Giving Compass' Take:

• Natasha Lane describes how GlobalGiving's Girl Fund supports six important projects designed to promote girls' prosperity across the globe.

• How does the fund allow girls the chance to thrive rather than just survive? How far might your support go in changing many girls' futures for the better?

• Learn about the global underrepresentation of girls in STEM.

Around the world, girls continue to face troubling barriers. Yet, we know that with educational, legal, medical, and social support, those barriers are surmountable and another world is possible. That’s why GlobalGiving created the Girl Fund.

Each year, the GlobalGiving Girl Fund provides steady, monthly support to six, highly effective projects that break down barriers for girls.

  1. Helping girls explore science, technology, engineering, and math. Timeout for Africa is led by husband-wife duo Jonathan and Yovonda Kolo. They founded the organization to enrich the African childhood experience through education and sports. The Girl Fund will support their STEM camp for girls in Minna, a city in west-central Nigeria.
  2. Making space for girls to discover their independence. Polycom Development was founded in 2005 in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Its mission is to empower women and girls from Kibera to take charge of their futures.
  3. Dispelling taboos, myths, and misconceptions about periods. International Association for Human Values is combating the negative misconceptions around women’s menstruation and health in rural areas of the country.
  4. Ending child marriage through higher education. With support from the Girl Fund, the Shadhika Project will cover all the costs associated with college—including tuition, books, transportation, nutritious meals, and housing—for at-risk girls in India.
  5. Combating violence against girls with disabilities. Rebecca Trujillo and Marlena Hernandez lead Special Families Saint Billiart, a nonprofit dedicated to the development of children with disabilities in Nicaragua.
  6. Hosting girl-led clubs to reduce sexual exploitation. Girls in rural Ghana want to stay in school, but it’s not easy. Self Help International hosts Teen Girls Clubs in three Ghanaian villages—and club members’ junior high and high school graduation rates have improved.

Read the full article about helping girls reach their full potential by Natasha Lane at GlobalGiving.