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ABOUT GIRLS' EDUCATION:
- How come so many girls don't go to school?
Why is gender parity and equality in education so important?
- Are things improving in developing countries?
- Why are you so focused on girls instead of girls AND boys?
- Girls have equal access to public education in Canada, right?
- What about the Tsunami stricken areas around the Indian Ocean and the areas struck by Katrina?
ABOUT GIVE GIRLS A CHANCE (GGAC):
ABOUT RAISING MONEY AND DONATING:
- What is the connection between GGAC and running?
- How can I raise money for Give Girls A Chance when I run? How can I support a runner?
- I believe in supporting girls' education. There are other funds that support education, why should I give to Give Girls A Chance?
- How can I donate to Give Girls A Chance?
ABOUT GIRLS' EDUCATION
Q. How come so many girls don't go to school?
A. Two-thirds of children who don't go to school are girls. (UNESCO) The reasons are many. In poor countries, government and parents may not be able to afford schooling. Many girls leave school to earn money for their families. Their chores, like fetching water, may take so much time there is little room left to squeeze in classes. Maybe the classroom environment is unwelcoming. Maybe the walking route to school is too long or fraught with danger. A common reason is the burden of caring for siblings after parents have died in war or of disease, like AIDS. Girls who become mothers often do not have the support to continue in school. Before the Taliban regime was ousted in Afghanistan, girls were simply not permitted to attend school. Some cultures still frown on giving girls a chance.
Q. Why is gender parity and equality in education so important?
A. It is a basic human right for children to go to school. Beyond that, "In country after country, educating girls yields spectacular social benefits for the current generation and those to come. An educated girls tends to marry later and have fewer children. The children she does have will be more likely to survive; they will be better nourished and better educated. She will be more productive at home and better paid in the workplace. She will be better able to protect herself against HIV/AIDS and to assume a more active role in social, economic and political decision-making throughout her life." (UNICEF The State of the World's Children 2005)
2005 was supposed to be a watershed for girls' education. This was the target year for the Millennium Development Goals that dealt with eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education.
According to the World Bank, "educating women and giving them equal rights is important for many reasons:
- It increases their productivity, raising output and reducing poverty.
- It promotes gender equality, within households and removes constraints on women's decision making this reducing fertility rates and improving maternal health.
- Educated women do a better job caring for children, increasing children's chances of surviving to become healthier and better educated.
We recommend these web sites if you would like more background about the issues:
Q. Are things improving in developing countries?
A. Yes, but too slowly. Of the 150 million children aged 6-11 who don't attend school, over 90 million are girls. Of the world's 876 million illiterate people over 15 years two-thirds are women.
The World Bank has identified education of girls as the key to effective development, saying countries that promote women's rights and increase their access to schooling have lower poverty rates, healthier populations, faster economic growth and less corruption than countries that do not.
Although many countries around the world have made significant progress towards gender parity at primary and secondary levels over the past decade, large gaps remain, particularly in the Arab States, sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. Girls accounted for 57% of the out-of-school children of primary school age worldwide in substantially lower then boys (a gender parity index below 0.97) in seventy-one out of 175 countries at primary level. Gender disparities become more extreme at secondary level and in higher education. Of eighty-three developing countries with data, half have achieved gender parity at primary level, fewer than one-fifth at secondary and only four at tertiary. Almost two-thirds of the world's adult illiterates (64%) are women." (UNESCO: The 2005 Report: Education for All, The Quality Imperative)
Q. Why are you so focused on girls instead of girls and boys?
A. Give Girls A Chance support Universal Primary Education (UPE). Girls need extra help. They account for 57% of the world's children not attending school and more than 60% in the Arab States and South and West Asia. Girls' participation in primary education remains substantially lower than boys' in seventy-one out of 175 countries. With only three exceptions, all the countries with a gender parity index below 0.90 are in sub-Saharan Africa (notably West Africa), the Arab States and South and West Asia.
"Getting girls into school means the difference between life and death for millions. Babies born to mother without formal education are at least twice as likely to suffer from malnutrition, or die before the age of five, than those babies born to mothers who completed primary school. Even one or two years of schooling for mothers cuts child deaths by 15 per cent. Women's education does more to reduce malnutrition than anything else, including increased food availability. It is one of the most effective ways to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS." (A Fair Chance- ATTAINING GENDER EQUALITY IN BASIC EDUCATION BY 2005)
Q. Girls have equal access to public education in Canada, right?
A. That's true. Canada spends 5.5% GDP on education, and achieves high standards of educational quality according to international measures. Women students are charging through law and medical school in unprecedented numbers. It's a rosy picture, until you consider the high drop out rates of two student groups in particular: aboriginal girls and teen moms.
Aboriginal girls in Canada are 16 per cent less likely to complete high school and 20 per cent less likely to complete university than non-Aboriginal girls. In 1998 in Canada, 64 per cent of young women aged 22-24 with dependent children left high school before graduating, compared to 28 per cent of young men aged 22.24 with children. Less than 1 per cent of Canadian children live with teenage mothers, but these children are at a particularly high risk of growing up in poverty.
That is why 50% of donations to Give Girls A Chance go to Canadian educational projects.
Q. What about the Tsunami stricken areas around the Indian Ocean and the areas struck by Katrina?
A. The countries reeling from the devastation are among those who have more or less achieved gender parity in education, which is a hopeful sign for the recovery of the region. Lots of schools need to be rebuilt, and we are encouraged by the outpouring of world support for humanitarian efforts.
Just after Katrina we were donated seven spaces in at Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. We decided to use these for senior students who would be going to university the following year. We worked with school boards and the Marine Corps who were in charge of relocating families and we didn’t have any takers. These families had lost so many members that they could not be separated again.
ABOUT GIVE GIRLS A CHANCE (GGAC)
Q. How do you select which projects to fund?
A. We are focused on female education, which can include primary, secondary, vocational, higher and non-formal education, and literacy. GGAC does not solicit applications, but will, however, consider the recommendations of our financial donors and advisory board members.
Q. What is the link between Give Girls A Chance and the Tides Canada Fund?
A. Give Girls A Chance, a volunteer organization, is a Fund of Tides Canada Foundation, a national public foundation based in Vancouver and Toronto. Tides is dedicated to helping donors invest wisely in charitable initiatives that match their interests, especially in support for social justice and environmental issues. To learn more, visit:
Tides Canada Foundation .
ABOUT RAISING MONEY AND DONATING
Q. What is the connection between GGAC and running?
A. Many of the original Board Members were talked into running a marathon and while training, decided that their efforts should benefit a worthy cause and they selected to support Give Girls A Chance (GGAC). Running Room Magazine regularly publishes articles about GGAC. We raise money in many ways, but traditionally family and friends supporting runners for GGAC has been one of our main sources of funding.
Q. How can I raise money for Give Girls A Chance when I run? How can I support a runner?
A. “Runners & Walkers for GGAC” is a web site that lets runners/walkers register, set up their own page and telling people where and why they are running. From here they can send e-mails to people requesting their support. The supporters in turn donate by credit card and receive an immediate tax receipt. To support a runner, go to the same site:
Runners & Walkers for Give Girls A Chance
Q. I believe in supporting girls’ education. There are other funds that support education, why should I give to Give Girls A Chance?
A. Grants made by Give Girls A Chance go directly to proven grassroots projects that educate girls and young women. We follow up and find out who has benefited from our donations and exactly how the money was used. With the help of Tides Canada, we research each project and find out where we can make the biggest difference. There are NGOs who are interested in education, but your money could be spread wide and thin and not directly at women’s education.
Q. How can I donate to the Give Girls A Chance Fund?
1. To donate online with your Credit Card, visit GGAC secure donation page.
Donation Page
This site also has the options to make a donation 'in tribute' or 'in memory' of someone.
2. To support by cheque, make cheques payable to:
Tides Canada Foundation - GGAC
(see address below)
All cheques for $25.00 or more will receive a charitable tax receipt.
3. If you normally donate at work to the United Way, direct your giving to Give Girls a Chance by noting the following on the back of the cheque:
Please direct to:
Tides Canada Foundation, Give Girls A Chance Fund
Suite 680, 220 Cambie St.,
Vancouver, B.C., V6B 2M9
Charitable Number: BN86894 7797 RR0001
Contact us if you have any other questions.
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