General 4 — Zonta Northern Beaches

Make gender equality a reality.

The Foundation manages the funding and delivers the projects that improves women's lives, their children's lives and the communities in which they live and work.

Since 1923, Zonta International has provided more than $45.9m USD to empower women and girls and expand their access to education, health care, economic opportunities and safe living conditions.

Adolescent Girls’ Health in Peru

One Program tackles issues in Peru. Adolescents, especially girls, must have opportunities to empower themselves so they can speak up for their rights and develop the self-confidence and autonomy needed to take control of their lives and bodies. Significant inequities based on gender, age, geographic location, ethnicity and income persist for many Peruvian adolescents.

From 2020-2022, Zonta International contributed US$1,000,000 to UNICEF USA for the project. For the next two years, Zonta has committed US$750,000 to improve the capacity of services to respond to the health needs of adolescents, in particular adolescent girls, in a timely manner and prevent all forms of violence in schools and other services in Ucayali, Loreto, Huancavelica and Northern Lima. The project is expected to reach 50,364 adolescents (24,829 girls) in these four regions. Read all about it here.

Ending Child Marriage

Another Program actively tackles girls being married off in developing countries. Globally, 21% of girls are married while they are still children, robbing them of their childhood.

In the last decade, about 25 million child marriages have been prevented. However, due to COVID-19, an additional 10 million girls are at risk of becoming child brides by 2030. The pandemic is fueling increased risk for child marriages by interrupting education, creating food and economic insecurity, disrupting programs and services, increasing adolescent pregnancy, and causing deaths of parents and caregivers. Learn more about it here.

These humbling stories demonstrate the impact Zontians are having worldwide.

Join us in making gender equality a reality for women and girls worldwide. 100% of all donations to the Zonta Foundation for Women go directly to program support. The administrative expenses of the Foundation are covered by a grant from Zonta International and interest income.