Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will travel with CARE, the Atlanta-based poverty-fighting organization, to South Africa and Lesotho April 10 – 14 to visit projects that focus on helping women provide a better future for their families. The Mayor’s trip coincides with CARE’s recently launched I Am Powerful campaign, which officially kicked off on March 8.
CARE’s I Am Powerful campaign offers women in the U.S. an opportunity to stand in solidarity with women in poor countries. “I am excited to have the opportunity to see CARE’s work firsthand and to lend my voice with those of so many powerful women around the world.” says Mayor Franklin. “Together, we hope to raise awareness of issues, such as gender inequality and basic human rights, affecting women living in poverty.”
Of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty, 75 per cent are women. CARE’s experience has shown that women, supplied with the proper resources, have the power to change theirs and the lives of those around them.
In Lesotho, Franklin will visit Food Security project that provides a safety net for orphans and vulnerable children. CARE works alongside women and families, as well as with schools to build and irrigate gardens in an effort to improve nutrition.
In Lesotho, where a third of the population is infected with HIV, growing and putting food on the table has been left, for the most part, in the hands of women. Although women make up half the world’s population and produce half the world’s food, they own just 1 percent of its farmland.
Mayor Franklin will also visit a microfinance project located in the town of Botchabelo where CARE works with women’s groups supporting HIV/AIDS orphans.
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