UN Adolescent Girls Task Force to brief governments, civil society

WHO:
Theresa Gloria 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

WHAT:
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 (PDF), 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.

WHEN:
Friday, 25 February 2011, 8:30-9:30 A.M. (Breakfast will be served)

WHERE:
Delegates’ Dining Room, United Nations