“Against my will”
Defying the practices that harm women and girls and undermine equality
Press release
AIDOS – Associazione italiana donne per lo sviluppo (Italian Association for Women in Development),
UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund, and
DiRE – Agenzia di stampa nazionale (Press agency – Specialized in parliamentary and government policies, regional and local policies, as well as international topics, welfare, health, environment and young people)
present simultaneously worldwide:
“State of World Population 2020”
30th June, 3.00 pm
live on Facebook
on the AIDOS and DiRE pages
There is Rhobi Samwelly, who, after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) at the age of 13, has decided to turn anger and pain into activism to sensitize girls in Tanzania to rebel against the practice. There is Donna Pollard, who with Sara Tasneem, is fighting for legislative reforms that will determine the raise of the minimum age to get married to 18 years old in various individual American states.
These are just some of the young girls and women in the world who fight for the rights of young girls and women in order to stop FGM and child marriage which are among the most harmful practices in opposition with the achievement of gender equality.
Some of their stories were collected by UNFPA in the Report on the State of Wolrd Population 2020: “Against my will. Defying the practices that harm women and girls and undermine equality.” which, 25 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995), takes stock of the sexual and reproductive health rights of women.
The Report, presented simultaneously worldwide, will be launched in Italy by Aidos with the national Dire press agency during a press conference broadcast live on Facebook on Tuesday 30th June at 3.00 pm, on the AIDOS and DiRE pages.
The following will participate in videoconference:
Emanuela Del Re, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation;
Mariarosa Cutillo, chief of strategic partnership di Unfpa;
Maria Grazia Panunzi, Aidos’ President;
Patrizia Farina, professor of demography at the University of Milan Bicocca, who will provide the latest data on FGM in Italy.
The web conference will be coordinated by the vice department head of Agenzia Dire and manager of DireDonne, Silvia Mari.
“Ending harmful practices by 2030 in every country and community—an objective of UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, and a key target of the Sustainable Development Goals—will require rapid changes in mindsets that still sanction violence against women and girls and deny their rights and bodily autonomy. Transformation is needed too in economic, education, legal, and health- care systems that intersect with these norms and continue to both reflect gender discrimination and perpetuate its lasting damage.” – Dr. Natalia Kanem, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund
This year there is space for everyone in the “room”
Due to Covid -19 the Press Conference was broadcast live on the Facebook pages of DiRE and AIDOS.
If you couldn’t watch the Conference live WATCH HERE THE ONLINE PRESS CONFERENCE (ITA)
If you want to read what they have said about us go to Rassegna Stampa (ITA)
