The MDG diary of Christy Turlington Burns

Sep 20th, 2010 11:37 PM UTC
By Christy Turlington Burns

Our first post from our special correspondent this week, Christy Turlington Burns!

After weeks of anticipation, MDG week has finally arrived in New York. The focus is of course on the gathering at the United Nations, where world leaders will be taking stock of progress to date and – we hope – making plans for how to reinvigorate efforts in the next five years and beyond.

It’s important to know, however, that there are a seemingly infinite number of other important side events happening, where those of us not cleared into official UN buildings are gathering to do the same. Thankfully there is a growing and impressive roster of individuals and organizations taking part in these events and utilizing the energy this week. And while it’s impossible to participate in everything, I will try and share a snapshot of my experiences on the blog this week.

I kicked off my day this morning with the Women: Inspiration and Enterprise (WIE) Symposium. WIE is a new effort brought together by my friends at the White Ribbon Alliance and it was hosted by Sarah Brown, Arianna Huffington and Donna Karan. The Symposium set out to bring women from politics, philanthropy, media, fashion and the arts all together in one place to focus on the theme of “Women Inspiring Women” and to direct some of this energy specifically towards the issue of maternal health.

I was fortunate enough to participate in one of the many incredible panels called, “Telling Women’s Stories,” where I joined Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Elizabeth Banks and moderator Christine Vachon to talk about how the medium of film can be used to advance women’s issues. It was humbling to take the stage with these icons and veterans of the film industry after only having recently finishing my first documentary film, “No Woman, No Cry.” I was thrilled to have the opportunity to discuss my hopes for the film, which shares the personal stories of at risk pregnant women around the world, and to discuss ways the film could be used as an advocacy tool.

The WIE Symposium was extremely inspirational and a testament to the dedication of the many women working to empower one another around the world – from the poignant remarks of Melanne Verveer, who stressed the importance of investing in women to create change and progress, to the words of Maria Eitel, who spoke about the tremendous progress we’ve seen with regard to girls and women at the top of the agenda. So while we now have the voices to encourage progress, we need the movement of resources to see results. After this day, I’m feeling quite inspired.

TAGS: Christy Turlington Burns MDG 2010, ONE, September 2010 MDG Summit