UN – United Nations

As we lead up to International Women’s Day in early March, I’m reminded of the remarkable women I recently spent time with in Honduras working to reduce childhood mortality. From Dr. Gina Watson, the Representative of PAHO/WHO in Honduras, to Dr. Ida Molina, Manager of the National Vaccines Program at the Honduran Ministry of Health, these women are leading efforts to ensure that every child in Honduras is vaccinated and gets a shot at a […]

Yesterday I went up to New York to film Kumbukani – or Kumba, as her friends call her – a Girl Guide from Malawi who came to attend the Commission on the Status of Women. When I saw her she appeared…well, ordinary. While telling her own story she was soft-spoken, but once the conversation shifted to empowering girls her voice rose with a crescendo.  She quickly launched into the importance of providing girls with access

We all have a lot of things going on these days so it is easy to miss some of the best reads of the week. Global Connections will be blogging about the top articles of the week each Wednesday in our “What We’re Reading” blog post, so subscribe to our blogs, and check back often for updates! Did we miss your favorite article? Tell us in the comments below and we will add it. Without

This week has been a week full of celebrations — from milestones to birthdays. We started the week off with Leap Year, celebrated a milestone on Wednesday when the World Health Organization officially removed India from the polio endemic list, and ended the week with the birthday celebration for the VP of Public Affairs, Aaron Sherinian. As the week wraps up, we can look back at our daily photos of the day and realize that

I recently watched the documentary “Babies”. It’s an enthralling, wordless journey of the first year of four babies’ lives. One in Mongolia, one in Tokyo, one in San Francisco and one in Namibia in the Kalahari desert. The contrast of approaches to food, hygiene, daily activities and medical care were obviously stark. The educational and technological divide was clear within the first five minutes of the film. And yet, I was left with universality. The

On March 8, we will observe the 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day – a day that celebrates the political, economic, and social contributions women have made to the world. This is an important day for the United Nations Foundation because improving women’s health is one of our main priorities. This day brings the issues facing women and girls around the world to center stage and gives us the opportunity to develop partnerships and innovative

I knew I had reached an important milestone in my mother’s eyes about six years ago when I was preparing the Passover seder meal and she called me a balabusta.  According to my mother, this is a Yiddish expression that means being a good homemaker, the family glue, or the one that holds everything together. For the past three years, I’ve had the privilege to lead an initiative at the UN Foundation – the Universal

In 1999, only one year after I got my first mobile phone, I launched a company that enabled people to order online groceries and pay their bills with our newly created, kitchen iPad-like device that would sit on the countertop.  I distinctly remember hearing venture capitalists at the time ask us why we didn’t enable this over the mobile phone.  Were they crazy?  Back then, there were no iPhones or Android devices.  In fact, there

The promise of social media is that people and communities around the planet can unite, express and engage in ways never possible before.  Why not take this promise to some of the most important gatherings happening in our world today?  This year, a meeting of historic proportions will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The Rio+20 Summit will bring together world leaders as the UN tackles some of the biggest issues of our time.