November 20th is Universal Children's Day, a day designated by the United Nations to focus on the wellbeing of children everywhere. For Room to Read CEO Erin Ganju, this means ensuring all children—including her own daughter, Julia—get the education they need to become active, empowered citizens.
In this video, produced in partnership between Liberty Mutual's Responsibility Project and Women in the World, Erin discusses Room to Read's progress so far, and how seeing our work through her daughter's eyes has shaped her perspective.
Learn more about our leadership on our website.
June 12 is World Day Against Child Labor, a date designated by the United Nations to reflect on both the extent to which child labor exists in our world and the measures necessary to eliminate it.
In several countries where Room to Read operates our Girls’ Education program, child labor presents a major challenge to achieving gender equality in education. In Nepal, for example, girls are often contracted into indentured servitude by their parents through the Kamlari system. Though officially outlawed by the Supreme Court of Nepal in 2006, the practice is still widely culturally-accepted, especially in the western region of Bardiya. The vast majority of Kamlari girls are forbidden by their landlords to attend school and many are subject to physical abuse.
But the story doesn’t end there. Together with local partner organization Friends of Needy Children Nepal, Room to Read is helping rescued Kamlari girls rewrite their own futures and find a way back to school. Several of these stories were documented by 10x10, a feature film and social action campaign dedicated to galvanizing support for girls' education. In Bardiya, 10x10 met with the incredible young women currently enrolled in our program, and heard—in their own words—about the impact of education.
In honor of World Day Against Child Labor, we bring you a short film featuring three of those stories, produced by 10x10. Watch the video below to meet Asha, Sita and Suma—three former Kamlari girls determined to create a better life for others in their community.
Learn more about our work in Nepal.
“How we treat women and girls is absolutely essential to who we are as a people.” —Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide—that’s the aim of Half the Sky, a groundbreaking documentary that will air on PBS October 1 and 2 across the United States. Inspired by the best-selling book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the film is aimed at galvanizing public action for the rights of women and girls.
Over two days, Half the Sky will take viewers on a tour of ten countries to explore the most pressing challenges facing women and girls around the globe, including maternal mortality, gender-based violence and human trafficking. It will also showcase tangible solutions to fight these problems, such as gender equality in education—highlighted for its uniquely transformative power to alleviate poverty in one generation.
Last fall, Half the Sky's film crew made its way to Vietnam’s Mekong Delta to learn more about the success of our Girls’ Education program in the region. Led by our local staff, founder John Wood, author Nicholas Kristof and actress Gabrielle Union—one of six celebrity advocates in the film—met with several of the girls supported by our program, documenting their stories and learning about the challenges they face.
Those stories, along with others from Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the United States, will be broadcast nationwide on October 1 and 2 in the United States on PBS. Until then, here is a sneak peek to tide you over:
Learn more about our Girls’ Education program.
