Story Ideas for International Women's Day

March 1, 2007

Dear Journalist:

In the minute after midnight March 8, International Women’s Day, more than 100 girls will be born according to population growth estimates.

What does the future hold for these girls?

• If one of these girls is born in North America, her mother would most likely be a working mom, and earn on average only 77 cents for every dollar that a man earns. [source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research]
• If she is born in sub-Saharan Africa, her mother has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth. This compares with a 1 in 2,800 risk for a woman from a developed region. [source: UNFPA]
• If she is born in some countries of Africa and the Caribbean, she will be up to six times more likely to be infected with HIV than a young man in her country. [source: UNAIDS]
• These girls may have more champions and role models at the highest levels of their governments—especially in Rwanda, where women hold a higher number of parliamentary seats than in any other country (49 percent compared with 16 percent in the U.S.). [source: Inter-Parliamentary Union]

The good news is that much can be done to improve the chances that a girl born in 2007 will have better health and prosperity than her mother did. Among the most effective solutions? Ensure she goes to school, and improve the health of her mother. This is true whether she is born in the United States or Uganda.

The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) works hand-in-hand with women and girls worldwide to improve access to education, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS information and services, and improve governance.

For story ideas, photos and updates from countries around the world, go to CEDPA’s Web site at www.cedpa.org. Or, add me to your rolodex for access to expert sources on these topics.

Sincerely,

Ketayoun Darvich-Kodjouri
CEDPA Director of Communications
202-939-2654 (work); 202-997-1084 (cell)
kdarvich@cedpa.org

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