Female stars to launch new global poverty fight

from the Times of Oman

WASHINGTON: A high-powered alliance of women from government, faith-based organizations, advocacy groups and Hollywood will launch a major drive Sunday to help impoverished women and girls around the world.

The alliance, which has the backing of Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Queen Noor of Jordan and former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright among other luminaries, will unveil new fundraising commitments of 1.481 billion dollars in the US capital this weekend.

The Women, Faith and Development Alliance (WFDA) says the funds which have been raised so far will cumulatively benefit one billion poor women and girls around the globe.

"Women have enormous difficulties in situations of poverty and very often poverty plus conflict," Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, told reporters on a conference call Friday.

Hundreds of supporters are expected to attend a summit at Washington's National Cathedral on Sunday where the WFDA will ramp up a campaign aimed in part at changing the policies of governments and multilateral institutions to help eradicate female poverty.

The alliance is also supported by Laura Bush, wife of US President George W. Bush, the former prime minister of Canada, Kim Campbell, and Hollywood actress Ashley Judd.

"This represents new money for programs and cumulatively we are estimating that this will affect over a billion women and girls worldwide," said Ritu Sharma Fox, a co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, who also participated in the call.

Fox said WFDA is lobbying governments and international agencies to provide several billion more dollars to support the female anti-poverty push.

The United Nations Population Fund is one of the biggest backers so far and has made a commitment of 500 million dollars over several years to address maternal mortality and to stop violence against women.