Vodafone has a history of striving for gender equality, but there is still so much to do. That's why, in 2018, Vodafone Foundation joined forces with Girl Effect to connect 7 million girls in Africa and India to information that can help them break the cycle of poverty.

#ShineALight for girls

Now, with the support of Vodafone's employees, the Foundation are going one step further: #ShineALight for girls has been created to give everyone working at Vodafone a chance to take a stand against gender inequality by helping raise £1 million to address some of the big issues affecting girls today: self-harm, period poverty, trafficking and displacement.

All money raised goes straight to Vodafone Foundation's Girl Fund, a restricted fund dedicated to supporting charitable programmes that use technology to improve girls access to education, informal learning and health services in countries where Vodafone operates. Money raised into the Girl Fund is allocated at the discretion of the Vodafone Foundation Board of Trustees.

OUR CHARITY PARTNERS:

#ShineALight on modern slavery and trafficking:

UNSEEN: An estimated five million children are in slavery worldwide, including in the UK. Unseen is a national charity with one mission: to end slavery. Many of the individuals they support are women and girls who have been exploited, for example by sexual exploitation or forced labour. The Girl Fund will help enable the charity's work supporting both survivors and potential victims of slavery. www.unseenuk.org

#ShineALight on displacement:

HELP REFUGEES: Over half of the 65 million people currently displaced from their homes due to conflict or natural disaster are women and girls, who are at increased risk from sexual abuse, gender based violence and early pregnancy. In 2017 Vodafone employees raised over £1 million through #ChooseLove to support Help Refugees. This year, the Foundation will continue this partnership with Europes largest grassroots distributor of refugee aid through the Girl Fund, to support displaced, asylum seeking and refugee girls in the areas most affected by the crisis. www.helprefugees.org

#ShineALight on self-harm:

SHOUT TEXT HELPLINE: 25% of 14-year-old girls in the UK are reported to have self-harmed and many cite pressures over their appearance, sexuality and behaviour as the cause. Shout, the free text messaging helpline from Mental Health Innovations, offers immediate support to those experiencing such mental health challenges from trained volunteers. Through the Girl Fund, we can help scale up this vital service to give more people the support they need to go from crisis to calm. www.giveusashout.org