1 MILLION people around the world have stood with girls and women everywhere to say ‘Poverty is Sexist’, and asked our leaders to do something about it. Now that’s really hard to ignore.
We’ve been really busy making sure world leaders get the message.
ONE Youth Ambassadors with our giant G7 leader balloons, ask them to deliver #MoreThanHotAir at the 2015 Summit in Germany. Photo: ONE
When leaders from seven of the world’s richest countries met for the ‘G7’ Summit in Germany, we were there with 250 very noisy ONE Youth Ambassadors to deliver your name to the German Minister for Development. He posed for a ‘strengthie’ in support of the campaign and took your message straight to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the other G7 leaders.
Minister Gerd Müller supporting our #PovertyIsSexist campaign at the #UnitedAgainstPoverty event in Munich.
So what happened?
For the first time ever, this group of leaders agreed to increase vocational training for girls and women everywhere by a third. They also promised to help developing countries tackle the barriers that make it harder for women to find paid work, like violence, sexual harassment and discrimination. We think that’s a great start, but there’s much more to do.
Over to Africa
Then just a few days later, leaders from across Africa met in Johannesburg for the African Union Summit. And yes, you guessed it, we were there too. Our Africa Director, Dr Sipho Moyo, met and handed in our petition to no less than 6 presidents.
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President Edgar Lungu, Zambia, with ONE Africa Director Dr. Sipho Moyo. Photo: ONE -
President Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzania, with ONE Africa Director Dr. Sipho Moyo. Photo: ONE -
President Ernest Koroma, Sierra Leone, with ONE Africa Director Dr. Sipho Moyo. Photo: ONE -
President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, with ONE Africa Director Dr. Sipho Moyo. Photo: ONE -
President Peter Mutharika, Malawi, with ONE Africa Director Dr Sipho Moyo. Photo: ONE -
President Catherine Samba-Panza, Central African Republic with ONE Africa Director Dr. Sipho Moyo. Photo: ONE
They all heard you as well. Together they made a whole list of promises that will benefit girls and women, in areas including health, agriculture, education, work and politics, with special emphasis on making sure these pledges are actually delivered. We’ll be watching to make sure they are.
It only takes a few seconds to add a name to our campaign – but because so many of you did – it’s grown into a global movement that our leaders have to listen to. Now they are feeling the pressure and starting to act.
But we can’t stop now.
There are still big opportunities to change the future for millions of girls and women this year, and we’ll be asking for your help with that soon.
For now, show you’re proud to be part of this incredible campaign by sharing this graphic with your friends and family on social media.
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1 million voices – now THAT’S hard to ignore. Here’s how world leaders have responded: http://t.co/qUInZCO6NApic.twitter.com/e0XKx6kelG
— ONE (@ONECampaign) June 30, 2015