Rio+20 Side Event: Global South Women and Youth June 20 10am-12pm

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND

Rio+20 and Women’s Lives:

a Cross-generational Dialogue

Women’s personal stories for Rio+20 and beyond

What:     A Rio+20 press briefing and side-event  

When:    Wednesday, June 20, 10am -12 noon

Where:   Ford Foundation Pavilion (will be located directly next to the Brazil Museum of Modern Art, 85 Infante Dom Henrique Avenue, Flamengo Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)   

Six outstanding global women activists (from Uganda, Nigeria, Cook Islands, Mississippi/US, Philippines, and Brazil) young and old, share their personal narratives to help us understand the cross-cutting impacts of climate change and other environmental issues on their lives.  In conversation they’ll also discuss the importance of women’s empowerment and reproductive health, and new, innovative connections among women of all ages for practical implementation of the Rio+20 outcome and beyond. 

Welcome: Nilcéa Freire, Ford Foundation Representative, Rio Office and the Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, and Chair, Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice

Introduction: Vicky Markham, Director, Center for Environment and Population (CEP)

Moderator: Tracy Mann, Director, Climate Wise Women

Special Guest Speakers:    

•       Ulamila Kurai Wragg, Executive Director, Pacific Gender Coalition, Rarotonga, Cook Islands: member of the Cook Islands’ official delegation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
•     Constance Okollet, Chairperson, Osukuru United Women’s Network, Tororo, Uganda: self-described “peasant farmer”, has addressed the UN General Assembly and participated in numerous international events, speaking on behalf of her village on climate change impacts.
•        Sharon Hanshaw, Executive Director, Coastal Women For Change (CWC), Biloxi, Mississippi, USA: has organized public forums on federal emergency management, education, affordable housing, and how to elevate the voices of poor and minority communities in the wake of severe climate events such as Hurricane Katrina.
•    Esperanza Garcia, Co-Founder, International Youth Council: President of Philippine Youth Climate Movement and Columbia University Coalition for Sustainable Development, member of official Philippine delegation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
•     Esther Kelechi Agbarakwe, youth leader, Nigeria: part of the “Elders+Youngers” project with The Honorable Mary Robinson, Desmond Tutu, and others, around Rio+20. She will focus on health and education issues in Nigeria linked to sustainable development in Africa.
•        Ana Paula Sciammarella, Brazil, Attorney and Member of the Network of Brazilian Women

Individual press briefings will be held directly after the side-event.

For more information contact: Tracy Mann tmann@mglimited.com, or Vicky Markham vmarkham@cepnet.org.   Follow on twitter @markhamv.

Co-sponsored by: Center for Environment and Population (CEP),  Climate Wise Women, and Columbia University Coalition for Sustainable Development.