On International Women’s Day, Create Change Through Heifer International

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (March 4, 2013) – Heifer International is urging its supporters to take action on March 8, International Women’s Day, on behalf of women worldwide who struggle with hunger and poverty. At www.heifer.org/womensday, visitors can learn about the multiplier effect of empowering women, and choose how they’d like to help through Heifer’s Women’s Day Action Toolkit.

Although women produce 80 percent of the developing world’s food, they own less than one percent of the Earth’s land. Given the right tools and opportunity, Heifer International is confident these women will help feed the world. In the crusade to reduce hunger and poverty, it has been demonstrated that investing in women works. When women are empowered, their families’ health, education, nutrition and incomes improve.

Visitors to Heifer International’s IWD page can share the Women’s Day message with their own social networks, or even give the gift of women’s empowerment. They can also learn more about the challenges facing women that Heifer International works to overcome.

Take, for example, Dhankumari Lama of Nepal. Burdened with housework and with caring for younger siblings, she had to drop out of school when she was 16. She was considered old enough to marry, and money was scarce. But then she joined a women’s group as part of a Heifer International project. Dhankumari was the youngest member, but using her literacy to maintain the group’s records, she became excited again about learning.

When the other women heard she wanted to continue her education, they helped raise money for Dhankumari to return to school. The goats she received from Heifer reproduced and helped pay for more schooling. Now 21, Dhankumari has finished grade school and is studying business in college with renewed hope for her future.

Heifer International supporters, through their donations, can help many more girls and women reach their full potential and lift their communities out of poverty. This International Women’s Day, individual actions will add up to make a significant difference in the lives of women everywhere.

About Heifer International:
Heifer International’s mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. Since 1944, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in more than 40 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities become more self-reliant. For more information, visit www.heifer.org, read our blog, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or call (800) 696-1918.