Apply for an International Grant
Step 2 of 3: INTERNATIONAL Programmes
Women and Girls
-
Why women and girls?
- Although some gains have been made, there is still much to be done to ensure all the commitments made for women and girls across the world, and particularly Africa, over the last 25 years, are achieved.
- 70% of the world’s poorest people are women; they own only 1% of the world’s property
- 55% of those not enrolled in school are girls, 66% of illiterate people are women and nearly 50% of all sexual assaults worldwide are against girls aged 15 years or younger.
- Domestic violence is the largest cause of women’s injury and death, leading to more deaths and disability among women aged 15-44 than malaria, war, traffic accidents, and cancer.
- It is estimated that 1 in 3 women in Africa experiences violence in the home.
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that female genital mutilation (FGM) has affected as many as 138 million women and girls in Africa, and the numbers continue to rise at a rate of approximately 2 million per year.
- 27% of girls aged 15-19 in sub Saharan Africa have been married and 28% have given birth by age 18.
The lack of women’s role in decision-making in community affairs and local institutions remains a challenge, but is a necessary step towards improving political representation. Women in Africa are generally excluded from decision-making in the home, in communities and society, and they represent only a 17% share of parliamentary seats across Africa.
-
Our Goal
Our goal is to contribute to a transformation in the status and lives of women and girls in Africa so that they can realise their rights and full potential, and become equal and respected members of families, communities and society.
-
How we can contribute to change
Comic Relief believes that the lives and status of women and girls can be transformed by:
- Taking a life-cycle approach and addressing needs and priorities from girlhood, young adulthood, through to womanhood and old age.
- Understanding and addressing the rights of women and girls.
- Tackling the culture of impunity at the family, community and societal level that results in women and girls being vulnerable to incidences, and the impact of, violence, abuse and harmful traditional practices.
- Supporting women and girls whose lives we seek to change as the best people to drive the work and supporting women and girls to represent their own agendas, including representative organisations.
We want our support to address change at both the practical and structural levels and to bring about positive and enduring changes. We believe that for work to be successful, it must understand and address gender inequalities by working with both women and girls and men and boys at all levels, and that supporting girls and women to transform their lives will lead to positive changes in the lives of their families and communities, and ultimately, in society, thus breaking the cycle of poverty, exploitation and abuse.
-
Outcomes
Comic Relief wants to know that the projects we fund are bringing about changes in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people. We call these changes programme level outcomes, and define them as the ‘intended or unintended effects or changes to people’s lives that happen as a result of the project or organisation’s activities’.
During the period covered by this strategy, we anticipate that the lives of women and girls will be transformed as follows:
- Improvements in girls’ access to and attainment in basic education and women’s access to and attainment in adult literacy, leading to improvements in women and girls’ confidence, self-worth and marketable skills.
- Improvements in women’s ownership and management of property and productive assets and the promotion of strategies that advance the economic and social rights of women in the employment sector, so that they have better control over their lives and their prospects.
- An improved customary and civil environment that promotes and enforces women and girls’ safety, together with improved support and services available to those at risk of and affected by gender based violence, resulting in increased safety and protection of women and girls.
- Increased representation of, and accountability towards, women and girls in state, customary and civic bodies leading to changes in policies and practices that contribute to improvements in the quality of life of women and girls.
-
Where we will fund
The Women and Girls programme will focus on any country or region in Africa.
-
Who we will fund
The overall aim is to support women and girls. Within this, we expect projects to give priority to:
- Girls who are attending or who are not in school and women who’ve missed out on education; women and girls in the formal and informal employment sector; women and girls at risk of and survivors of domestic and sexual violence or gender based violence including harmful traditional practices; and women and girls with the potential to take on roles of leadership and decision-making or who already occupy such positions but could be supported in making an even greater impact.
- Priority will be given to work with African organisations that are led and managed by women as we believe that supporting women and girls whose lives we seek to change is the best way to ensure that they are better able to represent agendas and implement work to transform their lives and the lives of their families and communities.