International Women's Day 2009

The 34th annual International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 8, 2009, calling the world to action to solve the challenges and inequality faced by women, particularly in the developing world.

Did you know…
 

• Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women
• Globally women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80
• Women do two-thirds of the world's work but receive only 10% of the world's income

As a founding partner of the Women, Faith, and Development Alliance (WFDA), InterAction and its members are active in every developing country to improve the lives and well-being of women and girls.

InterAction, WFDA in Liberia

InterAction President Sam Worthington and staff member Thu Cao recently returned from Liberia where they participated in the launch of the Liberia network of the Women, Faith, and Development Alliance (WFDA [1]). The WFDA is a alliance of uncommon partners committed to rising above differences to join together in a historic coalition to focus on one ‘big idea' - to join women and men in international faith, development and women’s organizations to mobilize around the goal of ending global poverty and empowering women and girls.

WFDA members met in Monrovia, Liberia last November to discuss the potential for creating a network in Africa to enable more effective promotion of women's and girl’s empowerment as key to poverty reduction. The discussion culminated in a decision to organize a WFDA network in Liberia.

In Liberia, InterAction and the World Conference of Religions for Peace held follow-up meetings and provide support on building the WFDA Liberia network. The network was formally launched as part of the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment [2].

InterAction at UN Commission on the Status of Women

InterAction participates annually in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) [3] to follow the actions and recommendations adopted by UN delegations that seek to improve the status of women globally.  This year, the 53rd session of the CSW will convene at the United Nations for two weeks, March 2 – 13, 2009.  This year, the CSW theme is “The Equal Sharing of Responsibilities of Women and Men, including care giving in the context of HIV/AIDS.”  Jeannie Harvey, Senior Manager for Gender Integration and Thu Cao, Program Coordinator, Commission on the Advancement of Women will participate.