UN Foundation Appoints Susan Rich as Director of Women and Population

WASHINGTON, DC — The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) announced today the appointment of Susan Rich as the Director of Women and Population. In this position, Rich will direct the work between the UN Foundation and UN Agencies, implementing partners, NGOs, and others on a number of issues affecting Women and Population.

“We welcome Susan Rich to our team at the UN Foundation,” said Senator Timothy E. Wirth, President of the UN Foundation. Her background in international reproductive rights, human rights, and population initiatives makes her a good fit for our organization.”

Susan Rich has over 20 years of experience in developing and monitoring grants for international reproductive health initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, Rich served as a Senior Program Officer at the Wallace Global Fund for 10 years and is currently the Chair of the Board of the Funders’ Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights—an affinity group of 45 private foundations. Recognized for her extensive background in cultural aspects of women’s reproductive health in Africa, Susan has served as an advisor to CNN and ABC networks. Rich has a Master’s degree in African Area Studies and a Master’s of Public Health in International Health from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Through problem-solving, partnerships, advocacy, and project support, the UN Foundation’s Women and Population program provides assistance to its UN partners to respond to the unique challenges women and girls face. In order to be effective, it has focused on two key areas—adolescent girls and the quality of health care services. Projects have trained health care providers, teachers, youth leaders, and reached out to families and communities to create safe spaces for women and girls to access health information and care. The UN Foundation has also supported projects that provide women with access to livelihood skills and economic opportunities. Additionally, the UN Foundation has provided support to mobilize a response to meet the global shortfall in reproductive health commodities, such as condoms.

The UN Foundation is dedicated to supporting the UN and strengthening the U.S.-UN relationship through public education, advocacy, and outreach. It publishes UN Wire (www.unwire.org), a free global news brief e-mailed five days a week; sponsors The People Speak (www.peoplespeak.org), a series of worldwide discussions on international policy; and works on a project called the Better World Campaign, to educate about the importance of the U.S.-UN relationship (www.betterworldcampaign.org). Additionally, the UN Foundation strengthens and supports the UN through its partnership development among corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals allowing people to contribute to the UN’s work. Since its inception, the UN Foundation has awarded grants amounting to over $900 million in support of UN projects and activities in 115 countries. To learn more about the UN Foundation please visit www.unfoundation.org.

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The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support United Nations’ causes. The UN Foundation promotes a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world through the support of the UN. Through its grant making and by building new and innovative public-private partnerships, the UN Foundation acts to meet the most pressing health, humanitarian, socioeconomic, and environmental challenges of the 21st century. (www.unfoundation.org)