ZONTA INTERNATIONAL FUNDS
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FUND
The International Service Fund provides financial support for international service projects that seek to improve the legal, political, economic, educational, and/or health status of women in developing countries or countries in transition. |
During the 2010-2012 Biennium, three projects are being supported by the International Service
Program Fund:
- Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV and Gender-Based Violence in Rwanda
Funding: US $500,000 to UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
Women and children in Rwanda are still vulnerable to the repercussions of the genocide and war that took place 16 years ago. Treating HIV-positive women, preventing transmission of the virus to their offspring, and ensuring access to health care and reproductive services, as well as preventing and responding to the violence awoken by the brutalization of the society during the genocide, are critical issues for the development of Rwanda and the safety of its women and
children. Building on the success of the project during the 2008-2010 Biennium, the project will continue focus on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV by providing the full range of family package services at 20 UNICEF-supported PMTCT sites throughout Rwanda during the 2010-2012 Biennium. In addition, the project will seek to expand holistic care and services at
support centers for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence to ensure access to proper medical, legal, psychosocial and police support.
- Safe Cities for Women Project in Guatemala City, Guatemala and San Salvador, El Salvador
Funding: US $500,000 to UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women)
In Guatemala and El Salvador, rates of urban violence and violent homicides are above the already high regional average and women are at an even greater risk of violence due to the traditionally subordinate position of women in society. During the first phase of the project, significant results were achieved in both Guatemala and El Salvador. In Guatemala, women's organizations submitted proposals to local authorities to improve public spaces and identified insecure spaces which led to the transformation of an abandoned house to a day shelter for people living with HIV/AIDS. In El Salvador, a map of unsafe places determined by the
perceptions of local women was presented to the local authorities who are committed to implementing recommendations to make these areas safer for women. For the next phase of the project, efforts will be focused on increasing visibility and impact by disseminating information on violence against women in the most violence districts of both cities and replicating the experience
in all districts of the capital cities. The project will also expand to incorporate the issue of violence against women in the context of HIV/AIDS.
- Elimination of Obstetric Fistula and the Reduction of Maternal and Newborn
Mortality and Morbidity in Liberia
Funding: US $500,000 to UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund)
With properly trained surgeons, well-equipped facilities and the necessary aftercare, the treatment of uncomplicated obstetric fistula has a 90% success rate. The cost is a mere US $300, a small sum to many but well beyond the means of the average woman in Liberia. Building upon the experiences and progress achieved thus far, UNFPA, with Zonta's support, will continue to provide fistula treatment through the proper equipment of health care facilities and the training and capacity strengthening of health care providers to treat fistula.
ZISVAW FUND
ZONTA INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES TO END VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN PROGRAM
Globally, gender-based violence is the most pervasive and least recognized human rights violation. Rooted in inequality, it affects women of every race, class, culture, ethnicity, age and country. Zonta International strives to promote and protect the human rights of all women and girls and reduce the incidence of violence through the Zonta International Strategies to End Violence Against Women (ZISVAW) Program by:
- Supporting prevention and advocacy strategies locally and internationally.
- Awarding grants to United Nations agencies or recognized NGOs for projects that seek to change personal and/or political knowledge, attitudes and behavior contributing to gender-based violence.Increasing awareness and actions related to preventing violence against women by encouraging Zonta
Amelia Earhart Fellowship FUND
Today, women remain a distinct minority in science and engineering, representing approximately 10 percent of professionals in these fields. The Amelia Earhart Fellowship program helps talented women, pursuing advanced studies in the typically male-dominated fields of aerospace-related sciences and engineering, achieve their educational goals. The Fellowship enables these women to invest in state-of-the-art computers to conduct their research, purchase expensive books and resource materials, and participate in specialized studies around the globe. Amelia Earhart Fellows have gone on to become astronauts, aerospace engineers, astronomers, professors, geologists, business owners, heads of companies, even Secretary of the US Air Force.
Jane M. Klausman Fund
Women have made great strides in the pursuit of education, careers and leadership roles they were once denied; however, today, women are still more likely to be pouring the coffee in global boardrooms than sitting on the boards. In 2009, women held only 15.2% of the board seats at Fortune 500 companies according to the Catalyst organization. The Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship program helps women pursue undergraduate and Master's degrees in business management and overcome gender barriers from the classroom to the boardroom.
Young Women in Public Affairs (YWPA)
The progress of women in the last century has dramatically increased the opportunities available to women, yet women's participation in positions of public influence continues to lag behind. Although women account for nearly 50 percent of the workforce, they hold just 18.7 percent of seats in the world's national parliaments as of 31 December 2009, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Zonta International believes young women are the key to women's advancement in the field of public service. The Young Women in Public Affairs (YWPA) Awards program recognizes young women for their demonstrated leadership skills and commitment to public service and civic causes and encourages them to continue their participation in public and political life.
ROSE FUND
The Foundation's annual operating and programs support fund provides unrestricted support to ensure quality management as well as additional support to Foundation programs not fully supported by Fund-specific contributions.