Taken from the book “HALF THE SKY” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The first step is the hardest, so here are several things you can do right now:

I told you I would get you the list of organizations you can help support.  Here they are!!!

1.    Go to www.globalgiving.org or www.kiva.org and open an account.  Both sites are people-to-people (P2P), meaning that they link you directly to a person in need overseas, and this makes them an excellent way to dip your toe in.  Global Giving lets you choose a grass-roots project to which to give money in education, health, disaster relief, or more than a dozen other areas around the developing world.  Kiva lets you do the same for microlending to entrepreneurs.  Browse the sites to get a sense of the needs and donate or lend money to those that appeal to you, perhaps as a gift to a family member or a friend.  Or try a third site, www.givology.com, started by students at the University of Pennsylvania to help children in developing countries pay for primary school.  The site initially focused on China but now has since expanded to India and Africa.  On Global Giving, for example, we have supported a program to keep runaway girls in Mumbai from entering prostitution, while on Kiva we lent money to a woman making furniture in Paraguay.

2.    Sponsor a girl or a woman through Plan International, Women for Women International, World Vision, or American Jewish World Service.  We ourselves are sponsors through Plan and we exchange letters and have visited our children in the Philippines, Sudan, and Dominican Republic.  Sponsorship is also a way to teach your children that not all kids have iPods.

3.    Sign up for e-mail updates on www.womensenews.org and a similar service, www.worldpulse.com.  Both distribute information about abuses of women and sometimes advise on actions that readers can take.

4.    Join the CARE Action Network at www.can.care.org.  This will assist you in speaking out, educating policy makers, and underscoring that the public wants action against poverty and injustice.  This kind of citizen advocacy is essential to create change.  As we’ve said this movement won’t be led by the president or by members of Congress, any more than their historical counterparts led the civil rights or abolitionist movements-but if leaders smell votes, they will follow.  The government will act where our national interests are at stake; however, history has repeatedly shown that where our values are at stake, leadership must come from ordinary citizens like you.

These four steps are simply a way to break the ice.  After you have done that, browse the organizations listed in the appendix, find one that seems particularly meaningful-and dive in.  Join forces with some friends or form a giving club to multiply the impact.  Now let’s get on with it and speed up the day when women truly hold up half the sky.

34 Million Friends of UNFPA, www.34millionfriends.org, supports the work of the UN Population Fund.  It is a similar to Americans for UNFPA, www.americansforunfpa.org.

Afghan Institute of Learning, www.creatinghope.org, operates schools and other programs for women and girls in Afghanistan and in the border areas of Pakistan.

American Assistance for Cambodia, www.cambodiaschools.com , has fought trafficking and now has a program to subsidize poor girls so that they remain in school.

Apne Aap, www.apneaap.org, battles sex slavery in India, including in remote areas in Bihar that get little attention.  Apne Aap welcome American volunteers.

Association for Women’s Rights in Development, www.awid.org, is a global organization focused on women’s rights.

Averting Maternal Death and Disability, www.amddprogram.org, is a leading organization focused on women’s rights.

BRAC, www.crac.net is a terrific Bangladesh-based aid group that is now expanding in Africa and Asia.  It has an office in New York City and accepts interns. Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), www.camfed.org, supports schooling for girls in Africa.

CARE, www.care.org, increasingly has focused on women and girls.

Center for Development and population Activities (CEDPA), www.cedpa.org, works on issues related to women and development.

Center for Reproductive Rights, www.reproductiverights.org, based in New York, focuses on reproductive health worldwide.

Central Asia Institute, www.ikat.org, run by Greg Mortenson (author of Three Cups of Tea), provides education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, for girls in particular.

ECPAT, www.ecpat.net, is a network of groups fighting child prostitution, particularly in Southeast Asia

Edna Adam Maternity Hospital, www.ednahospital.org, provides maternity care in Somaliland.  It welcomes volunteers.

Engender Health, www.engenderhealth.org, focuses on reproductive health issues in the developing world.

Equality Now, www.equalitynow.org, lobbies against the sex trade and gender oppression around the world.

Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, www.etwla.org, mobilizes Ethiopian women to fight for equal rights.

Fistula Foundation, www.fistulafoundation.org, supports the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia, established by Reg and Catherine Hamlin.

Girls Helping Girls, www.empoweragirl.org, was founded in 2007 by a fifteen year-old California girl, Sejal Hathi.  It builds relationships between girls across continents and supports education and health programs in fifteen countries

Global Fund for Women, www.globalfundforwomen.org, operates like a venture capital fund for women’s groups in poor countries.

Global Grassroots, www.globalgrassroots.org, is a young organization focused on women in poor countries, particularly Sudan.

Grameen Bank, www.grameen-info.org, pioneered microfinance in Bangladesh and has now branched into an array of development programs.

Heal Africa, www.healafrica.org, runs a hospital in Goma, Cong, that repairs fistulas and tens to rapevictims.  It welcomes volunteers.

Hunger Project, www.thp.org, focuses on empowerment of women and girls to end hunger.

International Center for Research on Women, www.icrw.org, emphasizes gender as the key to economic development.

International Justice MMission, www.ijm.org, is a Christian-based organization that fights sex trafficking.

International Women’s health Coalition, www.iwhc.org, based in New York, has been a leader in the struggle for reproductive health rights around the globe.

New Light, www.newlightindia.org, is Urmi Basu’s organizations to help prostitutes and their children in Kolkata.  India.  It welcomes volunteers.

Population Services International, www.psi.org, is based in Washington, D.C., and makes fine use of the private sector in reproductive health.

Pro mujer, www.promujer.org, supports women in Latin America through microfinance and business training.

Safer Birth in Chad, www.saferbirthinchad.org, supports maternal health programs in Chad.

Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), www.sewa.org, is a huge union for poor, self-employed women in India.  It accepts volunteers.

Shared Hope International, www.sharedhop.org, fights sex trafficking around the world.

Somaly Mam Foundation, www.somaly.org, led by a woman who as a child was trafficked herself, fights sex slavery in Cambodia.

Tostan, www.tostan.org, is one of the most successful organizations in overcoming female genital cutting in Africa.  It accepts interns.

Vital Voices, www.vitalvoices.org, supports women’s right in many countries and has been particularly active in fighting trafficking.

White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, www.whiteribbonalliance.org, campaigns against maternal mortality around the world.

Women for Women International, www.womenforwomen.org, connects women sponsors with needy women in conflict or post conflict countries.

Women’s Dignity Project, www.womensdignity.org, cofounded by an American woman, facilitates the repair of obstetric fistulas in Tanzania.

Women’s Learning Partnership, www.learningpartnership.org, emphasized women’s leadership and empowerment in the developing world.

Women’s Refugee Commission, www.womensrefugeecommission.org, is linked to the International Rescue Committee and focuses on refugee women and children.

Women’s World Banking, www.womensworldbanking.org, supports microfinance institutions around the world that assist women.

Women Thrive Worldwide, www.womenthrive.org, is an international advocacy group focused on the needs of women in poor countries.

Worldwide Fistula Fund, www.worldwidefistulafund.org, works to improve maternal health and is building a fistula hospital in Niger.

Worth, www.worthwomen, org, runs literacy and microsavings programs in Nepal and Africa, with the aim of helping women earn their own incomes.

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