Month: August 2016

The 25th of every month is #orange day — promoting awareness and prevention of violence against women and girls.

Action Plan for Orange Day, 25 August 2016: Safe and secure working environments for women and girls
 

“Break the silence. When you witness violence against women and girls, do not sit back. Act.”

~ Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
 

The United Nations Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women has proclaimed the 25th day of each month as “Orange Day,” a day to raise awareness and take action to end violence against women and girls. As a bright optimistic colour, orange represents a future free from violence against women and girls, for the UNiTE campaign. Orange Day calls upon activists, governments and UN partners to mobilize people and highlight issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls, not only once a year on 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women), but every month.

Violence against women and girls is a grave violation of human rights. Its impact ranges from immediate to long-term multiple physical, sexual and mental consequences for women and girls, including death. It negatively affects women’s general well-being and prevents women from fully participating in society. Violence not only has negative consequences for women but also their families, the community and the country at large. It has tremendous costs, from greater health care and legal expenses and losses in productivity, impacting national budgets and overall development.
 
Decades of mobilizing by civil society and women’s movements have put ending gender-based violence high on national and international agendas. An unprecedented number of countries have laws against domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of violence. Challenges remain however in implementing these laws, limiting women and girls’ access to safety and justice. Not enough is done to prevent violence, and when it does occur, it often goes unpunished.
– See more.

 Orange your work place! As long as your employer agrees, wear orange to work or
university and encourage your colleagues to do the same to show your support for zero
tolerance of violence against women and girls in the work place.
 Find out what policies are in place at your work place or university. Do they fulfill the
recommendations in the Women’s Empowerment Principles? If there are gaps, what
steps can be taken?
 If you are in the business community, find out if your company supports the Women’s
Empowerment Principles!
 Learn from the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women’s guidelines on
drafting legislation on workplace sexual harassment, and share with policy makers
(http://www.unwomen.org/)

Read more about how YOU can help ROWAN with our education and training to break this cycle of violence against women and girls.

Time to highlight another savings group! We are so grateful to God for the evidence of His goodness through these programs. Read about how people’s lives have been drastically impacted in a matter of a few years.

Yesu Amala Village Savings group – Bunalwenyi Zone

 
This savings group began in 2013, with a a membership of 29 members. Starting with 2,000 Uganda shillings as their minimum saving amount and 10,000 as the maximum, they were able to build that number to collect 2 million shillings. The following year, in 2014 they collected a revenue of 2.7 million, while in 2015, they managed to harvest 3 million shillings. The savings continue to grow and abound!

For 2016 they have a target of 3.5 million shillings. The cumulative effect of these savings over the years has resulted in:

•  Children being educated
• Land being purchased
• Proper nutrition and medication being provided

These achievements are amazing and people keep joining the savings group because they want to be a part of the excitement. We’d love to have YOU join us in this venture as well — learn more about our micro-enterprise programs here!

Youth Leading Sustainability is the theme of International Youth Day 2016!

This year, ‪#‎YouthDay‬ focuses on the leading role of young people in achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production. Be part of these efforts in achieving the ‪#‎GlobalGoals‬ and celebrate International Youth Day!
Learn more here.

“Young people are not only our future — they are our present. Our planet has never been so young, with 1.8 billion young women and men. They are the most connected, the most outspoken and the most open-minded generation the world has ever seen. They are powerful agents of positive change, essential to taking forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is not enough to hope for a better tomorrow — we must act now. Change is underway, and millions of citizens are already transforming the way we produce, consume, behave and communicate…
 
Optimism and confidence do not mean we minimize the challenges ahead. Most young people live today in least developed countries, and shoulder the heaviest burden of conflicts and poverty. There can be no sustainable development if they remain on the side-lines, and I call upon all Member States and UNESCO partners to support their initiatives, to give them voice, to let them grow, to shape together the future of dignity that we are building today.”
~Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO
 

International Youth Day is on 12 August! Events to celebrate ‪#‎YouthDay‬ will take place all over the world and will recognize the importance of youth efforts, collaboration and participation in the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. (https://www.facebook.com/UN4Youth/)

 
ROWAN has always been focused on sustainability and educating and empowering individuals to support themselves and their families. We are in process of working to maintain staff salaries in a sustainable way and working towards goals to help our villagers provide for themselves. Currently, we even have one of our young people participating in training to teach sustainability in farming crops…which he will then share with the community. Educating our youth is a big part of this initiative — and how we equip them to be change agents in their country!
 

Won’t you pray with us and partner together in this mission to raise our youth to be leaders in sustainability? There are ways each and every person can get involved in promoting sustainability through consumption and production. Whether you are on your couch at home, or desire to change your community and the world through networking in your neighborhood, this has some great ideas to implement into your daily life!
 
So whatever avenue you choose, let’s celebrate International Youth Day together!

One more thing: share with us about a young person in your life who inspires you by commenting below.

 
Help us educate our youth!