Dear AI Supporters,
On this Giving Tuesday (November 28), you can help Asia Initiatives lift women out of poverty and achieve sustainable development! Click here to join this global giving movement and let women and girls everywhere know that they are not alone.
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Our President, Dr. Geeta Mehta, has just returned from meeting the leaders of many of our SoCC programs in India. These include the kitchen garden project in Bundelkhand, the micro-poultry project in Shohratgarh and an upcoming project to create alternative employment and protect the forest for tribal villagers around Dehradun.
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She will next represent AI at the Women's Economic Empowerment Global Summit, hosted in conjunction with UN Women, in Sharjah, UAE. Dr. Mehta will be speaking on "Women Excelling in the Economy" on December 4 and 5.
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Updates From The Field: MSSRF, Tamil Nadu
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Our joint program with the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation (MSSRF) in Tamil Nadu is set to achieve sustainability. To improve food security and access to water for farmers, MSSRF and AI offer loans to rehabilitate wells and purchase cattle in return for SoCCs earned. Loans recovered from previous SoCC pilots will be re-circulated, allowing more than 200 women farmers each year to redeem SoCCs for critical needs. Funds donated by our micro-credit bank program, which was concluded in 2008, have been used for this program.
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Updates From The Field: Shramjivi, Maharashtra
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The SoCC program in tribal villages has increased government agencies' responsiveness. The village of Tol recently sanctioned a drinking water pipeline and a concrete approach-road after repeated petitions by our members. These members earned SoCCs for their petitions, ultimately changing the lives of villagers who previously commuted along a dirt road linking Tol to a local town. In the village of Nandgaon, 18 families have received small kitchen-garden and housing plots from government schemes. The villagers here earn SoCCs for doing activities, such as attending sessions on government projects, sending children to school and participating in self-help group activities. Click here for more updates on this project.
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Updates From The Field: Kumasi, Ghana
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Market women in our SoCC program with WomenStrong International have deposited and saved a total of 48,000 USD in the bank. In the Junior High School SoCC program, 1,022 girls from 25 schools are currently enrolled in Girls' Clubs. Additionally, pregnancies and dropouts have been almost entirely eradicated. The retention rate for the most recent academic year is 98.4% and the program received very positive feedback from teachers and government education officers!
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Cyber Monday With Kiindly
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AI is partnering with Kiindly.com, a social enterprise that offers store coupons to help you save while simultaneously donating to AI. Once registered, employer matching is automatic. So on this Cyber Monday, consider making your shopping more meaningful through Kiindly! Click here for details.
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With gratitude and appreciation,
Asia Initiatives team
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