I just saw Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, on the Hill after her testimony to the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight on the role of women in politics and civil society.
I had the opportunity to thank her for joining Melinda Gates and thousands of ONE members this spring on the Women ONE2ONE Interactive Conference Call . She said that her participation on the call seemed “small” in comparison to the efforts of ONE to promote child and maternal health in the developing world. She also expressed her excitement over Ms. Gates’ announcement Monday that the Gates Foundation had committed $1.5 billion over the next five years “to support family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition programs in developing countries.”
Thank you to Amb. Verveer and Melinda Gates, two agents of change empowering women worldwide!
Last night I had the privilege of moderating a fantastic interactive conference call with Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Melanne Verveer—the first-ever U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. The call was a great opportunity to speak directly with ONE members about the fight against global poverty, including our new initiative Women ONE2ONE. As I said on the call, we may be faced with overwhelming statistics about the inordinate burden poverty places on women, but it’s most important that we focus on the more positive fact—that women are one of the best investments in global development and are really key to improving education, healthcare, agriculture and economic progress in communities across the developing world.
It was really an honor to get to hear firsthand from Melinda and Melanne about why they’ve personally become engaged on these issues and to hear about steps they’re taking through the Gates Foundation and the U.S. government to address them. During the call, more than 4,000 ONE members from all over the country had the chance to ask questions directly and to participate in real time via a live Facebook feed. We got some great comments and questions. In case you missed the call, you can listen to it in full below.
Full call:
Melinda Gates:
Ambassador Melanne Verveer:
Erin Thornton:
PS- During the call, I mentioned a petition ONE members can sign right now, encouraging our senators to sign on to a letter calling for the Senate Budget Committee to uphold President Obama’s $58.5 billion International Affairs Budget. You can add your voice here.
If you haven’t already done so, definitely RSVP for tonight’s interactive conference call with Melinda Gates and Ambassador Melanne Verveer.
On the call we’ll get a fresh look at the fight against global poverty, and what ONE members can do right now to ensure our voices are heard. The call will begin promptly at 7:30 PM (EST), so be sure to RSVP here.
Next Monday, March 29, ONE will be hosting an interactive conference call with Melinda Gates and Ambassador Melanne Verveer.
This will be a great opportunity for ONE members to hear directly from ONE and from these two women to hear more about what’s happening on the ground, and how smart programs are transforming lives—particularly for women—in the world’s poorest places.
RSVP here, and feel free to invite your friends and family to join.
Big news: Next Monday, March 29, ONE will be hosting an interactive conference call with Melinda Gates and Melanne Verveer, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.
On the call–which will take place at 7:30 PM (EST)– we’ll talk about how smart programs are transforming lives in the world’s poorest places- particularly for women. RSVP here to join us next Monday.
Melanne Verveer, who serves as the director of the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, has a great post at State’s DipNote blog. In it, she touts the International Violence Against Women Act, which was recently introduced in the House and Senate.
Key line: “Our response to violence against women must include men and women working together to elevate the problem beyond “a domestic matter,” and beyond a “women’s issue.” Ending violence against women around the world is a human rights issue…” (Emphasis mine).
You can read her full post here. Some background on the IVAWA here.
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