Power To Change Fund Success stories

Through the financial assistance of the Power to Change Fund, another programme dream became a reality. The YWCA of Albania in January 2010 launched their project “HIV prevention and building a young women peer-educator network amongst the Roma Community.” The project, which is directed at the Roma women within Albania, focuses mainly on young women and addresses the issue of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in the communities of Shkodra and Fier.

With assistance from World YWCA project funds and, more recently, through the World YWCAs “Power to Change Fund”, the YWCA of Benin has been carrying out HIV and AIDS awareness programmes within the local community since 2003. These programmes help women living with HIV, many of them under 30 years of age, to improve their health, understand their basic rights and gain independence. Food is distributed, house visits made, and workshops held on how to live a healthy life, violence against women (VAW), and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

The high rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancies, abortion, and maternal death observed in the country by the YWCA of Peru national office, led the association to conclude that there was a serious need to educate these women on their sexual and reproductive health requirements and rights, and to make them aware of the female condom as a safe solution to help resolve some of these issues.

Since 2003, the World YWCA has been financing HIV and AIDS awareness programmes in Benin. These projects led the YWCA of Benin to better understand the principle needs of women living with HIV: medicines, health education, food and an understanding of their rights. It was also noted that few people helped with the schooling or professional training of children orphaned by AIDS.

In Angola, half the population is under 18 years of age. The youth of today are the future of the country, and training and information are therefore absolutely essential.

The Power to Change Fund is a permanent fund of the World YWCA, that endows leadership development programs for women and girls worldwide. A number of exciting and empowering projects have been successfully developed since mid 2009, when the Fund policy began to allow direct grant-making to YWCA member associations. Two such projects are those carried out in Nepal and Ukraine.