Facts and figures on females from throughout the world.
By Mary Murphy, Illustrations by Jessica Wetterer
533 Grants
The United Nations Foundation’s Women, Girls & Population program and the UN work hand in hand to promote gender equality and advance the rights and needs of women and girls throughout the world. Priorities of the program include investing in adolescent girls, working to advance reproductive health and rights, and eliminating gender- based violence. The program has been recognized globally and remains successful with the help of grants. To date, the program has been awarded 533 grants totaling more than $170 million in support of empowering girls and women on a global scale.
73 Percent
A big misconception in the nonprofitt sector is that these organizations are run mostly or completely by volunteers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonprofits employed 11.4 million people in 2012, accounting for 10.3 percent of all private-sector employment in the United States. Some 73 percent of nonprofit-sector employees are women, and while women are considered the majority in the nonprofit workforce, they still earn less in wages than their male counterparts.
15 Years
Girls for Gender Equity is an intergenerational nonprofit based in Brooklyn, N.Y., that is dedicated to ending widespread violence against women and girls of color, and promotes the physical, social, psychological and economic well-being of girls, women and communities. GGE strives to demolish barriers of segregation and discrimination on the basis of gender, race and class, and provides programs to instill strength, skills and self-sufficiency in girls and women. GGE recently held its 15th anniversary gala celebrating “15 fierce years of serving thousands of young people.”
70 Partners
Distributing Dignity, a New Jersey-based nonprofit, was created to provide new bras, pads and tampons to women in need. Founded in 2012, the organization currently has 70 partners in 52 cities that help women who are in and aging out of foster care, seeking refuge from domestic violence or abuse, are homeless, struggling with life- altering illness or have been displaced by disaster.
69 Women
The United Nations Foundation’s Council of Women World Leaders is the only organization in the world solely dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council was established in 1996 by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996 and the first woman in the world to be democratically elected to the post of president; Mary Robinson, president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997; and Laura Liswood, secretary general of the council and a former senior advisor for Goldman Sachs. The 69 current and former female presidents and prime ministers who make up the council today promote good governance and gender equality through the council’s networks, partnerships and programs.