Global Fund for Children and India - Week 3

It has been quite a challenge to contact those outside of the U.S. I still have not had any luck.

The podcast I listened to was the Global Fund for Children (GFC) - Philanthropy Chat: Victoria Dunning, Vice President of Programs at the Fund.

From the podcast I gathered a few important pieces of information:

The programs serve up to 20 year olds and the focus on what children need to thrive to become a product adult. Those things include education/learning, being safe, having a healthy mind and body, and their enterprise( becoming a productive, contributing adult to the community).

The CBO - community based organizations - understand and know things that we do not know. For example, the family living behind that door with 10 people inside one small area. The CBOs are important, in that they provide information from the field and their expereicnes to help the Global Fund for Children and vice versa.

Global Fund for Children tries to support these CBOs with 3 main pillars - money (to support what they’re already doing), value at it’s services (how do we make this money go further and faster), and knowledge management (grantee to grantee, bringing them together to share best practices and knowledge exchange.) They work together as a partnership, sharing information and knowledge from Grantee partners to Global Fund for Children and vice versa. They focus on how they can share knowledge with others. Innovations are a focus as well. They look for some of the next best ideas in working on these global solutions to fix problems and make changes to help children and families.

GFC is considered a “scout”. GFC looks for potential groups that are working their way up to being a National, Regional, or Global group and looking to receive funding. These grants they will receive range from $5,000 to $30,000 dollars. They also focus on the groups and organizations that would not be receiving funding; the groups that get missed or go under the radar. They also attempt to reach children where they are - anywhere around the world.

India:

It was interesting to me to read that the education system in India struggles to effectively service children. I also found it interesting that their enrollment rate has improved, however, 20% of the world’s out of school children are accounted for in India. Instead of receiving an education, many children under 16 years of age are working. The most surprising information I learned was of the discrimination against females in India. I have previously known that in some cultures, the women are only to wear certain clothes or dress in a certain way, without their faces showing, or with full dress from head to toe, however I did not realize the extent to which India’s discrimination is present. Gender biases for females start at birth and continue for the rest of their lives, into the next generation. Women in India are viewed as inferior; less females attending school, higher male to female ratio, female children experiencing neglect, more young female children working, and a high maternal mortality rate are all influences of this gender discrimination. Interestingly enough, the discrimination continues because of the  males being perceived as more important in the family structure, although school enrollment has risen for girls. There are programs in place that are working for the welfare of the children, women, disabled and elderly. A state plan of action for children has been implemented, focusing on the welfare of the children.

References:

http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/about-us/press-room/gfc-on-air/

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#11