“I want to be a nurse.” This comment was made in response to my age old question of, “What would you like to be when you grow up?” I’ve asked this question to children in the United States, but this time I was in Uganda, speaking with a 14-year-old girl, Malacondia, who attends St. Luke’s Primary School in the northern part of Uganda, near the border with South Sudan. The school educates children from Uganda as well as refugees from South Sudan, displaced by the horrific unrest there. Not … [Read more...]
The First-Ever World Humanitarian Summit, Take Aways!
June 2, 2016 by
“We are one humanity, with a shared responsibility. Let us resolve here and now not only to keep people alive, but to give people a chance at life in dignity.” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke those words to open the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, which took place May 23-24 and included 9,000 participants from across the world and across sectors. They represented over 170 countries and came from UN agencies, aid organizations, governments, businesses, faith groups, … [Read more...]
“Her Goals, Her Future”, Sustainable Development Goals
May 16, 2016 by
On May 16, over 5,000 people from around the world (leaders, advocates, policymakers, journalists, and researchers) will descend upon Copenhagen for the fourth Women Deliver conference. In the world of international development, any conference that includes thousands of people, no matter how interesting or important the focus, is likely to receive some degree of criticism –ranging from questions about usefulness, cost, and objectives to outright eye rolling. But there are times when a … [Read more...]
MDG momentum – Post 2015
October 2, 2014 by
Providing key information for MDG momentum UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals while speaking at a high-level event convened by the MDG Advocacy Group on 25 September. Organized by UN DESA in collaboration with a number of partners, the event featured the launch of a new publication as well as a data tool visualizing 14 years’ worth of MDG data from UN DESA’s Statistics Division. Gathering 300 global leaders, … [Read more...]
UN Foundation, Elizabeth Gore
September 3, 2014 by
Can becoming an entrepreneur help a refugee live a better life? I recently had the opportunity to join the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for a visit to the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, where I met seven incredible women entrepreneurs who have formed the Twitezimbere tailoring group. And through them, I learned the answer is yes. Despite the challenges they’ve faced, these women have been able to create and grow a business serving their neighbors in the eighth largest … [Read more...]
A Roadmap for Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment
September 17, 2013 by
When women are economically empowered, their families, communities, and nations prosper – but until now a critical research gap has existed on the most successful ways to spur women’s economic advancement. That's why the United Nations Foundation teamed up with the ExxonMobil Foundation to look at original and existing research on what works best in a variety of contexts. The result is a first-of-its-kind report, A Roadmap for Promoting Women's Economic Empowerment, which shows proven … [Read more...]
Ted Turner – MAN of ACTION™
July 18, 2013 by
A Celebration of Women™ is honored to Celebrate the Life of one of our world's most prolific leaders among men through our Celebration Tribute. This powerhouse has lead the way in many areas of business with a focus on media his entire life. We celebrate him here today for his magnificent generosity, actions that have changed the world of philanthropy forever, blazing a new path in our world. Globally recognized as a mogul of industry, this man of courage started his work in the … [Read more...]
1000 Days to Take Action, Keep the Momentum Going
April 16, 2013 by
What is Momentum1000? April 5th, 2013 marked the 1,000-day milestone until the 2015 target date to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a development framework to improve lives worldwide. On that day, a community of individuals, organizations, and institutions celebrated successes to date, reinvigorated discussion on the MDGs themselves, and began to advance a post-2015 development framework that builds on #MDGmomentum. Momentum1000 April 5th, 2013 marked the 1,000-day … [Read more...]
What Really Matters? – Leave a comment…and change a life!
Blogust is a month-long digital dialogue bringing 31 of the most influential online writers together to help change the world through their words. The 31 Blogust bloggers will participate in a blog relay, with one blogger posting each day for the month of August 2013. Every comment they receive to their posts throughout the month will trigger a donation by Walgreens to provide a vaccine for a child in need around the world. Every 20 seconds, a child dies of a disease that could have … [Read more...]