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Support Programs to Delay Early Marriage and Help Girls Some of the girls and young women in "Child Brides" are participating in programs that offer education, health care and mentoring. These services are essential to delay early marriage or to help girls improve their futures if they do marry young. To help girls like those featured in "Child Brides," considering contributing to one or more of the organizations below.
Fundación Nueva Esperanza operates the "School of New Hope" in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, a town in Guatemala most affected by that nation's civil war. Attending school helps girls delay marriage and acquire skills to earn a living. FNE offers girls an effective education, using a learning method specifically designed for rural areas. Girls are given scholarships to attend the school. As a nongovernmental organization, FNE doesn't get any support from the government. Donations and grants allow FNE to pay for scholarships, purchase educational materials and cover teacher salaries. Learn more: http://www.fne.cosmosmaya.info/ [Spanish only]How to Donate Tax deductible donations for the work of the Fundación Nueva Esperanza can be made through Rights Action, a U.S.-based organization. Contribute online at www.rightsaction.org and click on the Groundspring Donate Now button. Write "FNE-Guatemala" in the appropriate donation field. Mail a check payable to "Rights Action" (write "FNE-Guatemala" on memo line): Rights Action Box 50887 Washington, DC 20091 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT 
The International Organization for Women and Development (IOWD) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization staffed entirely by volunteers. IOWD brings doctors, nurses and surgical technicians to the Niamey National Hospital, in the capital of Niger, to perform surgery on women with fistula. Fistula is a devastating condition common in child brides that often destroys their lives - a husband may reject his "damaged" wife, forcing her to leave his home and their village, ultimately becoming an outcaste in society.IOWD has also developed an Outreach Education Program led by IOWD's Medical Director, Dr. Abdoulaye Idrissa, a Nigerien surgeon. Dr. Abdoulaye provides educational sessions to fistula patients living in the Hospital Courtyard and to the people in nearby villages. He talks about how fistula develops, how to prevent it, and how early marriages and subsequent pregnancies can be detrimental to a young girl. People are beginning to listen. Slowly, ever so slowly, the winds of change are blowing softly across Niger. Learn more at: http://www.nigerfistula.org How to Donate: Contribute online through the IOWD website Mail a check to: IOWD Box 616 Rockville Centre, New York 11571-0616 POPULATION COUNCIL 
The Population Council's work with adolescent girls fosters an environment that is supportive of later marriage. These projects offer families the resources and options they need to defer marriage while supporting married girls by addressing the isolation and disempowerment that characterize their situation and their health care needs. In Guatemala, the Council increases girls' social support networks, connects them with role models and mentors, provides professional training, and strengthens their capacity to mobilize resources. The Council also has related projects in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Sudan, and Yemen. Learn more at: www.popcouncil.org/childbride.Your contribution can help the Population Council protect girls at risk for child marriage, HIV infection, early school dropout, and gender-based violence. The Council's research makes a difference by improving girls' lives. How to Donate Contribute online Mail a check (payable to the Population Council) to: Ruth Kalla Ungerer Director of Development Population Council One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza New York, New York 10017 USA Phone: +1 212 339 0515 E-mail: rungerer@popcouncil.org UNICEF 
UNICEF works in more than 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.In Niger, UNICEF works with national authorities and partners to provide children with life-saving basic services to improve their chance of survival and development. To prevent child marriage, UNICEF supports national authorities to establish 18 as the legal age of marriage for girls as well as boys, and ensure its implementation. UNICEF works with traditional and religious chiefs and with civil society and community-level organizations to address attitudes and customs that promote or condone the practice. To foster behavioural change from within communities, UNICEF is organizing communications campaigns to encourage open discussions about the issue to change the acceptable age for marriage. In addition to promoting girls' education, UNICEF is also supporting access to life-saving care and support for girls suffering from fistula. Your contribution can help advance UNICEF's efforts to ensure equality, access to education and freedom from exploitation and discrimination for all children. How to Donate Contribute online Mail a check to: U.S. Fund for UNICEF 333 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016 VEERNI PROJECT 
The Veerni Project provides medical, educational, nutritional and community development programs to empower women and girls in rural Rajasthan, India. The education of girls has become one of the most important activities of the Veerni Project. Education for adolescent girls is scarce and often unavailable because they are kept home to do household chores and fieldwork. To help educate girls, the Veerni project set up several secondary education centers in villages.Veerni operates a girls' boarding school in Jodhpur to give girls access to a formal education system that can lead them to university and jobs. This program allows the girls an uninterrupted education. Many of these girls are child brides. Veerni is trying to keep them in school so they don't have to go live with their husbands until the legal age of 18. Your donation can help educate village girls, provide healthcare and feed hungry children in these poor villages. Learn more at: http://www.veerni.org How to Donate Note: Veerni accepts donations through the Global Foundation for Humanity Contribute online through JustGive Mail a check to: The Veerni Project c/o Global Foundation for Humanity 35 Cunningham Drive Monroe, NY 10950 Phone: (845) 781-4395 UNFPA UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. As a major component of UNFPA's work to uphold the rights of young people, particularly marginalized adolescent girls, UNFPA is actively working to counteract child marriage. In UNFPA's advocacy efforts to raise awareness about child marriage, including its causes and consequences, UNFPA works closely with communities and religious leaders to find ways to discourage and eventually eliminate the practice. UNFPA mobilizes political will and supports multi-faceted strategies at the national and community levels in order to find socio-economic alternatives to child marriage. More broadly, UNFPA's work with parliamentarians, in particular, has been instrumental in enacting laws against child marriage and in increasing the minimum age at marriage for young women. UNFPA also works to prevent and treat obstetric fistula in over 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia and the Arab States regions. Learn more at http://www.unfpa.org/gender/girls.htm Your contribution online can advance UNFPA's efforts to ensure adolescent girls have optimal opportunities to develop their full potential, to avoid child marriage, to build their life skills, and to access life-saving care when needed. How to Donate: Contribute online through the UNFPA website |
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