| Adolescent Girls Get the Attention They Deserve at Clinton Global Initiative |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Kelly Castagnaro, 646.707.1004, kcastagnaro@iwhc.org
Adolescent Girls Get the Attention They Deserve at Clinton Global Initiative September 25, 2008, NEW YORK, NY—The critical health challenges faced by girls and young women worldwide took center stage yesterday at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, where 130 leading CEOs, over 50 current and former heads of state, and global health leaders gathered. At a panel discussion on adolescent girls’ health, CGI formally announced the commitment made by the International Women’s Health Organization (IWHC) to spend $1.5 million over two years, focusing on seven countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With this commitment, IWHC challenges corporations and others to collaborate in its work with local organizations to expand advocacy efforts to reach thousands of young people with comprehensive sexuality education and health services. Felicia Marie Knaul, Senior Economist and Director, Health and Competiveness Initiative, Fundación Mexicana para la Salud moderated the panel discussion with Maria S. Eitel, President of the Nike Foundation; Ashley Judd, Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS and PSI Board Member; and Bene Edwin Madunagu, Cofounder of the Girls’ Power Initiative, on solutions for the problems of child marriage, sexual violence and coercion, and young women’s disproportionate vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. IWHC president, Adrienne Germain, and long-time IWHC partner, Madunagu, met with leaders from around the world to strategize on how to most effectively tackle the world’s greatest health challenges. GPI also made a formal commitment to expand its work to improve the lives of Nigerian girls by developing their leadership skills and preparing them to become catalysts for social change. “Increasingly the world recognizes that the solution is simple,” Germain said. “Commit to giving girls the information they need to protect their health, pursue their dreams, and stand up for their rights, and they become healthy, empowered women who create a more prosperous and secure future.” CGI was established in 2005 as a project of the non-partisan William J. Clinton Foundation. CGI convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Since 2005, CGI members have made nearly 1,000 Commitments to Action valued at upwards of $30 billion to improve more than 200 million lives in over 150 countries around the world. Through past Annual Meetings, CGI has brought together more than 80 current and former heads of state, hundreds of top CEOs and non-profit leaders, major philanthropists, and 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates. ### |
