Voice of the Jewish News: WJR must be praised for supporting women
This week's double editorial reflects on World Jewish Relief launching an initiative for women and girls, and the Jewish Schools Awards nominations closing soon!
If just over 50 percent of the world’s population are women, why is it that women and girls comprise 70 percent of the world’s poorest people? It’s a shocking statistic many have tried to answer, citing such things as unpaid care work or low-wage jobs, but no less shocking is its obstinate endurance.
The world seems yet to fully understand the gender identity of poverty – and the needs this creates. For instance, items such as sanitary towels are still not deemed ‘essential’ in many aid packages, extending what British Jewish campaigner Gabby Edlin dubs “period poverty”.
Women around the world have an uphill battle, which is why it was so good this week to see World Jewish Relief place a special focus on the women in the vulnerable Jewish communities it serves. Study after study around the world shows that if money and resources are given directly to women, whether in the form of micro-loans, benefits or jobs, they are far more likely than men to spend the extra money on family, food, school or medicine, especially in countries with high alcoholism rates.
WJR’s approach is based on research, data and sense, and it is the best way to do more with supporters’ donations, as anyone who has ever seen a Jewish mother at work will attest. It’s just the latest reason to applaud the incredible work of WJR.
READ MORE: Trailblazing initiative to ‘prioritise women’ launched by World Jewish Relief
Last gasp for school awards
This is the last chance to nominate someone for the Jewish School Awards 2019, with the fast approaching deadline next week.
A joint project between Jewish News and Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS), the annual awards ceremony is now a communal highlight enabling us to shine a spotlight on those helping to drive the ever greater successes we celebrate each exam season.
Every year sifting through the nominations is an inspiring process and it’s already clear our judges are again facing a long day of deliberating and cogitating. Good luck to them and all the nominees!
Entries for the Jewish Schools Awards have now closed.
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