Vital Voices and Avon Announce Innovative Partnership to End Violence Against Women Worldwide
March 10 2010 - 1:10PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Vital Voices
(http://www.vitalvoices.org/) and The Avon Foundation for Women
(http://www.avonfoundation.org/) today announced The Global
Partnership to End Violence Against women, a new innovative
collaboration with the U.S. State Department to combat the most
destructive types of violence against women and help ensure justice
for women and girls worldwide. With one in three women globally the
victim of abuse or violence in their lifetime, the Global
Partnership will address the need for serious, sustained on the
ground research and development, as well as actionable,
collaborative, culturally-sensitive local solutions that can change
these statistics in a measurable way. To view the multimedia assets
associated with this release, please click:
http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/avon/42564/ (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100310/MM65998 ) To
facilitate the Global Partnership, Avon and the Avon Foundation for
Women announced $1.2 million in donations to Vital Voices to bring
together 15 country delegations consisting of leaders from diverse
sectors, including business, government, law enforcement, the NGO
community, media/entertainment, academia and others -- in a first
of its kind global forum to share insights, forge collaborations,
and seek ways to overcome challenging cultural realities that have
been barriers to progress. Vital Voices and the Avon Foundation for
Women will also support these delegations when they return to their
home countries with regional programs and a toolkit that can be
used on a year-long basis as action plans are implemented. Alyse
Nelson, President of Vital Voices says the issue of violence
against women has been ignored for too long. "While one in three
women will be the victim of abuse or violence at some point in
their lives, not nearly enough attention has been given to this
global crisis," she said. "Around the world, services for victims
are often vastly underfunded or unavailable and in many countries,
laws to protect women do not exist or are not understood nor
enforced. The economic cost of domestic violence, sexual violence
and human trafficking together is estimated to be in the trillions
of dollars. It's going to take real commitment and partnership
within all countries to address their specific problems with
culturally sensitive solutions that are truly sustainable over
time." Andrea Jung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avon
Products Inc. commented: "It is more urgent than ever to confront
this growing global challenge," she said. "With over six million
Avon Representatives in more than 100 countries, Avon is the
largest engine of economic opportunity for women on earth. We have
seen first hand that when a woman is empowered economically, she
can escape an abusive situation. Given our close personal
connections with women, we feel it is our obligation and
responsibility, and that we are uniquely suited, to be a committed
partner in the search for innovative solutions that truly make a
difference to ending the epidemic of violence against women in our
lifetime." The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women is
founded on the premise that local experts are best suited to know
what solutions will work in their own communities. Nelson says:
"The hope is that by engaging delegates who know their cultures
best, we'll be able to develop and implement more sustainable
programs to address this pervasive problem. The goal of The Global
Partnership is to support these local teams with information,
resources and funding. This will be an ongoing effort, local
implementation supported by global collaboration and sharing of
best practices as we gain a better understanding of what works." As
part of Avon's ongoing collaboration in support of this issue,
Reese Witherspoon, the company's global ambassador and honorary
chairperson of the Avon Foundation for Women, today announced a new
Avon fundraising product -- the Women's Empowerment Ring -- that
the company anticipates will raise significant funds to support
local country initiatives to end violence against women. The
Women's Empowerment Ring is launched as a companion piece to the
Women's Empowerment Bracelet and the Women's Empowerment Necklace,
launched in 2008 and 2009 respectively, which together have raised
$8 million globally. The Women's Empowerment Ring, priced at $5.00,
will be sold through Avon Representatives in over 45 countries and
on http://www.avon.com/, with 100% of net profits ($3.80 for each
ring sold) going to support domestic violence programs. In the US,
every Women's Empowerment product sold will include a free Domestic
Violence Resource Guide to increase awareness of this epidemic of
violence, provide helpful information and resources, and encourage
everyone to speak out so it stops. "There is nothing more important
for all of us than ensuring the safety of women and girls
everywhere. The problem is so pervasive, it's critical that we find
ways to work together, as a global community, to combat it. I
applaud this groundbreaking new Partnership, and look forward to
the innovative ideas and solutions it will produce." This year,
Vital Voices will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of its
creation at the Beijing Women's Conference where then-First Lady
Hillary Clinton equated women's rights to human rights. Since then,
it has developed programs to help provide safety and justice for
women in more than 50 countries nationwide. The Avon Foundation for
Women launched Speak Out Against Domestic Violence in 2004 to
provide funding to domestic violence organizations for awareness,
education, prevention programs and direct services for victims. In
a few short years, Avon global philanthropy has committed more than
$16 million to end violence against women. To get real time updates
about The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women, visit
the Avon online channels on Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/AvonProductsInc), Twitter
(http://twitter.com/avonprnewsflash) and YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/avonproductsinc). Vital Voices Vital Voices
Global Partnership is a leading non-governmental organization (NGO)
that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and
social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create a
better world for us all. Vital Voices provides these women with the
capacity, connections and credibility they need to unlock their
potential. The Vital Voices mission is to identify, invest in and
bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world by
unleashing their leadership potential to transform lives and
accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities. The Vital
Voices international staff and team of over 1000 partners, pro bono
experts and leaders, including senior government, corporate and NGO
executives, have trained and mentored more than 8,000 emerging
women leaders from over 127 countries in Asia, Africa, Eurasia,
Latin America and the Middle East since 1997. These women have
returned home to train and mentor more than 500,000 additional
women and girls in their communities. Avon Products, Inc. Avon ,
the company for women, is a leading global beauty company, with
over $10 billion in annual revenue. As the world's largest direct
seller, Avon markets to women in more than 100 countries through
approximately 6 million independent Avon Sales Representatives.
Avon's product line includes beauty products, as well as fashion
and home products, and features such well-recognized brand names as
Avon Color, Anew, Skin-So-Soft, Advance Techniques, Avon Naturals,
and Mark. Learn more about Avon and its products at
http://www.avoncompany.com/. Avon Foundation for Women The Avon
Foundation for Women is the world's largest corporate-affiliated
philanthropy focused on women's issues. Since it was founded in
1955, the Avon Foundation has been committed to the mission to
improve the lives of women and their families. Now past the half
century milestone, the Avon Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public
charity that today brings this mission to life through two key
areas of focus: breast cancer and domestic violence. Through 2009,
Avon global philanthropy has donated more than $725 million in over
50 countries for causes most important to women. DATASOURCE: Avon
Foundation for Women CONTACT: Hilary Perry, +1-202-374-6010,
hilary@onairstrategy.com, orJennifer Iino-Harvey,
jennifer.iino-harvey@avon.com, +1-212-282-8193 Web Site:
http://www.avoncompany.com/
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