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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : November 28, 2013 2:40 PM IST
Dasra, India's leading strategic philanthropy foundation, today announced the launch of the Dasra Girl Power Awards. These awards, which total an amount of Rs 30 lakh, will recognize and support high impact organisations that work towards empowering adolescent girls in India.
Despite their numbers, the 113 million adolescent girls in India are a largely invisible and vulnerable group. India is home to the largest population of child brides, 60% of the three million sex workers are young girls, 95% girls drop out of schools by age 15 in leading states and over 50% girls face domestic violence.
Speaking about the issue, Neera Nundy, Partner Dasra, said, 'Most programs either focus on issues (such as education or health) or children or older women. Adolescent girls are a frequently overlooked beneficiary group when it comes to program design or focus. With the Dasra Girl Power Awards, we aim to build urgency around issues faced by adolescent girls and establish the need to focus on their empowerment'. She further added, 'Investing in girl specific programs translates into better futures for women, children and families thereby creating intergenerational impact'. (Read: International Day of the Girl Child when will we stop killing her?)
The Awards are part of Dasra's larger focus on adolescent girl empowerment; early this year, Dasra launched a five-year, $14 million initiative in collaboration with USAID and Kiawah Trust that seeks to achieve systemic change by fostering innovation, improving outcomes and reaching scale to improve the reproductive, maternal , neonatal, child health and empower adolescent girls in rural and urban India.
The Awards which total an amount of Rs 30 lakh will be given to three Indian nonprofit organizations that deliver programs in areas of health, education and life skills for adolescent girls. In a unique initiative, the Dasra Girl Power Awards will also provide capacity building support to 15 shortlisted organizations that will undergo an intensive two day workshop and network with potential funders.
Speaking about the Awards, Smarinita Shetty, Director, Dasra said, 'Our goal is to identify innovative models that have the potential to transform the lives of young girls in this country. Our Awards have been designed to provide both financial as well as capacity building support because we think both components are equally critical to developing organisations that can have impact at scale'. (Read: Why India is the worst place for women)
The Awards will call for applications from nonprofits across India with the aim to highlight organizations with innovative and impactful programs while also encouraging established organizations to focus actively on adolescent girls.
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