Jewel and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy to raise their voices for gender equality

On 17 May, UN experts, global advocates, film and sports stars will gather at UN Headquarters in New York for a conference focusing on gender equality for women and girls. “A Call to Action for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” will feature dynamic panellists and speakers with perspectives on major areas of focus for UN Women.

Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, will lead the day-long conference. Loreen Arbus, President of the Loreen Arbus Foundation and an advocate for people with disabilities, will deliver the conference’s keynote address on violence against women and girls with disabilities, followed by Professor Nadia Badawi, leading neonatologist and recipient of the Order of Australia Medal, Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation, who will speak on the related topic of empowering mothers of children with disabilities.

Two-time Academy Award winner and two-time Emmy Award-Winning journalist and film-maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, will give the conference’s closing keynote. She won her first Academy Award for her documentary Saving Face (2012), which addressed acid attacks on Pakistani women. She recently won an Academy Award for her documentary A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015).

Other headliners will include Abby Wambach, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion; Lara Logan, Correspondent for 60 Minutes; and Cathy Malloy, First Lady of Connecticut.

A panel focused on “Broadening Participation in Computing Fields: Bringing About Gender Parity” will be led by an expert panel from Google as part of the company’s commitment to increasing computer science opportunities for all—regardless of gender, ethnicity, geography or socio-economic level.

The Conference will take place from 9.30 a.m.-6 p.m. at UN Headquarters in New York, ECOSOC Chamber.

Jewel to perform

The conference will be followed by the gala dinner in the UN Delegates Dining Room, a benefit event for UN Women, sponsored by the Foundation for Gender Equality. Multiple Grammy- nominated performer, Jewel, will deliver a keynote speech followed by a special performance. Jewel, who went public about her own history of domestic abuse in her 2015 memoir, Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story, will speak about her life, her music and her commitment to empowering women.

“In Never Broken, I discussed many setbacks I had to overcome, including an emotionally and physically abusive childhood. Through the strong women in my family and around me, I was taught to be self-sufficient and do for myself, which gave me the courage to continually believe in myself. Standing by UN Women today gives me the opportunity to help other women realize their own strengths and worth and to empower them to have a voice,” the singer said of her UN appearance.

Ms. Puri acknowledged Jewel’s support, noting “UN Women is a global champion for women and girls and we welcome Jewel’s participation as we work for gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

The dinner gala will also include a Google-hosted panel on “Gender Equality On & Off Screen,” moderated by Julie Ann Crommett, Head of Computer Science in Media at Google and feature Effie T. Brown, Film Producer (Dear White People); Madeline DiNonno, CEO, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; David Goyer, Producer, Screenwriter, (Man of Steel, The Dark Knight); Adepero Oduye, Actress, (The Big Short, 12 Years a Slave) and Andrea Navedo, Actress (Jane the Virgin). Roya Mahboob, CEO of the Afghan Citadel Software Company and one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In The World for 2013, will also attend as a special guest and make brief remarks.

For a detailed programme of the Conference, see the agenda

Webcast: http://webtv.un.org/

UN media accreditation: https://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/request.shtml

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