Plan International and Girls Delegation Welcome Launch of UN Women at the General Assembly in New York, Call for Increased Focus on Girls' Rights and Empowerment

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The launch of UN Women this week in New York comes during a two-week session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).  The CSW has convened to discuss the emerging role of technology and education for empowering girls and women, as well as to review a previous session on violence and discrimination against the girl child.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110222/DC52899-a)

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The launch event, hosted by ABC News "Good Morning America" Anchor Juju Chang, will be attended by a delegation of girls from Plan program countries around the world. The delegation has spent the week participating in key events and meetings aimed at bringing the voices of girls and young women to the important global discussions on gender equality and women's rights and empowerment.

Responding to the launch of UN Women, Plan's 'Because I am a Girl' Director Deepali Sood said, "We at Plan welcome the formation of this new UN entity UN Women. UN Women is dedicated to gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in the world and has therefore always had our support– indeed, Plan lobbied tirelessly for it to be established. The agency now requires adequate resources to ensure it delivers concretely on its mandate."

On Wednesday, Sood will be addressing a high level panel in the General Assembly room as the sole NGO respondent on 'access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women's equal access to full employment and decent work.'

Her address will be part of a packed CSW program, with three other Plan events taking place within hours of Sood's appearance in the General Assembly. These events include a girls led side event which will focus on the BIAAG campaign's call for an 'International Day of the Girl,' while the BIAAG campaign and report will be discussed in a high level panel sponsored by the Austrian delegation inside the UN building.

With the primary theme of this year's CSW connecting strongly with the BIAAG campaign's 2010 State of the World report, Plan International is using the opportunity CSW provides to call for better education, technology and employment opportunities for girls worldwide. Information technology can make a huge impact on girls and young women's lives, opening up real possibilities and opportunities for employment, schooling, and participation. But, these opportunities are not risk free.

The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from Tuesday, February 22, to Friday, March 4.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Because I am a Girl is Plan's campaign to fight gender inequality, promote girls' rights and lift millions of girls out of poverty. Plan is producing one girl report each year in the run-up to 2015, the target year for the Millennium Development Goals.

To read the Digital and Urban Frontiers report, please visit:

http://plan-international.org/girls/static/docs/BIAAG_2010_EN2.pdf.

SOURCE Plan International USA