who loved going to school.
For me, there are two reasons for changing this deplorable situation. Firstly, it is a matter of justice – women have the right to participate and access the same opportunities as everyone else.
Secondly, empowering women is one of the most effective tools for improving the lives of families, communities and nations all over the world. Such simple step can have far reaching benefits:
When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.
Every extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 per cent. And for every extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 per cent.
With over 600 million girls living in extreme poverty, 600 million lives lie in the balance. International Women’s Day is a chance to ensure that girls are given the chance to contribute positively to society, rather than having their opportunities limited and their potential extinguished.
Investing in girls will put them in control of their own destiny and allow them to become assets for the world. Keeping them in school and providing them with an education will slow population growth, increase their future income, and subsequently the income of their family and future generations.
On the contrary, if we ignore the situation of girls and women around the world, if we miss the point of International Women’s Day, we will lose the opportunity to create a world of healthier, more educated and wealthier communities; we will condemn girls to early marriage, abuse, illiteracy, unemployment and maternal mortality.
As a man, I believe it is important for all of us, men and women, to honour the true spirit of International Women’s Day by taking action to support girls and women around the world. We can do this in many ways, such as:
Support an organization that provides women with micro-credit and income generating opportunities (eg. Opportunity International), or
But most importantly, help raise awareness about the reality faced by women around the world and the need for change.
I encourage you to share this article and the above video with your friends.
To find out more about Women and Gender, you can check out our info-bank here.
The propensity for us ascribe days to inanimate objects seems endless. Some of the more obscure that we’ve encountered recently include ‘Picnic Day’, ‘World TV Day’ (which coincidentally shares a day with ‘World Hello Day’, one promoting socialising and one well…not), ‘Lefthanders Day’ and everybody’s favourite, ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’.
So it would not be out of the question to, upon hearing the words ‘World Toilet Day’, shake your head, perhaps laugh, and turn the page, or click the link for Laser Hair Solutions in the right side panel (because this site appreciates the plight of the left hander when designing web content).
All jokes aside, World Toilet Day is an internationally recognised and significant promoting a critical issue for 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty. It is the lack of safe toilets. We know the solution and we have the technology to simply, effectively and practically make a difference, all we need is the will.
So the question is… ‘This world toilet day, will you give a crap?’
The shocking reality is 2.5 billion people in the world do not have a safe place to go to the toilet, and 18% of the world’s population are forced to perform public defecation. That amounts to 500,000 tonnes of poo being dumped in the environment every day. It is a horrific statistic and one that highlights the underlying injustice of extreme poverty. We in Australia don’t even have to think about it, in fact we take it as a given that there will be a private and operational toilet available to us at all times. It’s hardly a luxury - or is it?
How would you feel if you didn’t have private place to poo? If you had to do it on a street, by a tree, in front of friends or worse, total strangers? Certainly this poses a greater problem for women and children. For women it becomes an issue of indignity and ultimately health. Opting to hold on all day as opposed to performing open defecation, women reduce their food and water intake to manage which subsequently leads to drastic health issues. Pregnant women are also far more susceptible to infection resulting from poor sanitation.
Horrifically and all too commonly with issues of extreme poverty, this issue affects children the most in the developing world. 1.6 million children die every year from diarrhoea resulting from a lack of clean water and adequate sanitation. It is the root cause of more child deaths than malaria, HIV/AIDS and measles combined. Without increased spending on sanitation these figures cannot and will not drastically improve. It is a senseless waste to continue to let children die for something as simple as a toilet. We need to take action.
Water, sanitation and hygiene are fundamental to sustainable development and ending poverty. Investing in these areas will allow progress on the following Millennium Developing Goals and enable us to…
- End extreme poverty.
- Promote Gender Equality and empower Women,
- Reduce Child Mortality,
- Improve Maternal Health; and
- Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
World Toilet Day is tomorrow, November 19th and acknowledges the need to commit to this issue. One of our partners at The Global Poverty Project, Wateraid will be hosting a BIG SQUAT flash mob in Melbourne’s CBD to raise awareness and the Australian Toilet Organisation is putting on the Sanitation is Dignity: Where would you hide? exhibit.
At the Global Poverty Project we have developed a presentation that educates and informs the community on the challenges and opportunities of extreme poverty and what we can do in an every day sense to make a difference.
For more information on how you can take action, by donating, participating in the squat or lobbying on this issue visit our websites www.globalpovertyproject.com and www.wateraid.org/australia. To learn more about health and extreme poverty, click here.
It is with great excitement that GPP Australia welcomes back d'Arcy Lunn.
d'Arcy (and his bicycle) first joined the project on the launch tour (see his video diary). After heading into central Australia to teach for a term in Indigenous communities, d'Arcy has rejoined the GPP and is piloting the presentations in schools. He has now presented to 15 schools reachingover 1200students, many of whom are undertaking the next step of the pilot program to become advocates in the fight to end extreme poverty.
The structure that has been undertaken for the pilot program for schools goes like this...
1. Host the GPP 1.4 Billion Reasons presentation, specially adapted with an interactive quiz and school segments!
2. Have students choose a part of the presentation that inspires them or they feel passionate about.
3. Encourage students toresearch their topic and learn more about it, with support from GPP to link them to resources and organisations.
4. Armed with their new understanding, ask students to create an innovative way presenting the new knowledge they have learned.
5. Have students identify an audience to present to - peer class, parents, anyone!
6. Provide students with the opportunity to deliver their own presentation and inspireothers so the GPP ripples out and beyond!
Since October d'Arcy has rolled out this pilot through schools in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. From 180 energetic Year 9 boys for 1½ hours, to an intimate social justice club of Year 11's the presentation and its content has been well tested and continually adapted! The testimonials and feedback have been fantastic and we are ready to take the next step.
On top of all of this, we at the Project are trying to find funding for the program for next year. If you know of grants, organisations, etc that would love to see GPP in schools across Australia next year please get in touch!
Very soon we will have documents will be available to map our strategy for the Global Poverty Project for youth and schools for next year and beyond... watch this space and get in touch if you want to know more…to learn more about education and extreme poverty, you can click here.
“LIVING PROOF: Why we are Impatient Optimists” is a story about success. Millions of lives have been saved, improved and empowered because of the investments in global health made by the United States and its partners around the world."
This hour long video shows that when we put our minds to it, we can have dramatic impacts. To find out more about health and extreme poverty, you can click here.
Speech by Bill and Melinda Gates: Why We Are Impatient Optimists
I am sad to say that yesterday was my last day on $1.25 (USD)/day.
I had always said that I would put my health first, and that is the decision that I made yesterday as I began to feel that this challenge had become a hindrance on my day-to-day work and life. I had zero-to-no energy, I have had an onset of the flu, I was getting pain in my eyes whenever I would focus for long periods, I had lost about 5kg's in 3 weeks and I felt that I couldn't think constructively at work... all in all it was time to stop.
Starting this 4 week challenge has ended up being such a worldly decision to make, I had gained so much from it (including lethargy and the flu!) - the concept of $1.25/day really is extreme to me now. I would say that it is almost unlivable. Whilst I could consume enough energy to get through each day; I was unable to consume the food that could provide me with the right nutrients for my health and growth.
I will write a more detailed summary of my diet and nutritional failures later. However, I would happily say that removing 1.4 billion people from extreme poverty and to be living above 1.25/day is only scratching the surface of the challenge that faces our generation. To learn more about how you can get involved in Live Below the Line this year, you can read more here.
