AsiaNet 52363

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar. 8, 2013 (ANTARA/Bernama-AsiaNet)--
 
Global online voters selected 10 inspiring start-up enterprises to compete
in the Women Deliver Social Enterprise Challenge in May 2013
 
     Global advocacy organization Women Deliver today announced the
finalists of the Women Deliver 25, an online competition that
features innovative social enterprises that benefit girls and women
around the world. More than 13,500 votes were cast online to select
10 organizations to receive scholarships to the Women Deliver 2013
conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (May 28-30, 2013), where they
will participate in the Women Deliver Social Enterprise Challenge.
 
     Women Deliver partnered with Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that
provides seed funding and technical assistance to emerging social
entrepreneurs, to draw the Women Deliver 25 from the semifinalist
pool of the Echoing Green Fellowship Program. Social enterprises
included in the Women Deliver 25 are all start-ups, in operation for
less than two years, that are positively impacting the lives of girls
and women around the world.
 
     “All around the world, inspiring social entrepreneurs and small
business owners are taking new and creative approaches to making the
world a better a place,” said Jill Sheffield, Women Deliver Founder
and President. “On International Women’s Day, it is important to
remember that individuals worldwide and organizations, in every
sector and of every size, all have a role to play to improve the
health, education and welfare of girls and women.”
 
     Of the 25 social enterprises featured, eight are based in Asia, four
in sub-Saharan Africa, three in the Middle East and North Africa, two
in Europe and North America, and one in Latin America and the
Caribbean. The remaining seven have a global or multi-country reach.
The enterprises benefit girls and women in various ways, from G3Box’s
work to convert steel shipping containers into maternity clinics in
developing countries to Teen Revolt’s projects to educate teens about
the fight against sex trafficking.
 
     “We are honored to be named one of the top 10 social enterprises of
the Women Deliver 25 competition,” said Svetha Janumpalli, CEO and
Founder of New Incentives, which helps women invest in the health,
education, and the betterment of their families. "By participating in
the Social Enterprise Challenge, we can show the power and multiplier
effect of investing in girls and women, and shine a spotlight on
social enterprise as a key model to break the cycle of poverty.”
 
     In Kuala Lumpur, representatives from the 10 winning social
enterprises will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel
of expert judges, who will select the winner of the 2013 “Global
Solution Award.” Winners will also be given fast-track access to
TrustLaw Connect, a program of the Thomson Reuters Foundation that
connects lawyers looking to do pro bono work with social enterprises
and NGOs in need of legal assistance.
 
     Women Deliver 2013 is expected to be the largest and most influential
conference on girls’ and women’s health and empowerment of the
decade. It will bring together more than 5,000 global leaders to
ensure that these issues remain priorities in the lead-up to the 2015
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target date and in the post-2015
development framework.
 
     Full List of Social Enterprise Challenge Contestants (in alphabetical
order):
 
     Black Girls Code
     Location: USA and Africa
     Website: BlackGirlsCode.com
 
     Educate2Envision International
     Location: Honduras
     Website: educate2envision.org
 
     G3 Box
     Location: Kenya
     Website: g3box.org
 
     Global Health Media Project
     Location: Global
     Website: http://globalhealthmedia.org/
 
     New Incentives
     Location: Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, India, Bangladesh, and Cambodia
     Website: newincentives.org
 
     Teen Revolt
     Location: United States
     Website: teenrevolt.org
 
     Torath Production
     Location: Qatar and Middle East North Africa region
     Website: torathproduction.com
 
     VOICE 4 Girls
     Location: India
     Website: voice4girls.org
 
     Wedu
     Location: Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand
     Website: wedufund.org
 
     Woman to Woman Foundation
     Location: Uganda
     Website: facebook.com/womantowomanfoundation
 
     About Women Deliver: Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization
that brings together voices from around the world to call for
improved health and well being for girls and women. Launched in 2007,
Women Deliver works globally to generate political commitment and
financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal #5 -
to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to
reproductive health. Building from the groundbreaking conferences
Women Deliver convened in 2007 and 2010, Women Deliver harnesses
commitments, partnerships, and networks to help prevent the
approximately 350,000 deaths of girls and women from pregnancy- and
childbirth-related causes that occur every year. Women Deliver’s
message is that maternal health is both a human right and a practical
necessity for sustainable development. Invest in women-it pays.
 
     ISSUED BY WOMEN DELIVER, 3RD GLOBAL CONFERENCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
MEDIA
SECRETARIAT
 
     FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
     NAME   : Janna Oberdorf
         Women Deliver
     TEL    : +1 646-695-9124
     E-MAIL : joberdorf@womendeliver.org
 
     NAME   : Audrey White
         Global Health Strategies
     TEL    : +1 917-544-2065
     E-MAIL : awhite@globalhealthstrategies.com
 
     SOURCE: WOMEN DELIVER, 3RD GLOBAL CONFERENCE KUALA LUMPUR,
        MALAYSIA MEDIA SECRETARIAT



Editor: PR Wire
Copyright © ANTARA 2013