Live to Love Celebrates 11th October as the 'International Day of the Girl Child'

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Oct 11, 2012, 12:40 ET

NEW YORK and NEW DELHI, October 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Slew of initiatives planned with Michelle Yeoh to Empower the Girl Child

Celebrating 11^th October as the officially declared 'International Day of the Girl Child' by the UN General Assembly, Live to Love, the humanitarian organisation founded and promoted by His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, spiritual head of Drukpa Buddhists today gave a new thrust to its initiatives for the Girl Child. Live to Love has planned a slew of initiatives along with Michelle Yeoh (who is also their Global Ambassador) to empower women across the world. Various Live to Love chapters across the globe created mini events in their areas to celebrate the first 'Girl's day'.

Live to Love chapters around the world have been working together to empower womanhood across the world, and the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child strengthens their efforts and resolve in this direction. The Drukpa Kung Fu Nuns supported by the Live to Love "Education" Initiative, perhaps the most recognised effort of women empowerment globally, have been featured by the media in more than 130 countries. Live to Love is also actively involved in educational projects in the remote Himalayas to educate girls. The Druk White Lotus School (http://www.dwls.org) was established with promoting gender equality as one of its most important priorities.

Speaking on the subject, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa said, "Women make up half of the world's population. They give birth to us, and they give us life. They are, in fact, the reason for our being. It is extremely encouraging to note that organisations, countries and societies are now working towards giving the girl child a fair deal. Girls are discriminated both because of gender and age, and this "International Day of the Girl Child" will help to promote girls' rights as the most significant issue in the coming decades."

During his current visit to New York to attend a few of the current UN General Assembly sessions, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa spoke at the Women Leaders Forum. "We all have to join together to help eliminate fear, especially among women; not only women, but children and everyone who is affected by fear. This is because everyone deserves to be fearless and fearlessness is a part of our primordial nature."

His Holiness is a recipient of the UN's Millennium Development Goals Award for his humanitarian work, of which women empowerment forms a key part.

Talking about her plans to promote women empowerment, Michelle Yeoh said, "The celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child is a start of greater things to come. This is a welcome beginning. With this, the focus has been officially placed on the need to act. I will join hands with Live to Love on various short-term and long-term initiatives across the globe to work for the betterment of women."

About Live to Love

Live to Love is an international network of non-profit organizations, founded by His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa to create and to support lasting solutions to modern problems. The organization focuses of education, environmental protection, medical services and cultural preservation.

Live to Love's impacts the following regions: Bhutan, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Vietnam, UK, and USA. For more on Live to Love, visit http://www.livetolove.org/ and http://drukpa.mediafire.com/?1a93schvyhk0q for photographs on some initiatives