African Renaissance and Diaspora Network
Keynote Address by Her Excellency, Ms. Epsy Campbell Barr First Vice-President of the Republic of Costa Rica
New York – 6 March 2020
As the International Community celebrates International Women’s Week, the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN) is launching a Global Campaign today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to Give A Red Card to All Forms of Discrimination and Violence Against Women and Girls. ARDN’s partners in this program are eight United Nations Agencies, two UN member states, FIFA and 5 other entities committed to supporting the UN Sustainable Development goals.
In the game of football, a red card signifies a serious infraction of the rules. In this context, the ARDN Red Card Campaign seeks to obtain agreement from a minimum of one million individuals worldwide to sign on to a social media pledge do as much as they can to end discrimination and violence against women and girls. The target date for reaching this goal is the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The global launch brings together stars from the world of sport, artists, and leaders from government, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders into one room to kick off the campaign in a globally televised and coordinated effort.
The statistics on this topic from the United Nations are alarming:
In today’s world, one woman out of three has been a victim of physical and/or sexual violence in her lifetime.
Over 200 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation and over 750 million young women marry before their 18th birthday.
The objectives of the ARDN Red Card Campaign are:
• Celebrate the power, promise and potential of women and girls.
• Maximize visibility of the challenges facing women and girls, and strategize how to address them.
• Address the importance of men in becoming strong allies for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
• Bring attention to and popularize the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly goals 5 (Gender Equality), 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
• Create and formulate solutions, initiatives and opportunities for achieving a better, more equitable world.
“We very much hope that the Red Card Global Launch will serve as a beacon towards creating a global movement to ensure that women and girls are truly free to enjoy the equal dignity and rights promised to all peoples, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights”, said Dr Djibril Diallo, President and CEO of ARDN.
The Red Card Campaign falls within the framework of the Pathway to Solution’s Initiative, an international, multilateral special project for the United Nations, spearheaded by ARDN, to popularize the Sustainable Development Goals, in collaboration with United Nations system entities, the international community, civil society, the private sector, academia, the world of sport and culture and governments.
Please sign the red card pledge www.redcardpledge.com
The Global Launch will be webcast live worldwide (http://webtv.un.org/live-now/watch/equal-light-red-cardcampaign-global-launch/5689611733001)
Press Contacts:
Ms Sandrine Delgado (sandrine.delgado@ardn.ngo)
Ms Arlene Katzive (arlene.katzive@ardn.ngo)
