Young delegates with Plan CEO Nigel Chapman at the African Union youth takeover in Addis Ababa 16 June 2014: Children from across Africa have taken over the African Union building in Addis Ababa today – kicking off 10 days of global action for increased investment in education. Plan-supported youths from Sierra Leone, Egypt, Malawi, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Norway, Liberia, Kenya and Germany all took part in the action in the Ethiopian capital, where they called on governments across the … [Read more...]
Girls interrupted – 10 Days To Act
World Pulse, Last Phase of the WWW Campaign!
Share Your Thoughts on Digital Empowerment! Today, we are excited to announce the launch of the third phase of our WWW: Women Weave the Web Campaign—Digital Empowerment! How has the Internet empowered you to achieve your goals? Has it helped you find resources, connect with interesting people, get inspired? The Internet can serve a different purpose for every single person—tell us how the Internet has helped you find a job, start a business, or learn something new! Write in your journal and … [Read more...]
Uniting for youth beyond 2015
“You have the energy to transform the world,” said the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi, encouraging youth worldwide to partner with the United Nations as the global community embarks on the road to sustainable development beyond 2015. The UN is working in many different ways to ensure that the voices of youth are heard. As part of these efforts, ECOSOC is hosting its Youth Forum on 2-3 June. There are 1.2 billion young people in the world today. It is the largest … [Read more...]
Beijing What?!
Yiping Cai attended the NGO Forum of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing as a young journalist and youth participant. Today at the age of 43, she lives in Beijing, China, and is an Executive Committee member of the international feminist network DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era) as well as a member of UN Women's Asia-Pacific Regional Civil Society Advisory Group. You can just imagine a young Chinese grad at Beijing Conference with little idea what it’s … [Read more...]
Celebrating Andrea Lewis in Toronto, MAY 22
Please join us on Thursday, May 22nd for the next Creative Class & Cocktails | The BossHood Edition In this session we will be interviewing Andrea Lewis - Actress, Producer & Singer. We'll unpack "the boss hood mentality" and how to use it to make your dreams a reality. You'll discover what it takes to get to the top of your career and live an amazing life. And of course we will have lots of time for Q & A. Reserve your ticket today and I'll see you there. Andrea’s artistic … [Read more...]
Quetelle Duncombe, “Tranforming today’s princess to tomorrow’s Queen!”
"Tranforming today's princess to tomorrow's Queen! It's not what you been through but, where you are going to!! " My name is Quetell Duncombe, aka Coach QLD, a sexual abuse survivor, activist against child abuse, violence against women, mentor and founder of The Princess Maker Movement. I was molested from the aged was of 7 years old that I can recall and rejected for telling my family in an effort to get help and be protected. Needless to say, I didn't get the help nor protection and … [Read more...]
Why Do Some Girls Count more than others?
The young girls had finished their school work and settled in for the evening. It had been a long weekend of studying for everyone. On Monday, the entire school had an important exam on the workings of government. It was a tough test, so all the female students - over 200 of them - had spent the past two days focusing on doing their best. Like young people all over the world, they had many things on their minds; family, friends, and perhaps the future with all its promises. But that Sunday night … [Read more...]
Empowering Women-Empowering Humanity: Picture it!
In 2015, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will undertake a third global review of progress (Beijing+20) made in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Beijing+20 offers an opportunity for stakeholders to mobilize and partner for renewed political commitment and action for gender equality and women's and girls' empowerment. This month, UN Women kick-started a global … [Read more...]
New York’s Lincoln Center stage April 3-5, 2014
What is Girl Rising? Girl Rising is a global campaign for girls’ education. We use the power of storytelling, leveraged through partnerships, to share the simple truth that educating girls can transform societies. Girl Rising unites girls, women, boys and men who believe every girl has the right to go to school and the right to reach her full potential. Our mission is to change the way the world values the girl. The film, behind-the-scenes videos, advocacy trailers and a free … [Read more...]
Contributions of Women .. Post-2015 Development Agenda
“The Contributions of Women, the Young and Civil Society to the Post-2015 Development Agenda.” On 6-7 March, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly is hosting a high-level event entitled, “The Contributions of Women, the Young and Civil Society to the Post-2015 Development Agenda.” This event, designed to build on the already substantial contributions of women, youth and civil society to the post-2015 debate, will address a number of cross-cutting issues relevant including gender … [Read more...]
Restore Human Rights in Ukraine!
Stand Up Against Police Violence in Ukraine! The government in Ukraine is cracking down on protests using cruel and violent techniques. Demand an end to human rights violations in Ukraine. Tear-gassed. Smoke-bombed. Attacked with bats. Forced to take off their clothes to be beaten in below-freezing weather. And sometimes, even shot to death. In Ukraine, protesters are risking extreme levels of violence to stand up for what they believe in. In the last week, the largely peaceful protests … [Read more...]
Celebrating Global Issues and UN Priorities at Davos
UN Foundation President & CEO Kathy Calvin at an event in Davos on the importance of empowering girls. Highlighting Global Issues and UN Priorities at Davos Last month, the UN Foundation helped put your voice front and center at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The discussions highlighted issues that UN supporters like you care about: climate change, the empowerment of girls, youth leadership, and more. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Foundation President … [Read more...]
China Feminist Battles Sexual Violence, Step by Step
A hundred days. That’s how long it took Xiao Meili to walk from Beijing, in the arid north, to the humid, central city of Changsha. Since September, the 24-year-old has been trekking south and west across the Chinese heartland, along rumbling highways, around construction sites, down dusty streets. She stops along the way to send letters to local officials. Her plea: China must change the way it handles sex abuse. That request is bolder than it might seem. In China, as elsewhere, it is … [Read more...]
Criminalize or De-criminalize, that is the question!
A group of organizations have launched a campaign against a move by UN Women, a United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, to decriminalize pimping, buying sex and brothel-keeping. "Such a move will fuel huge sex-trafficking as those who buy and sell women will get off scot free," Ruchira Gupta of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an anti-sex trafficking NGO, told reporters here today. Apne Aap was founded by twenty-two women from Mumbai’s red light … [Read more...]
Brazil’s child sex trade soars, as 2014 World Cup nears
Brazil's child sex trade: Jessica, 16, who was arrested during a raid at a sex club, shows her tattoo at a shelter for girls in Fortaleza. Photograph: Reuters A tiny figure in minuscule white shorts and a pink strapless top leans against a metal fence outside a school in Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará state, north-east Brazil. She has gloss-coated lips, and her yellow headband, holding back long hair, glows in the lamplight along Juscelino Kubitschek Avenue, which connects the city … [Read more...]