Edmund Rice Foundation Australia

Two thirds of the world’s 750 million illiterate adults are women.

34 million girls (53%) are not attending primary school.

16 million girls will never set foot in a classroom.

THE UNDERLYING ISSUE

People living in developing countries are disadvantaged and lack the same opportunities that those of us in the Western world often take for granted. This is especially true for women and girls, who also have to battle gender discrimination on a daily basis.

Some hard truths:

• Women aren’t seen as equals in the community. They’re just seen as the caregivers.
• Females are less educated than males as a result. Caregivers don’t need an education.
• Women are routinely trapped in time-consuming, unpaid domestic tasks with limited options to work or build businesses.
• Women who become single mothers are not financially self-sufficient – this poses a survival problem for themselves and their children.

THE SOLUTION

One of the most effective ways to break the cycle of poverty is empowerment of women through advocacy and education initiatives. The Edmund Rice Foundation Australia (ERFA) firmly believes that education is a key driver in empowering women and girls to build a better life for themselves and their community.

We partnered with ERFA to give them the tools and support they needed to organise a national day of giving to raise money to help provide education for these women and girls. Focusing on empathy, our goal was to get the audience putting themselves in the shoes of these women and girls, imagining how different their lives and daily tasks would be. Using pink shoelaces as the campaign device – this was weaved throughout the visuals and also sent to ambassadors to wear and create user-generated content with to help spread awareness of the campaign. 

WHY DO WE NEED TO ACT NOW?

Empowering women benefits the whole community, not just the individual. Educated women help to raise educated children and uplift their communities due to their knowledge and sense of purpose.

Visit bestfootforward.org.au to find out how you can give these girls and women a chance to put their best foot forward.

Here’s to a world one step closer to equality.