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Thanks to a generous grant from the Kendeda Fund, up to $750,000 in gifts to the Carter Center's Mobilizing Action for Women and Girls initiative will be doubled for a limited time. This important and unique initiative encourages greater efforts by the leaders of major faiths and beliefs to ensure that women everywhere enjoy the same respect and protections accorded to men.
Child marriage is common in countries such as Bangladesh, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, and Niger with one in 10 girls having a child before they turn 15 (Source: World Health Organization).
More than 125 million girls in Africa and the Middle East have undergone the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (Source: World Health Organization). FGM poses severe health risks as well as intense pain.
Misguided scriptural interpretations and cultural traditions allow murder, rape, and physical abuse to be committed with impunity. One third of all women — across the world — will face domestic violence in their lifetime.
Each year, an estimated 160 million babies are aborted or murdered at birth — because they are girls.
More than 600,000 women and girls are sold as slaves across international borders each year. Most are victims of sex trafficking.
Despite these monumental problems, proven solutions exist. With your support, The Carter Center can help faith leaders and secular influencers at all levels enact successful strategies for the protection of women and girls.
Our Strategy
By engaging religious and faith leaders and human rights activists, The Carter Center seeks to transform ideas about child marriage, female genital mutilation, human trafficking, and other forms of child abuse, while promoting equal opportunities for education and other forms of full participation in society for women and girls.
Global Focus: Each year in Atlanta, The Carter Center hosts a Human Rights Defenders Forum to convene influential religious scholars and clergy from Africa, the Middle East, and other regions, alongside scholars, human rights activists, and NGO leaders. Participants devise clear action steps to bring back to their networks and communities for implementation.
Regional Focus: In December 2015, in Accra, Ghana, The Carter Center will lead the Mobilizing Action for Women and Girls in West Africa Forum to catalyze action in partnership with regional and local organizations. This event initiates a frank discussion, the first of its kind, with influential faith leaders and activists addressing issues specific to Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.
Internet-Driven Action: The "Forum on Women, Religion, Violence & Power" holds roundtable discussions for human rights defenders around the world and it is open to the public. You're invited to join discussions and take away case studies that can help your own community.
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