Tag Archives: UN Foundation

@GirlUp (by United Nations Foundation)

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Friday Morning Discussion at the UN – RSVP’d!

the UN, on First Ave. - one of many reasons we are grateful to be based in NYC

We are so jazzed to be attending this event tomorrow, a Friday morning breakfast where we’ll listen to a dialogue among the powerful female leaders championing a better future for adolescent girls worldwide. We’ll tweet as much as possible from @shesthefirst and blog our notes — Tammy Tibbetts and Researcher Hannah Brencher will report back soon!

UNITED NATIONS, New York, 22 February 2011—Government ministers and representatives of the United Nations, the private sector and youth organizations will hold a special event to encourage investments in adolescent girls and promote their rights. The event, Invest in the Future: Empower Adolescent Girls Now, is in line with the Joint Statement on Accelerating Efforts to Advance the Rights of Adolescent Girls, issued in March 2010 by the UN Adolescent Girls Task Force, which helps developing countries formulate policies and programmes that empower adolescent girls.

The event is being organized by the UN Adolescent Girls Task Force, which is co-chaired by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and UNICEF, in partnership with the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Women, World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The event, sponsored by the United Nations Foundation, precedes a review of progress in efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child, which will take place during the 55th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

WHY: Adolescent girls play an important role in the present and future economic and social development of their countries. The high-level discussion will underline the United Nations commitment to achieving gender equality and to involving governments, donors, media and the private sector in concrete actions to support adolescent girls.

WHO:

  • Theresa Mwale, Minister of Gender, Child and Community Development, Malawi
  • Sonia Escobedo, Secretaria Presidencial de la Mujer Guatemala
  • Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director
  • Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director
  • Saad Houry, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director
  • Kathy (Bushkin) Calvin, CEO of the United Nations Foundation

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She's the First Attends Girl Up Pep Rally in Los Angeles

I had a chance to speak with Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa about She's the First. I told him we just celebrated our first birthday! As someone with a young daughter himself, I feel he really understands the importance of our mission.

Last week, Girl Up held the Girl Up Pep Rally at Marlborough High School in Los Angeles, and I am honored to have represented She’s the First at the event! The Pep Rally featured a keynote by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, as well as appearances by Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, Olympic gold medalist and swimmer Rebecca Soni, actress Amber Heard, singer David Archuleta, and actress and Special Envoy to the United Nations International Year of the Youth, Monique Coleman.

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

If you didn’t read about the Girl Up campaign when She’s the First attended its launch in NYC on October 1, here’s a quick refresher: Girl Up was created by the United Nations Foundation to address the needs of adolescent girls in developing countries. It prides itself on being a “for girls, by girls” campaign that mobilizes girls in the U.S. to raise awareness and funds to help other adolescent girls become educated, healthy, safe, counted and positioned to be the next generation of thought leaders.

To walk around and visit the various booths that drew attention to the more than 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries who still struggle for the opportunity to go to school, see a doctor, or even be included in their communities, was humbling.

Some stats worth pointing out to She’s the First supporters (as our mission closely aligns with Girl Up):

  • Less than half a cent of every development dollar goes to programs for girls, particularly those ages 10 to 14.
  • Girls make up more than half of the 143 million out-of-school children and youth.
  • One in every seven girls in the developing world are pregnant before the age of 15.

Monique Coleman put it best when she concluded the evening’s events by saying (and I’m paraphrasing), “You are not the future. You are the present.” So, join us in making our present count: Sponsor a girl!

Did you know that medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide?

Girls were asked to send cards of inspiration to girls living in Liberia who have no health care, are often married by age 11, and who don't get the opportunity to go to school.

Girls were encouraged to visit five different booths -- Malawi, Guatemala, Liberia, Ethiopia, and the United States -- to write down one thing they can do to take action right now.


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Celebrating Girl Up! — Oct. 1st in NYC

We started the countdown to our first birthday on November 1st in the most special way!

Last night, on October 1st, exactly one month before our birthday bash at Pop Burger, we were invited to MTV in Times Square to celebrate the launch of Girl Up, the UN Foundation’s campaign to mobilize American girls to raise awareness & funds for United Nations programs that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. Sound familiar? Their call to action to adolescent girls in the US is very similar to the one we give to college students and 20-somethings, inspiring you to creatively and affordably fundraise for girls’ sponsorships at the programs in our global directory of non-profits. Girl Up feels like a sister on the campaign trail for a better future for the world’s girls, and the UN Foundation is a deeply respected role model.

Check out our favorite part of the evening on video below. Girl Up Director Kim Perry, whom She’s the First interviewed during UN Week’s Digital Media Lounge (see here), welcomed four Girl Ambassadors to the stage to share why this cause is important to them. Just be warned, the elementary school girl at the end (and pictured below) will charm you completely.

Ivanka Trump's bracelet for Girl Up, above Asha Patel's bracelet for She's the First

When we left the reception, we received a bracelet Ivanka Trump designed for the Girl Up campaign. Tammy’s wearing it with her She’s the First benefit bracelet — they make a stylish pair. :) Both are available for order starting in mid-October…yet another coincidence that makes our campaigns totally in sync! More information on the She’s the First bracelet, designed by Asha Patel and modeled by singer JoJo, will be dazzling you soon here on the Aspire blog.

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A Times Square Takeover

where the UN Foundation's PSA will play

From September 20-22, world leaders will gather in New York City for the UN’s summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These are the 8 international development goals — end poverty & hunger, achieve universal education and gender equality, combat HIV/AIDS, etc. — that all 192 UN member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by 2015. No small task. Accomplishing them almost sounds like creating a utopia, and we’ve only got four years left…but that doesn’t mean we should give up.

In fact, more than ever, we need to take small steps to collectively make the big leap toward reaching these goals, especially those  for universal education and gender equality. At She’s the First, we’re proud to provide a platform for taking action — with your friends, you can creatively fundraise to sponsor a girl’s education. One girl at a time, we can find a solution.

To remind everyone to play their part, the UN Foundation is airing this 33-second PSA 8 times every hour on the Toshiba Vision screen in Times Square. Keep your eyes peeled for it, New Yorkers!

This month, follow the She’s the First blog to stay involved in September’s meeting of the global minds in New York City. We were selected as one of 50 Young Champions for Women to attend the Women: Inspiration & Enterprise (WIE) Symposium on September 20th, a dynamic new annual conference timed to coincide with the UN summit, and our Ambassador Kaitlin Davis will be reporting for us from the UN Week Digital Media Lounge, September 21st-24th!

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