Presentation of the 2012 Women for Education Award on Friday 12 October 2012 at the Women’s Forum

For the sixth year in a row, the Women’s Forum and the Elle Foundation, joined by the Orange and Sanofi Espoir foundations, presented the Women for Education Award to an NGO that works to promote women’s financial emancipation and access to education and healthcare.

This year, the EAST (Eau, Agriculture et Santé en milieu Tropical – water, farming and health in the tropics) association was recognized for its Madagascar project. Dr Monjour, chair of the association, came to accept the €30,000 award on behalf of the Malagasy teams.

Christine Albanel (Orange Foundation), Caty Forget (Sanofi Espoir Foundation),
Dr. Monjour (chair of Madagascar’s EAST association), Véronique Morali (Women’s Forum)
and Karine Guldemann (Elle Foundation)

The winning project is a perfect fit with the objectives of the call for projects launched last year by the Elle, Orange and Sanofi Espoir foundations, which sought a programme that serves women and contributes to their education and improved access to healthcare thanks to information and communication technology.

In the context of a comprehensive programme implemented in two districts of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, EAST supports the Associations Féminines de Promotion de l’Hygiène et de la Santé (AFHYS – women’s associations to promote health and hygiene). The winning project aims to supplement the traditional education and preventive-healthcare methods employed in these communities. Its goal is to increase the literacy skills of women appointed as “health messengers” and to train them in information technology with a view to effecting faster change in the local population’s hygiene, sanitation and community-health practices.

Created in 2007 by Elle magazine, the Elle Foundation and the Women’s Forum, the Women for Education initiative has already honoured associations working in Afghanistan, India, Ethiopia, Mexico and Haiti. In 2011, it supported the launch of the AMREF Flying Doctors’ international “Stand up for African Mothers” campaign, which promotes improved maternity care and training for midwives.