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Yifat Susskind from MADRE, our fourth-quarter 2012 human rights beneficiary, gave us this report about how they are using the funds contributed by members of Foundation Beyond Belief. Members donated $8,015 to MADRE last quarter.

MADRE is thrilled to be part of the vibrant community of Foundation Beyond Belief. With your support, we will uphold women’s human rights in 19 countries in 2013. MADRE works hand in hand with grassroots women to meet urgent needs and build lasting solutions. Our work is holistic, encompassing direct services and human rights advocacy to create just policies and change on the ground. We build collaborations among activists in reproductive rights, environmental justice, and human rights. We meet women’s needs for livelihood skills and resources, link local and global stakeholders, and position women to advocate for rights-based solutions.

Here’s how your donations will help in 2013:

• Bring clean water to rural women in Nicaragua, with our partner Wangki Tangni. We build wells and provide training on protecting water sources. We are reducing fatal water-borne diseases and freeing girls of the burden of traveling long distances to haul water.
• Support women farmers in Sudan with our grassroots partner, Zenab for Women in Development. Together, we established the country’s first women farmers union to capacitate women to farm sustainably in the face of climate change. The 3,000 members have tripled their yields and are feeding their families, teaching their neighbors, and developing their communities.
• Shelter Pastoralist girls in Kenya fleeing female genital mutilation and forced early marriage. Our boarding schools, run with the Indigenous Information Network, provide 50 girls with an education that includes reproductive health information. We also raise the human rights awareness of parents and community elders to end traditional harmful practices.
• Combat sexual violence in Haiti with our local partner, KOFAVIV. The 2010 earthquake ushered in an epidemic of rape and sexual exploitation. We support a women’s shelter, provide girls with counseling and vocational skills, and help implement laws addressing sexual violence.

Thank you for your support!

Yifat Susskind, Executive Director
MADRE

By Cathleen O’Grady

Following escalating attacks and tension, November saw devastating fire between Israel and Gaza, killing an estimated 160 people in Gaza and five in Israel, with many more injured. A tenuous ceasefire has emerged, but has left many families devastated and grieving. MADRE, our current Human Rights beneficiary, has added its voice to the many Israeli and Gaza organizations calling for negotiations to end the violence and ensure justice for those living without essential infrastructure and basic rights, such as water and medical care. MADRE has launched a campaign to bring aid to those in Gaza who have no other source of help.

In addition to their response to the recent crisis, MADRE has a long-term presence in the region with its innovative Midwives for Peace program. This is a group of Israeli and Palestinian midwives dedicated to reducing the impact of the conflict on women, and in particular on reproductive health. Because of the 528 barricades and checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza, and the common practice of detaining ambulances at checkpoints, many women are unable to reach hospitals in time after beginning labor. These movement restrictions not only force women to give birth in unsafe conditions, resulting in increased mother and infant mortality, but also limit access to prenatal care.

Midwives for Peace works to train midwives and improve standards of midwifery. They provide “safe delivery kits” to midwives working in crisis areas, ensure provision of postpartum education and counselling, and distribute information about family planning and reproductive health. With more trained and equipped midwives within communities, the necessity of undertaking dangerous journeys and the risks of giving birth in unsafe conditions are reduced.

Another MADRE partner, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, aims to provide health care for the most vulnerable members of Palestinian society, including women, children, and the rural and urban poor, as well as those in refugee camps. Mobile health centers service those with restrictions on movement. The Zakher Association, run by women in Gaza, provides free health care and health workshops for women, as well as providing training in literacy, computer literacy, conflict resolution, early childhood development, and vocational skills such as embroidery. In conjunction with MADRE, the Zakher Association works to provide clean water in community centers and kindergartens in Gaza.

Read an explanation of MADRE’s stance on the conflict and their role in providing aid.

“Because of the war I never went to school for even one day. My biggest hope now is that my daughter will finish school. I have the chickens from MADRE now, and that means better food for my daughter. We get a little money from the eggs each week. I put it in my secret place, and I use it to buy pencils and books for her. I know her life will be better.”
– Rosa, member of Muixil, Guatemala

MADRE’s focus for 2012 has been on agricultural initiatives, advocating for food sovereignty in impoverished communities to reduce the extreme impact that poverty has on women and girls, who bear most of the responsibility for feeding their families. Long-term sustainability and education are the main goal of MADRE’s food programs, providing women in Sudan, Nicaragua, and Guatemala with the knowledge and infrastructure needed to create food stability in their families and pass on their expertise. By providing women in sister organizations with seed, implements, livestock, and training, they empower these individuals to improve nutrition and build their local economies. The cycle of poverty is diminished by allowing women to fund education for their children.

These projects can have benefits for those far beyond the local communities. In Sudan, 415 members of the Women Farmers Union, founded by MADRE and its sister organization Zenab, have been provided with tools and seeds, as well as a tractor. Fatima Ahmen, director of Zenab, says that “women will now be able to plant faster and raise bigger harvests. Our hope is that together we can build prosperous and peaceful communities, and we work for this every day.” When the worst drought in 60 years swept across the Horn of Africa, the Women Farmers Union shared the results of their hard work by sending the income from their harvest to MADRE’s famine relief program in Kenya.

Elsewhere in the world, MADRE programs address a broad range of issues, including birth rights, clean water, and the right to protest. In Haiti, MADRE’s partnership with KOFAVIV (Commission for Women Victims for Victims) has provided rape counseling, safe shelter, legal and medical information, and skills training for victims of sexual violence. Malya Villard-Appolon, a courageous advocate for justice for rape survivors and a co-founder of KOFAVIV, was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of 2012 for her work providing services and empowerment to victims of sexual violence. You can find out more about Malya’s story and her organization, and vote for her to be CNN’s Hero of the year. Malya’s strength arose from her own survival: “I was a victim, and I did not find justice. But I know I will get it for other women.”

The scope and number of MADRE’s projects is inspiring. Take a look at their annual report for a glimpse of their incredible range of projects and partner organizations, and to read about the many lives they have changed.

MADRE, our current Human Rights beneficiary, recently released their 2011 annual report, outlining an array of endeavors undertaken last year through which, alongside their partner organizations, they were able to reach out to upwards of 100,000 people in struggling regions.

A significant portion of their 2011 resources was devoted to Central America, particularly Guatemala, Haiti, and Nicaragua. March saw MADRE bring their project Farming for the Future to the indigenous Mayan women of Guatemala. The project trains women in farming, human rights, and civic participation—providing for them a source of food, income, and expanding their position in their local societies. MADRE’s empowerment efforts were carried out in Haiti primarily through their partnership with KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims), in response to the endemic sexual violence across the country’s many displacement camps. Distributing safety whistles and solar flashlights and bringing in sexual violence educators enhanced nighttime security in dangerous camps. And in Nicaragua, MADRE worked with Engineers Beyond Borders and the Liwa Mairin Women Waterkeepers to improve local access to clean water.

Across the Atlantic, in regions marred by sectarian violence and oppression, MADRE identified an outbreak of sexual assault amid pro-democracy protests in Iraq and the ever-present threat of tainted water in the Gaza Strip. They worked with the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) to ensure that they were able to continue organizing both in spite of and to combat the sexual harassment by security forces on protesters. Working with local Palestinian groups, MADRE installed water filters around Gaza City, particularly near schools—giving hundreds of children access to clean drinking water during their school day. Both Iraq and Palestine are in a period of extraordinary transition, and as transition breeds tension, the freedoms of women and other oppressed peoples must be upheld and protected.

Finally, in the African theatre, MADRE worked to relieve famine in Sudan, Somalia, and Kenya, particularly through supporting the Women Farmers Union and local Kenyan organizations like Womankind Kenya to “identify trusted leaders to facilitate equitable food distribution and make sure that [existing] relief efforts protected the rights of women and girls.”

MADRE continues to support women worldwide into this year, and upcoming features will explore what they’re doing in the here and now. To learn more about MADRE and how you can support them directly, visit their website. And as always, consider supporting them through FBB!

By Stephanie Jackson-Ali, LMSW

In 1990, the ratio of girls to boys receiving primary education in developing regions was 0.86. As of 2011 it stood at 0.97. Secondary education saw an even greater jump from a 0.76 ratio to 0.96, while tertiary education saw the greatest leap – from 0.69 to 0.98.

Last month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released their annual letter, which addresses three myths about global progress. Foundation Beyond Belief has featured a number of development–focused beneficiaries, many of whom work toward debunking these same myths.

One major focus in this year’s letter is family planning and women’s reproductive health and their effect on developing countries. In the words of Mr. Gates, the letter’s author:

“Girls who marry in their mid-teens tend to start getting pregnant earlier and therefore have more children. They usually drop out of school, which limits their opportunities to learn about their bodies, sex, and reproduction—and to gain other kinds of knowledge that helps them improve their lives.”

The first step in ensuring this knowledge is gained is giving young women and girls the opportunity to stay in school and complete an education. United Nations data shows that over the past 20 years, schools in all regions of the world, including developing regions, are trending toward gender equality.

In 1990, the ratio of girls to boys receiving primary education in developing regions was 0.86. As of 2011 it stood at 0.97. Secondary education saw an even greater jump from a 0.76 ratio to 0.96, while tertiary education saw the greatest leap—from 0.69 to 0.98.

The same statistics show the contraceptive prevalence rate (the number of women 15-49 who are using any form of birth control) to have grown steadily from 51.6 percent to 62.1 percent from 1990 to 2011 – with lots of room still to grow.  The adolescent birth rate (girls aged 15-19) fell from 59.3 to 48.6 in the same time.

Certainly some of that success comes from organizations such as The Citizens Foundation, Circle of Women, and Roots and Wings International, all former FBB beneficiaries that work to educate women around the world.

The next step laid out in Mr. Gates’ letter is increased health education, specifically related to family planning. The developing world has moved more slowly in this direction. The same statistics show the contraceptive prevalence rate (the number of women 15-49 who are using any form of birth control) to have grown steadily from 51.6 percent to 62.1 percent from 1990 to 2011—with lots of room still to grow. The adolescent birth rate (girls aged 15-19) fell from 59.3 to 48.6 in the same time.

Foundation Beyond Belief has also supported several organizations working to increase health education among women. MADRE, HealthRight International, and FAME bring education and health services to women and families in developing nations. Reproductive health has also been a focus for FBB in the past, as Population Connection and The Center for Reproductive Rights strive to bring not just education but access to family planning options worldwide.

Since its inception, Foundation Beyond Belief has been dedicated to supporting beneficiaries working to improve opportunities for women around the world. As conditions improve for women in developing nations, FBB will continue to find the most innovative beneficiaries addressing the needs of women and girls.

In Q4 of 2012, Foundation Beyond Belief raised more than $61,000 for some incredible charitable projects worldwide.

We supported Madre’s efforts to lift women out of poverty and empower communities, contributed to Globe Med’s international health projects, worked toward lifting men out of a cycle of poverty and crime with the Prison University Project, supported urban greening and agricultural projects with DC Greenworks, and lent our voice to the call for peace with Friends for a Nonviolent World.

We also helped crisis efforts in Haiti, New York, and Colorado, contributed to the Harvard Humanists putting humanist values into action, and supported Avivara’s education projects in Guatemala.

That’s a lot. But we could do so much more, with your help.

Foundation Beyond Belief exists as an expression of humanist values. We would like to make our voice louder, our contributions bigger. To do that, we need more members. Until April 7, we are asking you to reach out to a humanist friend and encourage them to add their voice to the cause by joining FBB.

Double the members means double the good works. Humanists unite!

See our member drive blog post for more details about joining FBB and inviting your friends to join.

We are lucky to share with you the wisdom of Yifat Susskind, the executive director of our Q4 2012 Human Rights Beneficiary, MADRE. She offers a statement that we at Foundation Beyond Belief often ponder: “When you support an organization, you want to know that you are making the greatest impact possible.” She continues to address concerns that many in philanthropy have regarding reconstruction in Haiti and what that means about disaster relief and charitable giving in general. “You may have seen this article in the New York Times, about how the reconstruction effort in post-earthquake Haiti has fallen apart, because international aid agencies shut out grassroots leaders and didn’t respond to local priorities. It shows just how badly things can go wrong with business-as-usual humanitarian aid.” This fantastic article about effective philanthropy is her response.
 

Three steps to build resilience through your giving
By Yifat Susskind, Executive Director, MADRE
 
You are a person who cares. You see injustice and people suffering, all over the world, and you know it’s not right. You go looking for some way to fix it, but you know you can’t do it alone. So you find an organization tackling the problems that matter to you. If you can, you give a donation to support their work.
 
But how can you tell that you’ve made a lasting difference?
 
People want to know that their money is used effectively to help those in need. But many have become discouraged—even suspicious—after multiple scandals in recent years, over money being mismanaged and misspent by organizations they trusted.
 
Yet even if an organization’s books are squeaky clean, there are still bigger questions that you as a donor need to ask yourself. The organization may be honest and transparent—but are they effective?
 
To win your trust, nonprofits have to demonstrate that we are using your money well. We work to offer proof that your support helped to dig a well, build a clinic, or create some other lifesaving change—through photos, videos, or numbers. But these “proofs” can’t tell the whole story.
 
What’s missing from, say, a photo of a new clinic?
 
Yes, you get visual confirmation that your money helped to build that clinic. But how was it built? Who decided on it? Who now has control over this important community resource? How will it be managed (and funded) to ensure that it lasts into the future? Those answers will decide whether that clinic succeeds and contributes to sustained positive change.
 
If you want your giving dollars to go as far as possible—to make the most lasting difference—you need to ask these questions and be sure that the organization appealing for your support is asking them, too.
 
Here are three simple steps to help you get started.
 
First, you find an organization that prioritizes the leadership of people within the community where they’re working. When local people play leadership roles, set priorities, and make decisions, they build skills and resources that serve them for the long term. When you see local leaders designing and managing programs (or being trained to do so), you’re seeing an organization that doesn’t rely on outsiders’ assumptions of what’s best for a community. You can be confident that your donation will give that community the resources to implement their own solutions and build resilience.
 
Next, you make sure that the organization recognizes the crucial need to include marginalized voices within the community. Women, in particular, are often disproportionately harmed by disaster, war, or the unjust policies you want to help change. That’s because they faced violence and discrimination even before the crisis at hand, leaving them poorer and often excluded from decision-making. But women are not passive victims. They are critical first-responders in caring for those most threatened by any crisis, including children, the elderly, and the disabled. When you equip a woman with resources and training, she can benefit an entire community.
 
The third step is to confirm that the organization does more than address the symptoms of crisis, but tackles the root causes as well. Creating lasting change depends on understanding what puts people at risk.
 
It’s one thing to rush food aid to communities in crisis—it’s another thing to also recognize that global food aid delivery systems are broken and inefficient, and work to change that. It’s one thing to provide urgent medical care and counseling to rape survivors—it’s another thing to also advocate for genuine security and to develop programs that can foster cultural change about masculinity, women, and violence.
 
So here are those steps again. They’re just a start, but they’ll put you on the right track to empowered, impactful giving.
 
Step #1: Make sure that those at the heart of the crisis were consulted from beginning to end and that the organization provides services in a way that strengthens communities.
 
Step #2: Make sure that the organization relies on the voices of women and other marginalized members of the community.
 
Step #3: Make sure that the organization meets immediate needs and helps create long-term positive change.
 
The value in your gift cannot just be measured in dollars and cents. It is an embodiment of your trust in an organization to put your principles into action. And effective social change organizations will use your gift to fuel the lasting change you want to see in the world. No one can put a price on that.