The nominations are in for the 12 Days of Charitable Giving 2010. Our fifth of twelve charities to be featured this year is Engender Health, a leading international reproductive health organization working to improve the quality of health care in the world’s poorest communities.
Here’s what our nominee had to say:
The first charity is EngenderHealth (http://www.engenderhealth.org), an international nonprofit that works to improve health care systems in developing countries. EngenderHealth particularly focuses on maternal health (e.g. safe pregnancy, safe delivery, safe motherhood), family planning (delaying or spacing children), HIV/AIDS, obstetric fistula, and many other reproductive health issues. It also does a lot with gender equality, working to reducing gender-based violence and changing cultural opinions toward women, to improve their status. My wife and I have been personally interested in both family planning and gender equality for many years. We were married for ten years before we had kids, and that wasn’t by chance, if you catch my drift; family planning in action. (no, not abortion!!! family planning is not abortion!!!) And she and I have been working against gender inequality here in the U.S. for many years, in our workplaces and churches. So I support EngenderHealth through donations — but in full disclosure, I liked the place so much that I took a job there. So maybe that discounts my recommendation. But I wouldn’t take a job there if I didn’t truly believe it was doing great work. To make a donation, go to http://www.engenderhealth.org/donate/. (Heads up: in December, they will announce a matching gift program, so every donation will be doubled, up to a certain $ amount.)
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As to our nominee’s last point, there is, in fact, a matching campaign going on right now.