This World Humanitarian Day we want to celebrate the life of Jo Cox, a lifelong humanitarian, and champion some of the amazing work that has happened in her name around the world through the Jo Cox Memorial Grants.
Jo dedicated her life to helping others around the world, so it is fitting that we’ve been able to continue this dedication through the grants. We’re more interested in the real human impact of the grants, rather than big numbers, but we wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the incredible data about the number of people whose lives have been impacted. To date, we’ve delivered projects in 17 countries, reaching 82,500 people. Jo was passionate about empowering women and understood the power of building grassroots connections to make change, so it’s really fitting that over 50,000 of the people impacted are women and girls.
At the heart of the grants is the intention to bring about long-term and sustainable change through training and support. This approach brings powerful results, as evidenced by two projects in Uganda. One, dedicated to economically empowering women through capacity-building and business skills, has seen over 500 women reporting an increase in their income since the training. Another supported women to become political leaders ahead of the 2021 general elections in Uganda. And it worked, with 75% of participants successfully winning office! To discover more about the people and projects receiving the grants, head to our Twitter or Instagram where we’re sharing stories from the grants.
We’ve also seen real success in the power of convening and of bringing the grantees together to share and learn from each other. In April 2022, five grantees came together for a learning event in Uganda. They explored what women’s empowerment means to their organisations and the women and girls their projects support, and how they can drive this important work forwards in new and creative ways.
By pooling experience and learning even more value – and even more long-term change – can come from the project. With such tangible benefits coming from the Jo Cox Memorial Grants, we’re making the case to the Government to continue the funding of these vital grants, which make such a difference in empowering women and preventing identity-based violence around the world. Continuing the funding would mean these grants can continue to make a meaningful impact in Jo’s name for years to come.