Supporting Women and Girls Across the Globe

Proud to Support ActionAid and Women and Girls Across the Globe

May 30, 2022

For me, being an entrepreneur and businessman has always involved giving back to both the local and global communities.

Charity work is firmly ingrained in both my company culture and personal life. Whether UK-based like The Prince’s Trust or a global charity like ActionAid, I’m proud to support the inspiring work of these organisations.

I think it’s important that all business owners promote a strong sense of corporate social responsibility across their business and use their influence and platform to make the world a better place. That’s why I became part of ActionAid’s Change Makers Club in 2014. This amazing charity focuses on building more schools in Ethiopia and boosting education for more than 3,000 children, especially women and girls.

To date, myself and my businesses have donated around £140,000 to ActionAid, helping to support their work building schools in Ethiopia, as well as their humanitarian work across the Horn of Africa and most recently, in Ukraine. I’d like to share with you more details about the amazing work of this truly inspiring charity.

Building New Schools in Ethiopia

The Change Makers Club and ActionAid have built 12 new classrooms in Gola, Qasha and Dakin. Each of these schools is fully furnished with a stocked library, as well as a toilet block and water well. In total, these 12 schools have the capacity to accommodate 2,868 students. The new facilities and investment in education are proving effective. In the Gola school:

The student drop-out rate has decreased by 53%
The number of children having to repeat a year has decreased by 73%
There’s been a 18.5% increase in students passing their grade 8 national exam (end of primary school exam)
For the first time ever, the number of girls enrolled is higher than boys

Beyond this, ActionAid is also supporting the wider community, especially women. 657 women are currently members of the savings and credit cooperatives. The number of women who have accessed loans has also increased from 30 to 219, with women using seed funding to start businesses.

Providing humanitarian aid in the Horn of Africa

The horn of Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record due to climate change. Around 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are facing severe hunger. ActionAid is providing vital support to communities during this intense period of drought and famine.

Ethiopia

It’s estimated that over 6.4 million people will need food support in 2022. Drought, ongoing conflict, desert locusts and Covid-19 have all had an impact on the country. Livestock has been particularly affected, with 260,000 livestock deaths due to a lack of food and water between November 2021 to January 2022.

ActionAid aims to reach 50,0000 people across Ethiopia, providing food, water, livestock feed, cash support and dignity kits. Together with their partner, Rift Valley, they’ve already provided water rationing support to 25,780 people in Oromia state. They’re also providing disaster management and climate adaptation training to women’s organisations to empower them to lead the response, as well as setting up safe spaces for survivors of gender-based violence.

Kenya

Climate change means that rainfall levels are 60% below what was expected. This is not only causing water shortages but also causing livestock to die at an alarming rate. 17 of Kenya’s 24 counties have been affected, particularly areas like Garissa where people need the rainfall to support farming activities. 2.8 million people are currently in need of humanitarian support, with 750,000 children at risk of malnutrition.

ActionAid has already provided 300 people (279 women) with cash transfers to buy essential supplies. The charity is also supporting Kenya with emergency food relief, distributing water storage tanks, and improving access and uptake of gender-vase violence services.

Somaliland

The drought in Somaliland is causing severe hunger and water shortages. It’s estimated that 1.2 million people will be affected by the consequences of this extreme weather. The cost of water has increased from $1 to $5 per 200 litres and is now unaffordable for many families. Previously ActionAid work has left families better able to survive the droughts but hundreds of thousands of people are still in need of support.

The organisation has already distributed food to 6,942 households in Togdheer and Sanaag regions and will continue to support the country by providing multi-purpose cash transfers, distributing dignity kits to women and girls, strengthening protections against gender-based violence and supporting women-led disaster committees and organisations.

Supporting Ukrainian Refugees

The conflict in Ukraine has caused two million people to flee their homes, with many refugees journeying on foot to cross the border into neighbouring countries including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova. Around two-thirds of these refugees are women and girls, who could be at risk of abuse, gender-based violence and exploitation.

ActionAid is a member of the Disasters Emergencies Committee (DEC). DEC charities and partners are currently in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, providing support for people’s immediate needs including:

Helping to restore water supply to health facilities and setting up water points in communities
Providing psychosocial support and psychological first aid
Distributing in-kind and cash transfers to help people buy food
Providing families with hygiene kits, including period supplies for women and girls
Offering winter packages, including blankets, shoes and clothing to help cope with freezing temperatures