March 11: International Women’s Day Luncheon, “Women Feed the World”
Join us on March 11 to celebrate International Women's Day and help transform the lives of women and their families at our fourth and largest-ever annual Women & Land Luncheon! This year's theme, “Women Feed the World,” will address the critical role that land plays for women, who do 60-80 percent of the farming in the developing world, yet own less than 2 percent of the world's land. When women have secure rights to land, they are better able to provide nutrition for their children, less likely to suffer from physical or sexual violence, better able to send their children to school (especially girls) and better able to use micro-credit to invest in their land, creating income and savings. Our keynote speaker will be Catherine Bertini, Former Chief Executive, United Nations World Food Programme and World Food Prize Laureate. Bertini previously served as the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistant secretary for food and consumer services where she ran the nation's $33 billion domestic food assistance programs. She co-chairs the Global Agricultural Development Initiative at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and recently worked as a Senior Fellow in Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. As a professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, Bertini also teaches courses in humanitarian aid and girls’ education, drawing on years of leadership in international organizations, global relief efforts and nutrition policy. The Honorary Chairs of the event are Jim Pigott, chair of RDI’s board of directors and president of Pigott Enterprises, and Gaye Pigott. Colleen Willoughby, founder and former president of the Washington Women’s Foundation, and Martha Kongsgaard, president of the Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation, will serve as Co-Chairs. The Honorary Advisory Council for the event includes Jane Wales, Co-Founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum; Hernando de Soto, President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy; Geeta Rao Gupta, President and CEO of the International Center for Research on Women; Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps; Zainab Salbi, President of Women for Women International; Kavita Ramdas, President of the Global Fund for Women, and others. We look forward to seeing you on March 11. Register Now! The event is almost sold out! Learn more here For more information about RDI’s International Women’s Day event, contact My-Lan Dodd at my-land@rdiland.org. RDI to Participate in the 54th Commission on the
The conference is designed to take a hard look at the status of women and girls over the last 15 years, emphasizing progress and achievements, as well as remaining obstacles and new challenges, in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Several sessions at the conference will focus on the rights of rural women and on women’s land rights. The UN General Assembly will also convene a commemorative meeting to mark the 15 year anniversary of the Beijing Declaration. Audio: Unleashing the Production and Consumption Power of China's 750 Million Rural Poor
Part of The Next Generation Leadership in Asian Affairs Discussion Series, the event was co-organized by NBR's Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies and Next Generation Leadership in Asian Affairs Fellowship Program. RDI’s Annual Report Now Available for Download It has been an incredible year of growth for RDI. Throughout this year’s annual report, readers will find examples of wisdom published in RDI’s new book One Billion Rising, as well as highlights of the year and a celebration of small success in helping the world’s poorest people get a little land of their own. Download the Annual Report here.
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It’s almost here!
This week, RDI will attend the United Nations 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW54). The global gathering will bring together thousands of leaders from around the world to review the goals set at the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the world’s fourth conference on women held in Beijing, China. (Accordingly, the conference has been nicknamed “Beijing +15.) 
