Nike Foundation and Save the Children Team Up to Empower Adolescent Girls

Nike Foundation and Save the Children Team Up to Empower Adolescent Girls
The Nike Foundation and Save the Children have embarked on a partnership aimed at empowering adolescent girls in Bangladesh and Malawi. The Nike Foundation recently awarded Save the Children a three-year $1.58 million grant.

Bangladesh and Malawi are two of the most impoverished countries in the world. Poverty in both countries is exacerbated by chronic food insecurity in several regions of each country. Malawi also suffers from a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which has progressively eroded the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor. Some of the most pressing issues that affect women, and adolescent girls in particular, in Bangladesh and Malawi are early marriage; pregnancy; and physical and sexual violence. Additionally, inadequate and insufficient health and education services and economic opportunities prevent adolescent girls from thriving and contributing to society.

In partnership with the Nike Foundation, Save the Children plans to empower adolescent girls ages 10-19 through improved skills and access to quality education, health and financial services so that they are valued in their communities and have a stronger sense of their abilities and rights. In the long run, it is anticipated that this will result in a reduction in household poverty. The program, entitled Strengthening Girls’ Voices, will be integrated with ongoing food security programs in Bangladesh and Malawi funded by the U.S. government.