World Food Program USA Announces Fall 2020 Grantees of the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund
World Food Program USA Announces Fall 2020 Grantees of the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund
WASHINGTON, DC (October 16, 2020) – World Food Program USA names two new grantees of the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund for Girls’ Education, which aims to end inequality that drives hunger by empowering women and girls with the knowledge, training and leaderships skills they need for personal and economic success. Her Future Coalition and Speak Up for the Poor will receive grants to expand their programs and make an even greater impact on the lives of the women and girls they serve. Women and girls make up the majority of the world’s hungry people, largely because they have unequal access to education and resources. The socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 are pushing millions more into food insecurity.
Her Future Coalition
Located in India, Her Future Coalition aims to provide positive change in the lives of girls who have survived, or are at high risk of, gender-based violence. It provides education, training, safe shelter and a supportive community in efforts to break the cycle of poverty by enabling girls to reach a self-sufficient future.
When it began in 2005, Her Future Coalition focused solely on supporting survivors of human trafficking. It has since broadened its scope of work to include girls suffering from all types of gender-based violence. The nonprofit serves girls through shelters in vulnerable areas of Mumbai and Kolkata, and recently launched three Red Light Resource Centers that provide childcare to mothers who work in parts of the city known as red-light areas.
With the grant from the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund, Her Future Coalition will launch a new project in Kolkata aimed at reaching girls in the city’s red-light areas and beyond. The project will offer the girls computer training, intensive English instruction, and entrepreneurship and business skills training.
“This grant could not have come at a better time,” says Sarah Symons, Her Future Coalition founder and executive director. “It will allow us to provide computer training to hundreds of girls in red-light areas, slums and rescue shelters of Kolkata, and it is more critical than ever for these girls to be able to continue their education and build a future. The project will enable survivors and girls at high risk for gender violence to permanently break the cycle of poverty and exploitation.”
Speak Up for the Poor
Speak Up for the Poor (Speak Up) is a nonprofit in Bangladesh that aims to create a new reality for girls in poverty by transforming them into empowered community leaders.
As part of its mission, Speak Up launched its Girls Education Program (GEP) in 2012 to help keep girls in school and break the cycle of poverty. It now provides 1,405 girls in 30 villages across Khulna Division, Bangladesh, with life-changing education.
Keeping girls in school is critical everywhere, but it is especially critical in Bangladesh where nearly 60 percent of girls are forced into illegal child marriages. When girls marry young and have children, they are less likely to stay in school.
Thanks to the grant from the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund, Speak Up will launch The Parent Meetings, a project designed to educate the parents of girls on the value of keeping girls in school and out of child marriages. Through the project, Speak Up will hold monthly community meetings in the local villages where GEP operates. The grant will also enable Speak Up to expand its GEP program.
“Speak Up for the Poor is honored and grateful to receive a grant from the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund for Girls’ Education,” said Troy Anderson, Speak Up founder and international director. “With this funding, we will continue to educate hundreds of parents in rural Bangladesh on the importance of keeping their daughters in school. Educating and empowering girls in poverty is the best investment we can make in our global future – and Speak Up is thrilled to have the support of the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund as we continue this important work.”
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About World Food Program USA
World Food Program USA (WFP USA) is the recognized leader in America’s pursuit to end global hunger, inspiring citizens to do everything in their power to create a zero-hunger world. We work with U.S. policymakers, corporations, foundations and individuals to generate financial and in-kind resources for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to feed families in need around the world and to develop policies necessary to alleviate global hunger. To learn more about our mission, please visit us at www.wfpusa.org.
About the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund for Girls’ Education
After winning the World Food Prize in 2003, Catherine Bertini, the former executive director for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), recognized an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for women’s empowerment. Bertini used her winnings to establish the Catherine Bertini Trust Fund for Girls’ Education, a fund that supports innovative grassroots initiatives around the globe that boost access to training and educational opportunities for girls.
Media Contact:
Toula Athas, Director, Communications, World Food Program USA
tathas@wfpusa.org, 202.627.3940
