Irish charity targets gender inequality

DEVELOPMENT AID charity Plan Ireland has launched a fund to help women’s projects in developing countries.

The “Because I Am A Girl” fund has been introduced to coincide with the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, which takes place today.

The fund will be used to fight gender inequality and promote women’s rights in the developing world.

Girls are three times more likely to suffer from malnutrition and 100 million more girls than boys cannot read or write.

Plan Ireland chief executive David Dalton described girls in the developing world as the “most vulnerable and neglected group”.

Plan Ireland is already involved in two projects which are focused on mothers.

A pilot community-managed nutrition programme in Indonesia is aimed at reducing the number of undernourished children under five years of age.

It aims to focus on training volunteers and health staff to teach communities about infant health and to provide training to mothers and care-givers.

The charity is also involved in a similar project in Ghana where it is engaged with parents in a behavioural change support project focusing on maternal and child healthcare.