International Women’s Day is celebrated globally on March 8, and throughout the month of March as a whole. It is a day that marks the economic, social, and political achievements of women.

Good Return, an innovative non-profit organisation is asking Australians to support poor women in the Asia Pacific, who need small loans to start or build a business. This will help lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

These loans can be as small as $25 but make a HUGE difference.

What can you do to help?

Visit the Good Return website and have a look at the list of women who need loans. Each woman, who is seeking a loan, has a photo and a little biographical paragraph about themselves. Also included is the type of business they need the loan for. We can see how much money they need and how close they are to reaching their goal.

Making a loan with Good Return is easy! Just follow the steps below.

1. Choose a borrower and pledge a loan amount

2. When the loan is in your basket you can decide to make it a straight loan or you can choose to donate the loan

3. Pay for your loan using your PayPal account, Visa Card or Mastercard (find out more about Good Return and PayPal here)

4. Choose to receive an email notification of each loan repayment and automatically receive a summary of the loan impact with the final repayment notification

5. Get access to your repaid loan funds after the borrower makes their final repayment

6. Re-lend to a new borrower, donate the funds to Good Return, or withdraw your funds.

So instead of going out for dinner, why not get takeaway and put the extra money towards a $25 loan so a woman can start her own business?

Why not inspire young women that you know, your daughter, a niece or family friend to appreciate the opportunities they have here by giving them a Good Return gift certificate so they can choose a woman to loan to?

EMPOWER A WOMAN LIVING IN POVERTY ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY