T (07) 3394 9999 Absentee Line (07) 3394 9964 E email@loreto.qld.edu.au W www.loreto.qld.edu.au PO Box 1726 Coorparoo DC Qld 4151
Volume 13 - 8 May, 2012 Dear Parents and Students As we enter the month of May, the tradi onal me in which we give thanks for our own Mothers, it seems fi ng that we turn our a en on to Mission Day raising awareness for the plight of women and mothers globally. On Mission Day, being held this Friday, we will primarily be raising funds for Mary Ward Interna onal who support, encourage and empower women and girls living in poverty around the world. The following extract is taken from the global poverty project: Women and Poverty Women make up half of the world’s popula on and yet represent a staggering 70% of the world’s poor. For the millions of women living in poverty, their lives are a litany of injus ce, discrimina on and obstacles that get in the way of achieving their basic needs of good health, safe childbirth, educa on and employment. Overcoming these inequali es and ensuring that women benefit from development requires that the needs and desires of women are not only taken into account, but be put front and centre. Women work two‐thirds of the world’s working hours, produce half of the world’s food, but earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than one percent of the world’s property. On average, women earn half of what men earn. Currently, 50 million of the 72 million children currently not enrolled in primary school are girls, and two thirds of the nearly 800 million adults who lack basic literacy skills are women. The impact of educa ng girls is much greater than the individual. It enables women to have a greater impact on reducing poverty in their communi es, as within most communi es, women are responsible for providing food, health care and educa on of their families. As a community we thus pledge our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and in par cular goals 1, 3 and 5: MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Let us Pray:
Target: Achieve full and produc ve employment and decent work for all, including women.
Our most Gracious God,
MDG 3: Promote gender equality + empower women. Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary educa on, by 2015.
We pray for women everywhere: girls, mothers and grandmothers. We pray for their equality: equal opportunity, access to resources and services, and voices that are heard. We pray for greater awareness and ac on: from a world watching and a world responding.
DG 5: Improve maternal health. Target: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ra o. Target: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproduc ve health.
May we have eyes to see, ears to listen and hearts that care. May we work always for the greater Glory of God, empowering women in all we do. Amen.
Jus ce
Sincerity
FREEDOM
Verity
Felicity