With the exception of perhaps the word security, stick the adjective social in front of any noun nowadays and it is suddenly rendered amicable, manageable, and even hip. Think media and imagine the infinitely vast voices of bias reporting, misreporting, and loyal agendas. Social media on the other hand, well that’s all swell. Networking, though perhaps necessary, is positively obsequious. Social networking? – totally keeping it casual. Engineering evokes highly complex designs and mind-boggling math. Social Engineering (it does exist) sounds quite delightful! Worker: bland. Social worker: tell me more! The word social even makes marketing sound bearable.

What about social justice, then?

I sense, just like the phrase “global development,” the phrase social justice draws us largely to nod our heads knowingly as we acknowledge its familiarity and importance, yet at the same time, somewhere in our subconscious, its magnitude shrouds it in uncertainty. Or perhaps it’s the familiarity itself – the phrase we’ve heard repeated over and over by reporters, politicians, advocates, friends – that causes the disconnect. Maybe it doesn’t really mean anything to us anymore. It is simply an issue in the world and a repertoire in our language.

World Day of Social Justice

The UN has officially recognized today, February 20th, as World Day of Social Justice. And at Jolkona we’re hoping that today you will stop and remember social justice, allow it to move from the nebulous area of your subconscious to the forefront and brightness of your conscience. And then: act upon it.

What can I do?

The UN says it concisely:

“We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.”

Here are three projects you can support via our Jolkona giving platform which tackle social justice:

1. Provide Education for Disabled Children in Nepal. $36 sponsors one disabled child for a month of education. Proof of Impact: You will receive information and a photo of the student you are helping to sponsor.

2. Give Tech and Life Skills to Homeless Women in Seattle. $50 funds a basic life skills class to a group of women. Proof of Impact: you will receive information about the class that you provided.

3. Invest in Women Grassroots Leaders. $100 will supports women leaders participating in iLEAP’s fellowship program by providing a stipend for one week. Proof of Impact: you will receive the name and information about the woman fellow you support.

You can define justice in many ways. But one thing justice does is it puts power in the hands of the powerless. This is why we always talk about empowerment. Because when you donate, you’re not just giving to someone; you’re empowering someone.

Remember social justice. Empower someone today.

Spread social justice via social media: like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and re-pin our pins on Pinterest.

Well known is the fact that the vast majority of the water you “drink” comes from what you eat. The amount of water it takes to produce food, however, is less well known.

Today is UN’s World Water Day. On Tuesday we prefaced this event by posting an infographic about water wastage. This year the UN are highlighting this problem as connected not just to the amount of water we are frittering away down our drains, but to the kinds of food we are consuming.

Here’s why: for example, to produce one potato requires 25 liters of water. On the other hand, to produce a hamburger requires a swimmy 2400 liters of water. A little shy of one hundred times the amount. This means the production of food relies overwhelmingly on the consumption of water. Indeed:

90% of water consumption is used to produce today’s food.

Put another way, food = water. That means wasted food = wasted water. And when it’s calculated that 1/3 of the world’s food production goes to waste, the situation becomes alarmingly critical.

With the world’s mushrooming population and fresh water already in scant supply, to ignore this issue is folly. Worse, it’s tragic. This is a serious ethical problem as the people it unjustly devastates are those in developing countries.

The UN have set out some simple guidelines for the privileged, like you and I, to follow in order to reduce this appalling waste, and therefore to leave greater supplies for those whose lives depend on it:

• Choose a healthier, sustainable diet – food of better quality with less water
• Consume less water-intensive products
• Reduce your food wastage

At Jolkona we support a Clean Water project for women in Kenya. The project provides essential tools for building water construction systems. The aim is to help bring clean water and a sustainable water system to communities, as well as to empower local women to participate in income-generating activities. The project is also featured in our Give2Girls campaign. So far we have reached $13,000. Help us achieve our goal of $15,000 before the end of this Women’s History Month and donate to this project here.The world is thirsty because we are hungry. Quench that thirst. Impact here.

Spread the news and bring awareness to others: -

- Share this post with the people you know

- Tweet using the #WorldWaterDay hashtag

- Follow us on Facebook

For more information and resources about World Water Day go to the UN’s website here.