Note to Correspondents

UNICEF EXHIBITION ON GENDER EQUALITY to open on 28 february

 

A photographic exhibition called “Women and children:  The double dividend of gender equality” opens in the Main Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby on Wednesday, 28 February, at 2:15 p.m.  The exhibit presents a selection of photographs and text from The State of the World’s Children 2007, UNICEF’s flagship publication, illustrating the link between gender equality and its positive impact on the survival and well-being of children.

Gender equality is central to achieving all the Millennium Development Goals and creating a world of equity and tolerance.  It furthers the cause of child survival and development by ensuring that girls and boys have equal access to food, health care, education, protection from harm and opportunities.

The exhibit explains the importance of empowering women in the face of persistent discrimination and proposes a road map for maximizing gender equality.

A section dedicated to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative gives an overview of this global partnership, as well as some startling facts and figures on girls’ education.

Video presentations show profiles of women from around the world telling their stories to reporters for The State of the World’s Children report, and a series of films produced by the Girls’ Education Initiative show how girls are overcoming barriers threatening to keep them out of school.

The exhibition concurs with the fifty-first Commission on the Status of Women, held from 26 February to 9 March 2007 to discuss the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.

The State of the World’s Children is published by UNICEF every year as a global reference on all issues related to children and a vital resource for development agencies, Governments and academia.  It is the most comprehensive and authoritative report on the world’s youngest citizens, combining analyses, human interest stories, country profiles and statistical data for all countries and territories.

For more information on the State of the World’s Children 2007 report, please contact David Anthony at tel.:  (212) 326-7085.  For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen at tel.:  (212) 963-8531 or Liza Wichmann at tel.:  (212) 963-0089.

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For information media • not an official record