Our purpose
Advancing economic and social well-being, especially of women and girls, by supporting opportunities for communities to
overcome health and education barriers.
We are encouraged by the enormous progress in the world. Virtually every country has improved its education, health, and economic situation over the past 20 years; however this opportunity has not necessarily been equitable and there is work to bridge the gap and build on the progress made.
Development requires progressively and continually improving the ways we work, with ever more creative and ambitious approaches locally and globally.
Sustainable development engages communities and stakeholders to identify solutions that are both creative and effective.
Hopeful trends are seen in data presented by such groups as GapMinder, the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, and UNESCO.
In Education…
Fewer children are missing school
However, progress in this area has stagnated in recent years, with methodological changes in the reported number of children in school accounting for nearly all the improvement between 2016 and 2018. Additionally, many communities remain with lower resourced or less effective schools resulting in students with fewer competencies and opportunities.
Graphic from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, original available here.