The Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening MP, attended today’s Rotary event at City Hall in London to mark International Women’s Day. The breakfast meeting was held in partnership with UN Women and organised by Eve Conway-Ghazi, who is the first woman District Governor of Rotary in London in the organisation’s 100 year history.
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements and highlight inequalities and issues that women face. Other speakers included Rebecca Stephens MBE, the first British woman to climb Mount Everest and Aneeta Prem, founder of Freedom, a charity which works to prevent forced marriage and dishonour based violence. Also speaking was Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RIBI) President Elect, Nan McCreadie.
Justine Greening, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Putney, told the gathering: “As a member of Rotary, I know that it does some wonderful work. Some of the work on ending polio has really transformed people’s lives around the world and Rotary can be really proud of what it’s done."
Another highlight of the day was the choir who performed the UN Women’s song which was specially composed by Tom Morley, a founder member of the 80’s pop group Scritti Politti.
Eve Conway-Ghazi said: "As the first woman District Governor of Rotary in London, I am delighted to be joining with UN Women and other organisations to mark International Women’s Day. We are also remembering the millions of women around the world who need our support to improve their lives so that they can improve the lives of their families and those around them.”
The breakfast meeting was one of eight events held by Rotary clubs and UN Women to mark International Women’s Day. The others were in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Dublin, Birmingham, Grantham and Cookham.
[vimeo: http://vimeo.com/61387436]
