Media Advisory: Equal Pay Platform of Champions launch event and photo opportunity
Date:
Media Contacts:
Oisika Chakrabarti, Ph: +1 646 781-4522; Email: oisika.chakrabarti[at]unwomen.org
Sharon Grobeisen, Ph: +1 646 781-4753; Email: sharon.grobeisen[at]unwomen.org
Maria Sanchez, Ph: +1 646 781-4507, Email: maria.sanchez[at]unwomen.org
Zina Alam, Ph: +1 646-781-4783; Email: zina.alam[at]unwomen.org
What: On Monday 13 March, UN Women and ILO will launch the high-profile Equal Pay Platform of Champions, bringing together activists, celebrities and governments, including Oscar-winning American actor Patricia Arquette, Olympic gold medalist and soccer star Abby Wambach, trade union leaders and activists, aiming to bring the issue of equal pay for work of equal value to the forefront.
Why: On global average, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. The global gender pay gap is 23 percent, but in some countries this figure is even higher. It will take 70 years to close the gender wage gap (according to the 2016 ILO Report Women at Work).
Photo Opportunity: There will be a media photo-opportunity with Patricia Arquette, Abby Wambach and other Equal Pay Champions outside the General Assembly Hall
When: Monday, 13 March. Media are welcome to attend the photo op and the event.
Time: Photo Op 5.30 – 6 p.m.
Where: Outside the General Assembly Hall UN Headquarters, New York, USA
Who:
- Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Patricia Arquette (USA), Actress
- Abby Wambach (USA), two-time Olympic gold medalist, soccer champion
- Anannya Bhattacharjee (India), President, Garment and Allied Workers Union
- Emma Kaliya (Malawi), Chair, NGO Gender Coordination Network, Chair of the SADC Gender Protocol Alliance
- Chidi King (Belgium/Sierra Leone), Director, Equality Department, International Trade Union Confederation
- Kamala Lopez (USA), Film maker and activist
- Thorsteinn Víglundsson (Iceland), Minister of Social Affairs and Equality
- Benno Bättig (Switzerland), Secretary-General, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
- Nomasonto Mazibuko (South Africa), Commissioner, Commission on Gender Equality, and Executive Director, Albinism Society of South Africa
The Equal Pay Platform of Champions is part of a broader Global Equal Pay Coalition, led by UN Women and the ILO, which advocates for secure laws on equal pay, better parental leave and childcare policies, and minimum living wages.
Launch event 6 – 8.30 p.m., General Assembly Hall
To confirm interest to attend the event at the General Assembly Hall, please RSVP to media.team[at]unwomen.org; seats are limited. Photographers and videographers should liaise with MALU for event coverage from the booths. UN Media accreditation is required (learn more here).
The Champions that night will also kick off an exciting UN Women campaign created pro bono by Grey Advertising, #StopTheRobbery, to raise awareness of the gender pay gap. The campaign spotlights how women across the world are effectively being “robbed” 23 percent of their salary.
The Commission on the Status of Women, which is the largest inter-governmental forum on women’s rights, will symbolically mark the global gender pay gap on 14 March, when it will interrupt its work at 4.10 p.m., when there is 23 per cent of the work-day left. Media are invited to attend and photograph in Conference Room 4 and the GA Hall. All women workers in these two conference rooms will be invited to turn to their after-work activities; to turn to their books or magazines, to communicate with friends and family, or to play with their children.
Follow the online conversation on Twitter @UN_Women using the hashtags #CSW61 and #StopTheRobbery