“The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that follows on the proposal… taken up by the UN General Assembly in 1997, which defined the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviors that reject violence and endeavor to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems” (United Nations). We’ve addressed three of the goals associated with this observance and how our local and overseas programs are setting up communities for long-term, global change.
PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC + SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Oftentimes, the first thought to why helping impoverished countries is so important is for the sake of philanthropy and the belief that “we are one large family and we need to take care of each other”. And all of that is true. But what people often fail to realize is that building stronger economies all around us provides us with fiscal benefits that isolated economic success cannot afford. “Strong economic growth in developing countries became an engine for the global economy after the 2008-09 financial crisis, accounting for roughly 50 percent of all global growth” (The World Bank).
The Pangea Network provides real-life training and support to cooperative women in Kenya, via the Kenyan Women’s Network. With teachings related to business development and financial literacy, micro-grants for each woman to start or expand her business, and continued support and trainings, our Kenyan Women’s Network continues to build successful local businesses, helping to boost their communities’ and country’s economy. And within their own success, they are able to provide education to their families to ensure this prosperity lasts for generations to come.
ENSURE EQUALITY BETWEEN WOMEN + MEN
Gender equality plays an invaluable role in positive global change. “The data reveals that societies with greater gender equality achieve higher levels of social and economic rights fulfillment for all members” (Council on Foreign Relations). Child mortality rates decline dramatically and “educational outcomes for the next generation” improve with higher levels of schooling and literacy for girls. In conjunction, “lower fertility rates {and} increased educational attainment for women” have been found to yield “a positive effect on growth, while gender inequality in education undermines growth”.
The Young Women’s Leadership Challenge, a network for teen girls to join during high school, provides insights and tools for the next generation of females to make impactful changes at their local, national and global level. Three 6-day summer conferences deliver information from industry leaders on topics ranging from community service, body positivity, financial literacy, politics and global issues. By empowering girls at a high school age, The Pangea Network is able to ingrain the fundamentals of positive change into them to carry through their collegiate and professional careers. Oftentimes, these network alumni members are able to install these teachings into other social and professional spheres by implementing their own groups, networks, or fundraising efforts, based on their experiences at one of Pangea’s summer conferences.
SUPPORT COMMUNICATION + FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION
It’s plain to see why education plays such a positive role within the societies which we live, but have you given any thought to the importance of education in societies outside of your own? Education very clearly reduces poverty, increases income and provides a means for better health and overall quality of life for an individual. But when you spread higher education levels across an entire community, the total economic health of that society flourishes. And as previously stated, when more economies thrive, the overall global economy follows suit.
Through the Pangea Network’s Student Sponsorship Program, quality education is given to Kenyan students of varying ages who otherwise would not have the means to attend school. These students all share an eagerness for learning and adverse backgrounds and have proven to be unwavering in their resilience and dedication to achieving their dreams. While many are still in school, several of Pangea’s sponsorship students have gone on to University, with aspirations of fulfilling career paths in engineering, medicine, law and social work; creating tremendous potential to not only shape the lives of themselves and their families, but to make drastic impacts at community, national and global levels.
For International Day of Friendship, we hope to remind you that if we all come together to achieve a greater, common goal, we can garner a tremendous impact towards achieving global stability, safety, and solidarity.
