The first online funding platform dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women worldwide has been launched to commemorate the first ever International Day of the Girl Child.

Launched by Women Deliver, a global advocacy organisation in New York, USA, the online crowd funding platform is solely dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women.

Crowd funding is rapidly transforming the funding landscape and democratising philanthropy. As of 2011, in the United States alone, charitable giving through crowd funding exceeded 636 million Dollars and grew at a rate of 43 per cent. Over the next three years, Catapult has committed to raise 45 million Dollars. A release issued by Women Deliver and copied to the Ghana News Agency said Women Deliver are partnering with trusted organisations and connecting them with a new online audience.

Catapult is a digital hub driving donations to organisations working to improve the lives of girls and women. It will provide a call to action to help bring an end to gender inequality and harness the power of social networks, Catapult partners with trusted organisations and provides a call to action to help bring an end to gender inequality.

Developed at Women Deliver, and funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Catapult is working with a variety of partners both large and small, including the Global Fund for Women, the United Nations Population Fund, IPPF, the Akilah Institute for Women and One-Heart World-Wide.

To ensure transparency, each Catapult project will include a breakdown of how donations will be applied. Project budgets, including administrative costs, GPS coordinates, and video are all standard features of the platform. Catapult is free for all parties.

The release noted that girls’ and women’s organisations are chronically underfunded, despite their key role in addressing inequality. One-fifth of all women organisations report the threat of closure, and only two cents of every development dollar goes toward adolescent girls.

Founder, Maz Kessler said: “Catapult is a connector. It’s a tool for people to take direct, effective action to create change. Catapult unites online supporters with trusted organisations to help fuel the movement to end inequality for girls and women.”

Organisations could upload their projects to Catapult, and donors can fund the issues that speak to them most, such as agriculture, ending child brides, education, family planning and gender-based violence.

Donors could also learn about projects by following Catapult Curators - thought-leaders championing specific projects in their areas of focus and passion. Curators include actress and advocate Maria Bello; Man Up Campaign Founder Jimmie Briggs; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Director of Family Health Gary Darmstadt; GirlUp Teen Advisor Co-Chair Annie Gersh; and Women Deliver President Jill Sheffield.

Catapult is launching projects in more than 30 countries around the world, including: a Mobile Literacy Class, using mobile phones and texting to accelerate literacy for Afghan girls and women; Birth Waiting Homes for Women in Sierra Leone, housing pregnant women in homes close to hospitals to avoid long, dangerous journeys while in labour; and Empowering Youth to Challenge Early Marriage, helping young people, particularly boys and men, to challenge the underlying attitudes of child marriage.

Mrs. Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation expressed her joy and said: “I am always inspired by the commitment of women I meet in the developing world to create a better future for their families. Investing in women can be transformational for entire societies. Today reminds us that we all have a role to play in unlocking the potential of women and girls.”

Catapult was a featured commitment at the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative meeting and has been endorsed by the World Bank and UN Women.

Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN stressed that the UN Women was proud to support Catapult, adding, “When more people contribute, change comes faster for girls and women.”