Former super-model Christy Turlington-Burns is a well known advocate for maternal health. She recently channeled her activism into a film that takes a hard look at the global plague of maternal mortality. Her documentary, No Women No Cry debuted at the Tribecca Film Festival in April. Earlier this month, Turlington screened the film at the United Nations for Ban Ki Moon and other diplomats.
Ed note: This week UN Dispatch and RH Realty Check are pleased to host a special series of blog posts on empowering adolescent girls in the developing world. We are calling the series "Girls Count," which is the name of a series of reports from the Coalition for Adolescent Girls which seeks to elevate the profile of adolescent girls on the international development agenda and within strategies to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals"
Ed note: This week UN Dispatch and RH Realty Check are pleased to host a special series of blog posts on empowering adolescent girls in the developing world. We are calling the series "Girls Count," which is the name of a series of reports from the Coalition for Adolescent Girls which seeks to elevate the profile of adolescent girls on the international development agenda and within strategies to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals"
Ed note: This week UN Dispatch and RH Realty Check are pleased to host a special series of blog posts on empowering adolescent girls in the developing world. We are calling the series "Girls Count," which is the name of a series of reports from the Coalition for Adolescent Girls which seeks to elevate the profile of adolescent girls on the international development agenda and within strategies to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals"
Ed note: This week UN Dispatch and RH Realty Check are pleased to host a special series of blog posts on empowering adolescent girls in the developing world. We are calling the series "Girls Count," which is the name of a series of reports from the Coalition for Adolescent Girls which seeks to elevate the profile of adolescent girls on the international development agenda and within strategies to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals"
For the past several months there has been an on going effort at the UN to combine four disparate UN agencies that deal with womens' and gender issues under the leadership of one single under-secretary general. Inside UN circles, this is clumsily referred to as the "Gender Entity" process. And at 3:30 this afternoon, the General Assembly unanimously voted to bring this effort to life.
Heads of state, ministers and other dignitaries are assembling in Toronto and Huntsville, in the province of Ontario, for the G8/G20 summit. While Canada has hosted several G8 meetings in the past decades (the last one in 2002, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien), this year’s iteration of the political summit, with its inclusion of the G20 countries, is a first for the host country. In the lead up to the meetings, the government of Canada has had to contend with much criticism, both on the organizational side and some of the policy dimensions of the summit.
I thought folks might be interested in another one of my talk radio day interviews at the UN. I sat down with Moae Doraid, deputy executive director of UNIFEM. We talk about the role of UNIFEM in the constellation of UN programs and agencies advocating for women and about a new effort underway at the UN to bring all of these gender and women-focused agencies under the same management structure.
As Women Deliver wrapped up its third and final day, a tangible sense of excitement and accomplishment was running through the conference center's halls. The day began with actress and advocate Ashley Judd moderating a panel of courageous young people who were making a difference in their countries. From the young Afghan woman, Maihan Wali, captain of her country's national basketball team, to the 20 year-old Ugandan activist Esther Namataka, each panelist shared their journey as change makers during what was arguably one of the most emotion-ridden Women Deliver plenaries.