- Area:
- countries outside the UK
UK-wide
- Programme:
- International Communities
- Release date:
- 1 10 2012
A project aimed at reducing sexual violence against women in Bolivia, a scheme to improve access to healthcare for women and children in Kenya and an initiative to transform the lives of widowed genocide survivors in Rwanda are today sharing over £1 million from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).
The funding comes from BIG’s International Communities programme, which supports projects tackling the causes of poverty and deprivation and the impact they have on people’s lives.
Close to 13,500 women and 12,200 children living in settled and nomadic communities will be helped by African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) which has been awarded £500,000 to work in the Turkana district of Kenya. More than 78 per cent of people walk over 20km to reach their nearest facility with just 5.6 per cent of women giving birth with a trained person. None of the six local health centres provide emergency obstetric care, meaning maternal mortality is 67 in every thousand births.
This project will improve community knowledge and practices related to maternal, newborn and child health and increase the availability of services, while being sensitive to the strong, traditional beliefs of the area. Community meetings, health education for mothers and the wider community, training for health workers and birth attendants, and emergency obstetric care will all be provided. Members of the community will be encouraged to use and become familiar with the existing health facilities and other community health units will be established.
Miranda Harrington of AMREF said: "We are incredibly excited about the potential this project has for changing the lives of women and children in Turkana. Accessing the most basic of health services in this isolated district is extremely difficult and as a result, hundreds of women die during pregnancy and childbirth each year, and almost a fifth of children do not survive beyond their fifth birthday. AMREF is working to change this; our Ng’adakarin Bamocha project will give women and children access to fundamental health services.
“Through this project, we will bridge the gap between Turkana communities and the established health care system by empowering women with knowledge of their health rights, building health workers' skills to provide quality services, and supporting the local government to coordinate effective health interventions. Our innovative model bridges these gaps through working from the ground up, putting Turkana's women and children at the centre, and building interventions around our one simple goal: creating lasting health change."
In Rwanda, the Survivors Fund (SURF) receives £498,632 to provide mental health care, particularly trauma counselling, for women who have been widowed as a result of genocide. A network of 82 paralegal volunteers will be set up to support full-time professional counsellors. They will have initial three-day training in mental health first aid and afterwards attend additional training each year. The volunteer paralegals will work alongside the volunteers and empower widows and their dependants to claim their rights to land and property. They will receive training to provide legal representation to widows in local courts and document more complex cases to refer to a professional legal team.
The project will also work with the women to gain literacy, numeracy and banking skills and help them develop business plans, seek out opportunities and set up their own businesses. This will enable them to build a more secure future and a sustainable source of income so they can support themselves and their families.
Also receiving funding today is Womankind Worldwide, which will use their £504,297 award to work across six areas of Bolivia to reduce violence against women by ensuring women’s sexual and reproductive rights are brought to the forefront of the political, educational and health agenda and that women are receiving accurate information and support. Womankind Worldwide estimates that seven in 10 women in Bolivia have experienced sexual violence and one in four young girls have been sexually harassed. Fourteen in every 100 young girls in Bolivia have had children or are pregnant and out of 21 per cent of young girls who are sexually active, only 1.6 per cent uses modern contraceptive methods.
The project will work with 35 schools to develop youth-led sex education. Around 1,400 young people will be trained to become 'change makers', and over one thousand teachers and parents will also receive training through an innovative education and entertainment approach. The change makers will then pass on their knowledge to a further 31,500 young people through school and community events. They will also take part in dramatised radio campaigns that will reach an estimated 200,000 people. Stickers, t-shirts, hats, and leaflets will also be distributed to 17,000 members of the public at awareness raising events to further spread the message.
Peter Ainsworth, Big Lottery Fund Chair, said: “This funding will bring real change to the lives of women and children living in some of the most vulnerable communities, where access to the right information, care and support is vitally needed but not readily available. We are very proud to support these projects in their essential and life saving work.”
Further Information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
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Notes to Editors
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
- BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since June 2004 BIG has awarded over £4.4bn.
- The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £28 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
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