DECADE OF WOMEN ANNOUNCES YEAR-END MATCH GRANTS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS

Inspired by 2018 Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad, $1M Grant Campaign Announced
For Free Yezidi Foundation and charity: water

Pari Ibrahim, Founder and Executive Director of Free Yezidi Foundation.

Reykjavik, Iceland – December 17, 2018. As part of the Decade Of Women Forum this week in Iceland, 5th Element Group PBC and its partner Solver announced a US $1 million year-end matching grant campaign to benefit women and girls. 

The first non-profit partner selected for the matching funds award is the Free Yezidi Foundation, founded by Pari Ibrahim, which is responding to the brutal genocide of the Yezidi community by ISIS through a variety of strategic support initiatives for women and children, from psychological services to computer skills training, that help these victims re-enter society.

The announcement was inspired by the story of courageous vulnerability told to the world by 2018 Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad, who was made a sex slave by ISIS but escaped and then spoke out to help end the outrage of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and to secure freedom and basic rights for the Yezidi people.

Nadia Murad, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

“Nadia and Pari both remind us that the fight for any cause like this is about a fight for communities, and for the dignity of individual people,” said 5th Element President Jim Van Eerden. “The Yezidi people are emblematic of people in captivity, people neglected, all around the world.”

The second non-profit recipient is charity: water, which has become a global leader in the quest to provide access to clean water. Lack of access disproportionately impacts women and girls, as they are the ones who typically retrieve water (often dirty and often miles away) for their families.

“We’re excited that our funding will help scale charity: water’s successful clean water solution in the Rulindo District to the Gicumbi District in Rwanda and beyond,” said Solver Co-founder Bobby Kia.

The match donation was directed through 5th Element Group PBC and its partner Solver to address the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Funding support was provided by Semnani Family Foundation, in connection with the work of the SDG Impact Fund. This year’s campaigns all involve projects that uplift women and girls and bring attention to key aspects of the effort to help.

In addition to the match funding opportunity, the campaign includes a social media Call to Action to share videos from both Yezidi women leaders as well as Rwandan women leaders who the campaign will be impacting. The Decade Of Women is challenging women and girls around the world to follow these causes, and share the stories of struggle and triumph in any format using hashtag #womenrising.

To donate to the campaigns, visit:
(Euro donations to Free Yezidi Foundation) https://www.freeyezidi.org/donate/
(USD to Free Yezidi Foundation)  https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/27995/free-yezidi-foundation/(All donations to charity: water) https://my.charitywater.org/special-match-campaign/campaigns?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=5thelementfund&utm_campaign=eoy_2018&utm_content=5thelementfund

About Yezidi Freedom Foundation
The Free Yezidi Foundation is designed to assist Yezidis in need. The Foundation was established shortly after terrorists attempted to eradicate the Yezidi people in August 2014. The Free Yezidi Foundation seeks to implement projects to protect and support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community. Give here → https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/27995/free-yezidi-foundation/

About charity: water
Charity: water is a non-profit organization that provides drinking water to people in developing nations. The organization was founded in 2006 and has helped fund 24,537 projects in 24 countries, benefiting over 8.2 million people. Overall, the organization has raised over US$200 million as of January 11, 2016. Give here → https://my.charitywater.org/5th-element-foundation/campaigns

About the Decade Of Women
Launched on International Women’s Day in New York, together with 5th Element Group and Thomson Reuters, the Decade Of Women solutions and action campaign announced their dedication to Completing the Equity Revolution. The Decade Of Women has brought forth a #WeUniteWe Pledge as part of a decade-long series of bold commitments to Celebrate, Unite and Exponentiate the progress of both women and men to complete the gender equity revolution, and realize UN Sustainable Development Goal #5 by 2030. DecadeOfWomen.org

About 5th Element Group PBC
5th Element Group PBC is a global business development accelerator with a mission of delivering frontier technology solutions that achieves the Sustainable Development Goals. 5th Element creates capital that did not exist before, deploy that capital where it has yet to be deployed, and scale new forms of corresponding collaboration. 5th Element’s vision is to help create a new socio-economic era that closes historic gaps in last-mile inclusion. 5thElement.Group

About the Solver
Solver connects people to the leaders achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals through interactive campaigns and innovation prize competitions. Participate in progress with the Solver movement.

About Semnani Family Foundation
The mission of the Semnani Family Foundation is to find creative and effective ways of serving the needs of marginal and vulnerable communities around the world, particularly those whose survival and security is at grave risk or immediate danger due to forces and factors beyond their control. Whether it is helping communities recover from disease, famine, earthquake or war, or promoting research, educational and civic initiatives, we focus our giving where we can make the most difference.

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For press inquiries about Decade Of  Women or 5th Element Group, please contact:

Isabel Schaad | isabel@5thelement.group