EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL MARCH 6, 2014 12:00 AM EST
Contact:
Janna Oberdorf, Women Deliver
joberdorf@womendeliver.org
Stephanie Platis, Global Health Strategies
splatis@globalhealthstrategies.com
10 Young Leaders, 10 Promising Solutions to Benefit Girls & Women
Women Deliver Awards US$50,000 in Seed Grants to Young Advocates in Africa, Asia & Latin America
March 6, 2014, New York, NY – Today, in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Women Deliver
awarded seed grants of US$5,000 each to 10 young people to support projects aimed at advancing girls’ and
women’s health and rights in their communities.
Women Deliver also launched an online voting competition that will allow the public to vote for the project
they believe will have the greatest impact. Voting will close on March 20 at 5 PM EST, and the winner will
receive an additional US$500 for his or her project.
“These young advocates were chosen from every corner of the globe for their ingenuity, ambition and promise,”
said Jill Sheffield, Founder and President of Women Deliver. “Our grants will give these rising stars the tools,
support and funding they need to change girls’ and women’s lives in their communities and beyond.”
The Women Deliver C-Exchange Seed Grants were funded by Johnson & Johnson and WomanCare Global. Both
are members of the C-Exchange, a Women Deliver-led private sector forum that also includes Bayer HealthCare
Pharmaceuticals, GE, HRA Pharma Foundation, MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Merck (known as MSD outside
the United States). The C-Exchange offers and encourages opportunities for public-private and private-private
collaboration to improve maternal and reproductive health.
“We know that if we want to advance girls’ and women’s health globally, we cannot act alone,” said Saundra
Pelletier, CEO of WomanCare Global. “Collaboration is critical – and the Women Deliver C-Exchange helps forge
partnerships across sectors to deliver for girls and women everywhere.”
At the Women Deliver 2013 conference, the C-Exchange launched a Youth Initiative to create new opportunities
to engage and empower youth.
“Young people have fresh, new ideas to overcome maternal and reproductive health challenges in their
communities, but they do not always have the means to transform proposals into projects,” said Joy Marini,
Executive Director of Corporate Contributions at Johnson & Johnson. “The C-Exchange Seed Grants are
investments in young people, their creativity and, ultimately, our future.”
Seed grant recipients were selected from a group of outstanding young advocates under the age of 30, known as
the Women Deliver 100 Young Leaders. Applicants were required to complete an e-course that helped hone
their skills on advocacy project management and development, and proposals were assessed by an internal
review board.
The selected projects will tackle a range of sexual and reproductive health-related issues, including increasing
access to youth-friendly services and information in Uganda; helping young urban mothers change policy in
Mexico; and ending child marriage in rural Zimbabwe.
“The Women Deliver Young Leaders Program has helped me to develop the skills I need to be a strong and
impactful advocate for young women in Tanzania,” said seed grant recipient Maureen Anyango Oduor, who is
the Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Coordinator at African Peace Ambassadors Tanzania (APAT).
“Thanks to this grant, I will have an opportunity to launch my own mobile health campaign to ensure that young
girls in my community have better access to critical health information and services.”
Please visit our website to learn more about our 10 young leaders and their 10 promising projects, or to
participate in our online voting competition.
Full List of Women Deliver 10 Winners (In alphabetical order by name)

Ajidagba Emman Babatunde (Tunde), Nigeria, Campus Health & Rights Initiative
Campus Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion Initiative: Protecting university students against
HIV/AIDS and sexually-transmitted infections.

Cecilia García Ruiz, Mexico, Espolea
Adolescent and Youth Motherhood Project: Helping young Mexican mothers speak out about their sexual
and reproductive health needs.

Chukwudera Bridget Okeke, Nigeria, Concern Women International Development Initiative
Reducing the Burden of HIV/AIDS Among Female Sex Workers and Their Clients: Empowering female sex
workers to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS.

Humphrey Nabimanya, Uganda, Reach a Hand Uganda (RAHU)
Peer Educators Academy: Enabling young people to advocate for reproductive health services and rights.

Martin E. Wanzala, Uganda, Allied Youth Initiative
Better-Quality Access for Youth: Bringing organizations together to achieve policy change in Uganda.

Maureen Anyango Oduor, Tanzania, African Peace Ambassadors Tanzania
Plan at Hand Girl Empowerment Project: Using mobile technology to deliver reproductive health education
and services to adolescent girls.

Nargis Shirazi, Uganda, WO-MAN Foundation
Full and Richly Empowered About Sexual Health: Inspiring creative solutions to improve the reproductive
health of Uganda’s urban youth.

Numfor Alenwi Munteh, Cameroon, Cameroon Agenda for Sustainable Development
Adolescent Pregnancies: Traditional Rulers Speak Out: Engaging traditional leaders to reduce adolescent
pregnancy.

S M Shaikat, Bangladesh, SERAC-Bangladesh
Jagoroni – Social Rising for Dowry and Early Marriage Prevention: Equipping youth to monitor and address
child marriage and dowry violence.

Yemurai Nyoni, Zimbabwe, Bulawayo Youth Development Organization
Rising Birds Project: Combating child marriage through youth-led community organizing.
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ABOUT WOMEN DELIVER:
Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization bringing together voices from around the world to call for
action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women. Women Deliver works globally to generate
political commitment and resource investments to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to
reproductive health. For more information, visit www.womendeliver.org.
To learn more about these issues, download a new toolkit, “Invest in Girls and Women: Everybody Wins,” that
features infographics, data points and key messages to make the case for investing in health, education, and
equality of girls and women.