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The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) Observes its 25th Anniversary with an International Campaign to Raise Funds for 25 Village Banks in 2005.
The Campaign will promote access to micro business loans for impoverished women, in honor of the United Nations “International Year of Microcredit” which coincides with TIAW’s 25th anniversary.
TIAW’s 25th anniversary marks a quarter century of promoting women’s economic advancement around the world. According to Patricia Foley-Hinnen, Chair of the Microenterprise Development Program, TIAW can play a pivotal role in raising awareness about the plight of women in poverty. She sites mind boggling statistics: “The need for microcredit is tremendous: 2.8 billion people live on less than $2 a day and 1.2 billion live on less than $1 a day. Over 100 million children of primary school age are not in school. Nearly 30,000 children under five die every day from preventable malnutrition and disease.”
Since the Microenterprise Program was established in 2001, TIAW associations and members have consistently demonstrated their long-term commitment to women’s economic self-sufficiency through their checkbooks and their time. To date we have raised funds for 21 Village Banks and Microenterprise Programs in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, India, South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, Liberia, Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Pakistan, Chile, and Senegal.
Committee member Donna Heivilin, past president of TIAW and a co-founder of the Microenterprise Development Program, is a donor who helped launch TIAW Village Banks in South Africa, Mexico and the Philippines. She volunteers because: “Research by the United Nations indicates that microcredit programs not only elevate personal assets of the women who borrow, but go beyond the individual household to help strengthen local economies. By helping to create Village Banks in areas racked by poverty, I know that funds will flow directly into the hands of women in desperate need of economic resources. In turn, these women use their microenterprises to generate income, create jobs, send their children to school, and help their families obtain health care. By volunteering, I help create economic empowerment for women and contribute to the economy of a village that may never benefit from big development projects funded by global development agencies.”
If you want to make a difference in the lives of other women and can give a few hours a month, please contact Patricia Foley-Hinnen at pfhinnen@comcast.net or TIAW at mwestaway@tiaw.org. If you would like more information on the United Nations Year of Microcredit please visit www.yearofmicrocredit.org
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