Women’s Month and the deeper issues women face

We are nearing the end of Women’s Month, which means most of us would have heard or been a part of conversations about women in some form, usually making mention of inspirational, successful women who young women can look up to. Role models are obviously very important, but too often the narrative around Women’s Month focuses on the success stories, and doesn’t acknowledge that disadvantaged women are at the bottom of the scale in Africa, facing challenges that many of us don’t even understand.

This month the Sage Foundation team has finalised several grants, all of which will go to NPOs that support women and girl child programs.

Take a closer look at what these organisations do, and you get a clearer picture of the vastness and complexity of the challenges that women face.

For example, did you know that teen girls skip up to 100 days of school in South Africa due to lack of access to sanitary wear? This has a detrimental impact on their academic performance. Ibbamo Foundation is committed to changing this through the provision of ‘dignity packs’ to girls at school, as well as career guidance workshops.

Can you imagine how it must feel to be completely reliant on someone else, who may be abusive? The ability to steer the course of your path is something people in privileged positions typically take for granted. But many vulnerable women are not easily able to do this. Women of Vision supports women, youth and the elderly with therapy, mediation, safe houses and more – as well as providing them with entrepreneurial skills, empowering them to start their own micro enterprises, generate revenue and become independent.

Unfortunately, even children who are academically very strong from disadvantaged backgrounds usually aren’t able to reach their full potential and break the cycle the poverty without strong mentorship and guidance. Our grant to Fair Life will be used to support 10 teen girls on their mentorship program, and will cover their school fees, some logistical costs, and at least one meal per day while on the program.

We all know IT is the future, but shockingly, only 5% of SA schools offer IT due to lack of qualified teachers and infrastructure. In addition, for many reasons, girls tend to shy away from careers in IT. This trend needs to change not only because many girls would enjoy and be successful at jobs in IT, but because whole communities, and the whole of society stands to benefit. Women make up more than half of the population, so their perspective is vital when it comes to solving the world’s problems. To improve IT education and inspire more girls to enter the field, Africa Teen Geeks is launching Saturday classes at UNISA and our grant will go towards funding this.

Orphaned, vulnerable children have a heartbreaking start to life, and without intervention from organisations like Tomorrow Trust, they are seldom able to break the poverty cycle. Our grant will be used to support 15 girl children participating in the Junior Holiday school program, which empowers the girls academically, and builds numeracy, literacy and English language skills.

Women’s Month helps to focus South Africa’s attention on the importance of empowering women.

 As Chairman of the Sage Foundation, my commitment is that we’ll keep that focus squarely on the issues that matter most, and work with many organisations, including those that are dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls who bear the brunt of poverty every day.