In focus: Freedom comes in many forms

As we gratefully celebrate freedom in the U.S. this month, we reflect on women and girls in the developing world who are not free to reach their full potential — especially those who do not have access to clean water.

UN Women reports, "In 80 per cent of households with water shortages, women and girls are responsible for water collection. This often means travelling long distances and carrying heavy loads, in some cases with a high risk of violence. The time required can pull girls out of school and leave women with fewer options to earn an income."

When a village gets clean water, girls and women are freed up to pursue their education and business ideas. Thanks to our donors and partners, we can celebrate with millions of them all over the world.

World Vision: Committed to clean water and gender-responsive systems

As the leading nongovernmental provider of clean water in the developing world, World Vision and our partners reached 12.6 million women and girls with access in the last seven years alone! But our commitment doesn't stop there.

A UN Women Issue Brief on gender-responsive water and sanitation systems says, "The disproportionate responsibility women and girls bear as primary users, providers, and managers of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) at the household level is yet to be matched by a commensurate representation in WASH-related decision-making."

World Vision is committed to working with communities to involve women in positions of leadership and decision-making. In the first six months of fiscal year 2023, more than 1,000 women became active in WASH businesses and nearly 2,000 were trained on WASH advocacy.

Through funding from Strong Women Strong World, we've also begun the work of combining our water and economic empowerment efforts — with women at the center. The impact of this work will be measured through a research study with Emory University. We look forward to sharing the results when the evaluation is complete.

Ireen in Malawi with two female role models — Liddah, Malawi WASH coordinator, and Mereena, Malawi district program manager.

Female WASH Community Champions in Zambia celebrate the dedication of a new water system.

Partner spotlight:  "It was incredible."

A letter from Chris Hardy, Golf Fore Africa board member and SWSW Council member her fellow Golf Fore Africa board colleagues on June 22, 2023

I’m on my way to Zambia to meet our Golf Fore Africa donors for a Vision Trip after attending the World Vision WASH Forum in Kenya. This is my second WASH Forum; the first was in 2018 in Rwanda.

In these forums, World Vision brings together their engineers,  WASH leaders from around the world, and key partners including: university researchers, WASH training institutes, P&G, Sesame Street, Golf Fore Africa, and other donors. The purpose is to share experiences, programming, new  technologies and practices, learnings from their global business plan, and to celebrate accomplishments.

It was incredible. At the 2018 forum in Rwanda, we heard mostly about drill bits, pumps, and drilling equipment. This time, we heard about a comprehensive WASH initiative that integrates with all the other sectors (economic empowerment, education, health care, child protection, etc.). World Vision is focused on outcomes, not just outputs — how their WASH work impacts and transforms people's lives.

Chris Hardy visiting with mothers and children in Zambia in June.

Partners represented at the World Vision WASH Forum in Kenya.

Those who attended World Vision's Annual Conference in Anaheim this past spring were shown much of this strategy evolution. A good example was the shift from talking about empowering women to intentionally bringing the attention to women, girls, and people with disabilities — ensuring that their needs are considered and met in every step of the work.

A beautiful example was shared by an engineer on the GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion) panel which I served on. Morris Chidavaenzi from Zimbabwe said, “We have moved from GESI-insensitive to GESI-neutral to GESI-transformed.” This transformation has shown up in the construction of facilities, greater inclusion of women in the decision-making process and water committees, more women on the WASH teams, and researching the impact specifically on women, as well as children and men.

As impressive as their comprehensive programming and impact was the quality of the people in the field and on the WASH team. Highly educated, smart, dedicated, driven by their calling to serve the extreme poor, and inspired by their faith. It truly was a worldwide community of leaders.

Bottom line, I came away with even more confidence that when we ask our friends and family to donate to the World Vision WASH program, their money will be used effectively, efficiently, and sustainably, with accountability and integrity, in programming that is being researched and tested so that the work can be continuously improved. 

Upcoming opportunities

Friday, July 21 | Inaugural Women for Women 24-hour Relay in Santa Barbara, CA

Passionate women from across the country are uniting with a goal of raising $1 million to provide clean water and improved sanitation to rural health clinics. See who's participating in this historic World Vision event here and consider helping them raise the funds to achieve this worthy goal.

Monday–Wednesday,  September 18–20 | 2023 Concordia Annual Summit in New York City

World Vision will be a lead programming partner for the largest forum convening alongside the U.N. General Assembly. Learn more and register here. 

Friday, December 1 | Annual Strong Women Strong World event in New York City

Early-bird registration discount ends July 31. Register here today!

Ways to take action  

Raise awareness | Go shopping at our online SWSW store! We still have some of our new items available: the racerback flowy tank top and a super-soft lightweight fleece zip-up jacket!  

Use your influence | Help us pass the Keeping Girls in School Act in both the House and Senate by taking five minutes to fill out this quick and easy online form. Thank you!

Invest in women and girls | Double your impact! Every $1 given to the Strong Women Strong World™ Where Most Needed Fund will be matched with a $1 donation to programs that empower women and girls, thanks to our generous SWSW partner, Clean Water Here (up to $12 million).

World Vision's Strong Women Strong World™

helps keep girls and women at the center of global community development, advocacy,

and emergency response work. Together, we can continue making a difference

in the lives of women and girls and accelerate communities’ progress out of poverty.

Learn more and get involved at strongwomenstrongworld.org.