Zonta International & UNICEF USA
Zonta International and UNICEF USA have been in close partnership since 1972, helping UNICEF advance the status of women and children worldwide through education, health and protection services. You can learn more about Zonta’s history of support here.
Since 2016, Zonta has supported Let Us Learn in Madagascar, a program that creates opportunities for vulnerable and excluded girls to realize their right to an education in a secure and protective environment. The program is focused on three equity pillars: reaching out-of-school children, expanding girls’ education and improving quality outcomes for learners. In the 2016-2018 biennium, over 13,000 girls benefitted from this program and over 600 teachers were trained. Zonta continues to support this program in the 2018-2020 biennium.
Zonta International has also committed US$2,000,000 to support the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage in 12 countries: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
Worldwide, almost 650 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday and an estimated 280 million more girls are at risk of becoming brides. If current trends continue, the number of girls and women married as children will reach nearly 1 billion by 2030. Zonta International’s commitment to this program will enable UNICEF and UNFPA to implement activities with the following five outcomes, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that girls fully enjoy their childhood free from the risk of child marriage:
- Adolescent girls at risk of or affected by child marriage are better able to express and exercise their choices.
- Households demonstrate positive attitudes and behaviors toward investing in and supporting adolescent girls.
- Relevant sectoral systems deliver quality and cost-effective services that meet the needs of adolescent girls
- National laws, policy framework and mechanisms to protect and promote adolescent girls’ rights are in line with international standards and properly resourced.
- Governments and partners within and across countries support the generation and use of robust data and evidence to inform policy and programing, track progress and document lessons.
Together, Zonta International and UNICEF USA are positively impacting tens of thousands of women and girls, building brighter, safer and healthier futures.
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