Strengthening UN Capacity
Partnering with the United Nations is central to our approach to tackling the world’s most pressing issues, especially those connected with advancing the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Our recent work with the United Nations Development Fund for Women’s (UNIFEM) “Say NO to Violence against Women” and the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) Campaign to End Fistula are examples of our support for global efforts to achieve MDG 3 (promoting gender equality and empowering women) and MDG 5 (improving maternal health) respectively.
For UNIFEM’s “Say NO to Violence against Women” Internet petition campaign, we issued a challenge grant that donated $1 to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women for each of the first 100,000 petition signatures. Today, more than 5 million people worldwide have signed on and taken a stand against violence.
Our work with UNFPA’s Campaign to End Fistula has helped bring international attention to fistula, a debilitating childbirth injury eliminated in the West a century ago that renders its victims incontinent. Through our advocacy, investments and work with partners, we hope to help UNFPA realize its goal of making obstetric fistula as rare in developing countries as it is in the industrialized world.
STORIES OF IMPACT
The UN: a Global Champion for Women and Girls
Area of Involvement: Women & Population
Empowering women and girls around the world is widely recognized as one of the most important and effective means of advancing global health, promoting economic development, protecting the environment, and safeguard universal human rights. Throughout its history, the United Nations has worked to ensure that all the world’s women and girls have the opportunity to live in dignity,free from want and from fear. For International Women's Day on March 8, join us in supporting the UN in its efforts to champion women and girls.
Girls are the future of Ethiopia
Area of Involvement: Women & Population
(Part three of Elizabeth Gore's blog series on Ethiopia) I am sitting in the small village of Lalibela, a sub-district of Achefer in Ethiopia. Two sets of beautiful eyes are staring at me. They belong to two young girls who are astonished that I got married at 30 years old and that I don’t have children.
RESOURCES
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UN Foundation Newsletter (Fall 2009)
Issue Area: Children’s Health
Issue Area: Climate & Energy
Issue Area: Sustainable Development
Issue Area: Technology
Issue Area: UN-US Relations
Issue Area: Women & Population
A semi-annual newsletter highlighting the UN Foundation's programs and people.
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Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health
Issue Area: Women & Population
Center for Global Development
The report highlights serious health risks that are especially prevalent among women and girls, calls for increased action and investment in girls’ education and health agendas, and explains how the combined help of governments, non-governmental organizations, individuals and the private sector, can improve health prospects for millions of women around the world.
