Why Cameras For Girls Uses The United Nations SDG's

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious set of 17 global goals that 193 world leaders have committed to achieving by 2030. These goals cover everything from ending poverty and hunger to ensuring decent work and equal pay for all workers, including women and men around the globe.

Through this blog, Cameras For Girls will help you understand how the UN SDGs frame their work and show you how you can make a difference when you know the impact they make on the ground for women in Africa endeavouring to become journalists.

What are the United Nations SDGs?

In response to a growing consensus about the need for fundamental change in how we live our lives, governments agreed on a list of seventeen ambitions. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious global social and economic progress targets to ensure development is prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive. It will take unprecedented levels of collaboration and innovation to meet these goals -while it is behind schedule, it is achievable if we all come together.

What Is Cameras For Girls Doing To Help Achieve The SDGs?

For women living in Uganda, where our charity currently operates, benefiting from receiving a camera to keep and the training we provide, the SDGs can be life-changing, particularly Goal No. 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 

Cameras For Girls has seen first-hand how access to photography training, provided free of charge to young women in developing countries, helps them gain confidence and learn skills that change the trajectory of their lives forever.

Cameras For Girls forms their work around the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG #1 - No Poverty

Working in Africa, I have realized that people living in the developed world think this is an everyday fact of life. Many people, especially women live in poverty because they have limited options for education, work outside the home and autonomy. By changing this and providing skills-based education and support for resources, we can change the status quo for women.

We developed a 4-phase program combining photography, storytelling and business skills to help them level up their knowledge and opportunities to find paid work. At Cameras For Girls, we provide our female students with a camera to keep and a 4-phase program, including an in-person workshop in Kampala, Uganda. We also provide her with 24-7 access to online training, weekly meetings via zoom, monthly assignments, tutorials on how to build a resume and Linkedin profile and more. 

Why do we provide a camera to keep? In many African countries, if a female wants to get a job in journalism or media, she is told she needs to own a camera and know how to use it. Males don't have this requirement. By equipping our females with a digital camera, they can now tell stories that matter to them and their communities, provide themselves with skill and vie for a job based on merit.  

We have seen quick success with this model we have adopted, as 65% of our students now have full-time paid work across the journalism and communications fields. Some have even taken their photography training and started businesses, such as Lydia Nakiwala, who took our 2nd-year workshop in 2019. She started a photography business offering headshots, event photography and weddings and is now ready to employ other females across the three cohorts we have created. This is female empowerment at work!

SDG #5 - Gender Equality

Our work with Cameras For Girls currently takes place in Uganda, but we plan to expand across Africa because the need is great. Females across Africa face gender equality in every phase of their lives. In many, but not all, cases (I want to be clear and not make broad generalizations), girls are told that their role in society does not matter except to be a wife and mother. In many cultures, girls are married off just after puberty, thus being denied an education and a chance for a better life. Many families will opt to educate their sons over their daughters due to societal norms and pressures. Furthermore, in many cases, when a female does obtain further education and gets a job, it's not always on merit, but she has been pressured to pay for the job with money and/or sex. What is her choice when she needs to eat? Or has children and a family to support?

SDG #8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth

Having decent work and economic growth means you are respected, paid well, not disqualified for your gender and given equal opportunities. In Africa and many other developing nations, this is not happening. In North America, we speak about the #metoo and #blacklivesmatter movements, among many others. Change is happening here, but what about our African sisters?

Movements similar to what is happening in Iran are potent methods to start discussions. Still, unless we join as a worldwide community, we cannot affect change from within, and worse, women cannot come out on top!

The SDGs we adopted relate to the previous two points above. We empower our female students to seek paid work – not voluntary positions.

While voluntary positions will give them great experiences, sometimes the organizations do not hire them – as they are getting their workforce and skills for free.

Writing this as I sit in Canada, it's easy for me to say how it should be; however, sadly, it's not always the case. For instance, I recently assisted one of our students in redoing her resume as she had an opportunity to apply for a communications position with a big organization in Uganda. They whole-heartedly took her on – but not for the paid position she applied for. Instead, they hired an unqualified male candidate for the job.

How Do The SDGs Impact Poverty in Africa?

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are designed to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030. In order to do so, we must focus on making significant changes in our environment and society. We can reach these goals by creating jobs for women in Africa. Women often lack opportunities in developing countries, but they can make huge strides with a bit of help.

Our charity's mission was designed to meet the UN SDGs head-on. By providing an opportunity for girls and women to learn how to document their lives through photography and video storytelling. These skills will empower them, give them a voice, and help them earn a living wage. Seeing women thrive brings hope for others who are struggling - it shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

What Can You Do To Help Achieve The SDGs?

There are many ways to be a part of this global effort. The most important thing is to educate yourself about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how they affect you. You may want to read up on what each goal means for your lifestyle. Learn how to make a difference in your community by volunteering or spreading awareness about these issues. It only takes one person to change the world! What can you do, personally?

Cameras For Girls is an organization that provides cameras to girls in Africa to create a safe space to share their stories while empowering them as leaders. By donating on our website, you will provide one girl with a digital camera, teach her how to use it, and support our work within the SDG framework impacting females in Africa to lead better lives.