- Area:
- countries outside the UK
UK-wide
- Programme:
- International Communities
- Release date:
- 20 8 2012
A vital project aimed at improving maternal and newborn health in Nepal is among three charities today sharing over £1.4 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.
Kidasha receives close to £500,000 to work throughout the large, rural Rupandehi district of Nepal to improve maternal and newborn health with a programme of pre-conception, pregnancy, delivery and early infant care. Approximately 15 per cent of women in this area will face serious complications during pregnancy and childbirth and most women don’t have access to transport, which can be fatal in an emergency. The project will set up an emergency transport system and raise community awareness of maternal and newborn health problems through street dramas, celebration days, awareness bulletins and sessions with religious leaders and traditional healers.
Community volunteers will be trained to set up over 240 new women's groups that will meet regularly to identify and prioritise problems and discuss solutions with the wider community. Over 35 cycle ambulances will also be managed co-operatively by the groups to further improve women’s access to local health facilities.
Andrew Clarke, Technical Advisor for Kidasha said: “Fewer than one in four women in poor communities in Western Nepal have skilled medical care at the delivery of their baby. This causes much avoidable injury, suffering and death to both mothers and children. With Big Lottery Fund support, Kidasha and our local partner Namuna will be running a three-year project to increase access to essential health care. The project will reach 110,000 women of reproductive age and over 10,000 new-born babies per year in Rupandehi district of Western Nepal.”
Also receiving funding this month is Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), which has been awarded just over £467,000 to work with women across Swaziland to enable them to understand and defend their rights. 45 volunteer peer educators will be trained in women's rights and organising local campaigns and will then pass their learning on to communities through door-to-door visits and workshops. The workshops will increase women's confidence and develop skills they can use to get involved in local politics and the economy.
A national awareness of women's rights will be created through regional and national debates and there will be organised lobbies of parliament where women will relay their experiences and concerns directly to decision makers. The project hope that engaging with government directly, coupled with public pressure, will encourage the government to set a clear timetable to review all discriminatory legislation. Another important aspect of the project will be providing training on gender equality to journalists to improve the portrayal of rural women in the media.
Finally this month, nearly £471,000 goes to Farm Africa to improve the livelihoods and food security of 3,000 smallholder farmers and their families based in the Kitui District of Kenya. This will be achieved through organising the farmers into groups and providing them with training to increase poultry production. It will also help the groups to develop profitable market links for their produce, so farmers have access to guaranteed markets and a regular source of income. The increased production will also give farmers a more secure source of food.
Peter Ainsworth, Big Lottery Fund Chair, said: “The right to healthcare, enough to eat and the chance to have your voice heard are things everyone needs but sadly many of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the world don’t have. The work of these three vital projects will all go a long way towards addressing some of these issues in the locations in which they work, and I am delighted to see them all receive this funding today.”
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
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.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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