Look To The Stars News: White Ribbon Alliance

ABC News Supports Million Moms Challenge

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

March Of Dimes is joining ABC News and the United Nations Foundation in the recently launched Million Moms Challenge.

This first-of-its kind initiative is connecting millions of Americans with millions of moms in developing countries around the world to engage on the critical issues of pregnancy, childbirth and children’s health — moms here helping moms worldwide.

Since its launch on September 19th, 2011, the Million Moms Challenge has built a vibrant community that connects moms across the globe by using the latest social media strategies together with world-class broadcast and digital news platforms to shine a light on the extraordinary challenges faced by mothers and babies in the developing world.

Diane Sawyer Supports Million Moms Challenge

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0000

ABC News and the UN Foundation have launched an initiative engaging millions of Americans to support millions of moms across the globe around the critical issues of pregnancy, childbirth and children’s health — moms here helping moms worldwide.

The Million Moms Challenge will be featured on weekly segments on ABC News’ broadcasts including “Good Morning America,” “World News with Diane Sawyer,” “Nightline,” and “20/20,” as well as other ABC News platforms including ABCNews.com and ABC News Radio. The initiative will lead up to a one-hour prime time special on maternal health anchored by Diane Sawyer on December 16, 2011.

“There is so much we can do together – so many simple ways for us all to link arms to make sure every mother and child has a chance to lead a healthy life,” said ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.

Naomi Campbell To Be Honored At Charity Angel Ball

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Naomi Campbell will be honoured for her charity work, specifically concerning cancer research.

Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research will be hosting the annual Angel Ball on 17 October at Cipriani Wall Street, where they also plan to honour artist Romero Britto, Vladislav Doronin who founded the Capital Group and Dr. Khalid Bin Jabor Al-Thani who founded the Quatar National Cancer Society.

Naomi’s work has already earned her an ELLE award in 2009 for outstanding charity work, mostly in relation to her fund-raising for the White Ribbon Alliance. She regularly teams up with designers and fashion labels, such as Luis Vuitton and Hermes to raise both awareness and funds for charities and is an ardent believer in using her celebrity for good. Although she had been ‘quietly helping charities [she] believed in for years’, her charity work came into the spotlight when Sarah Brown, Gordon Brown the then prime-minister’s wife, asked her to be an ambassador for the White Ribbon Alliance. She has also helped organise fashion charity campaigns such as Vivienne Westwood’s Fashion Relief campaign.

James Bond Joins Annie Lennox For International Women's Day

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:45:00 +0000

James Bond star Daniel Craig appears in drag for a special video produced for a partnership of leading charities brought together by Annie Lennox.

The two-minute short, specially commissioned for International Women’s Day, sees the 007 star undergo a dramatic makeover as he puts himself, quite literally, in a woman’s shoes.

Directed by acclaimed ‘Nowhere Boy’ director/conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, scripted by Jane Goldman (‘Kick Ass’) and featuring the voice of Dame Judi Dench reprising her role as ‘M’, the film will be screened in cinemas and streamed online in a bid to highlight the levels of inequality that persist between men and women in the UK and worldwide. It is the first film featuring Bond to be directed by a woman.

Annie Lennox Invites You To Join Big Inequality Debate

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Annie Lennox and the EQUALS partnership of charities invite you to Join the Big Inequality Debate and celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, on 8 March 2011.

Oxfam’s global ambassador and Barclays Woman of the Year, Annie Lennox OBE, has brought together a coalition of charities that champion women’s rights to ensure that the centenary of International Women’s Day (IWD), on 8 March, is a catalyst for celebration and positive change.

The EQUALS coalition comprises ActionAid, Amnesty International, The Fawcett Society, Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children, The White Ribbon Alliance For Safe Motherhood, Women’s Aid and Women for Women International. It is supported by an evolving partnership of organisations, including 1Goal, Bond, Merlin, Mumsnet, Object, One World Action, UKFeminista, VSO, WomanKind and Women for Refugee Women, and is collaborating with arts partners such as Birds Eye View, Brightwide, Britdoc/Good Screenings, Funny Women and the Southbank Centre.

Annie Lennox Blogs For Women's Rights

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Annie Lennox has just returned from an event for Amnesty International, focusing on the plight of women in the Congo, and has blogged about the experience.

“There’s an unquestionable zeitgeist in the air, with a big capital “W” at the fore of it," she wrote. "Many western women are complacent. We inherited the benefits of an emancipation that we didn’t have to struggle for, therefore we took it for granted, and the message became skewed… even ridiculed, for all kinds of reasons.

Christy Turlington Blogs Charity

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Women Deliver, an international conference addressing women’s health issues, is currently on in Washington. Among the many stars to be part of the conference is Christy Turlington, who has blogged about the importance of the conference.

“This week, nearly 3,000 people from more than 140 countries are gathering in downtown Washington D.C. as part of the world’s largest international meeting of women’s health and empowerment champions — the Women Deliver Conference,” wrote the model in the Huffington Post. "At this critical time, these passionate and committed advocates are here to deliver a message that sustainable development around the globe can only be achieved if we prevent maternal deaths.

“After the last Women Deliver Conference in 2007, I had my second child, traveled abroad to Peru with CARE as their Advocate for Maternal Health, and set out to make a documentary film about maternal mortality first-hand that hundreds of thousands of women die every year from pregnancy and childbirth complications, making reproductive health problems the leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 15 to 44; yet strikingly, experts estimate that 90% of these are preventable. The impact extends beyond individual lives. In fact each year millions of children are orphaned, and motherless children are twice as likely to die before the age of five. Economies suffer as well, with an estimated $15 billion lost in productivity each year

Stars Urge For Maternal Health In Amnesty Film

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Celebrities including Keira Knightley, Annie Lennox, James Purefoy and Beverley Knight have called on the UK Government to make maternal and newborn health a priority in its international development assistance in a new short film released by Amnesty International yesterday (12 March).

The film, which premiered in the Houses of Parliament, is part of Amnesty’s campaign to ensure the UK government prioritizes maternal and newborn health care globally to enable all women access their basic right to health care. Entitled ‘Every day should be Mother’s Day’, the three-minute, star-studded film also features Dervla Kirwan, Colin Salmon and Jonathan Pryce.

“We’re delighted that so many celebrated artists are willing to stand with us on this very important matter,” said Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen. "We want the government to maintain a strong political will to improve maternal health around the world.

Annie Lennox Supports Minute For Mothers Campaign

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:50:00 +0000

In a release from her official website, Annie Lennox is supporting the Minute for Mothers campaign, an initiative set up by a coalition of leading charities including Save the Children, White Ribbon Alliance, Oxfam, Amnesty International and Mumsnet, which is joining forces with politicians and celebrities this week to hold a minute for mothers across the world.

The event in central London at 10.30am on March 12 sees 3,000 white roses laid across Old Palace Yard opposite parliament to represent the 3,000 pregnant women who will lose their lives this Mother’s Day weekend. Every minute of every day a mother-to-be from somewhere around the world dies simply because they don’t have access to the vital healthcare they need before and during childbirth.

If you can’t attend the event but would like to support it here are some ways you can take action online:

Naomi Campbell To Be Awarded For Charity Work

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:30:00 +0000

Supermodel Naomi Campbell will be presented with a special award by ELLE fashion magazine for her outstanding contribution to the fashion industry and her work as an ambassador for the White Ribbon Alliance.

A limited edition cover of the magazine has been produced, and the model will join the magazine at a special dinner party in London to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8.

Celebrities' Socks Appeal For Charity

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

MandMDirect.com is excited to introduce its limited edition ‘Socks Appeal’ charity sock range in association with Help for Heroes, The Andrew Flintoff Foundation, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust and The White Ribbon Alliance. The campaign is completely not for profit and all proceeds go directly to each charity partner, the perfect gift for Christmas.

Appearing in an exciting pictorial campaign, eight celebrity ambassadors have been styled in their chosen charity socks for Christmas. Help for Heroes is supported by Gemma Atkinson and Calum Best, The Andrew Flintoff Foundation by Freddie Flintoff and Jeff Brazier, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust by Violet Budd and Tamsin Egerton, and The White Ribbon Alliance is supported by Laura Bailey and Lauren Lavern.

Naomi Campbell's Bag Raises Charity Cash

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Last month, Look To The Stars brought you news that supermodel Naomi Campbell had donated a Hermes “it” bag to help raise funds to fight deaths in pregnancy, which hit more than half a million women each year.

We can now reveal that the bag raised US$31,500 at the auction, with proceeds to go to the White Ribbon Alliance, an organization established in 1999 as an international coalition of individuals and organizations formed to promote increased public awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns in developing and developed countries.

The Hermes Birkin bag was named after British singer and actress Jane Birkin, who sold her own bag in 2007 for US$108,000 dollars to benefit a human rights group.

Naomi Campbell And Louis Vuitton Join Forces For Women’s Health

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

March 2010 will mark the 100th anniversary celebration of International Women’s Month, and Naomi Campbell has teamed up with Louis Vuitton to help bring awareness to maternal mortality and safe motherhood initiatives.

The supermodel has selected a sleek signature Vuitton bag to raise funds for the White Ribbon Alliance, an organization dedicated to reducing preventable maternal deaths. Vuitton has pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from sales of the bag to the alliance.

Campbell serves as a global ambassador of the alliance, and has promised to donate all proceeds from the upcoming auction of her Hermès bags. The yet to be named Vuitton bag will retail for about $2,789 and will be available at all of Vuitton’s 439 network stores.

Naomi Campbell Donates Bag To Charity Auction

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Model Naomi Campbell has donated a Hermes “it” bag to help raise funds to fight deaths in pregnancy, which hit more than half a million women each year.

Campbell gave the pale green alligator Hermes “Birkin” bag to French auctioneers Artcurial for a White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood auction to be held on November 10.

The Alliance was established in 1999 as an international coalition of individuals and organizations formed to promote increased public awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns in developing and developed countries.

Naomi Campbell Addresses the G8 For White Ribbon Alliance

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:00:00 +0000

July has been a busy month for model Naomi Campbell on the charity front. An ambassador for White Ribbon Alliance, Campbell has been speaking out about issues of safe pregnancy and childbirth in both political and consumer spheres.

Campbell donated a Hermes Birkin bag, worth thousands of pounds, to the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) charity designer bag auction, “30 Bags 30 Days.” Anticipating a nice return, WRA puts monies raised towards getting resources, skilled health workers with midwifery skills, support and information to women throughout the world, and towards ongoing efforts to raise awareness about needless maternal mortality.

In another effort at bringing attention to the issue, Campbell read a personal message to Italy’s Prime Minister Berlusconi in a video clip ahead of the G8 Summit that took place earlier this month.

Geri Halliwell Presents Childbirth Report To Government

Fri, 08 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has launched a campaign to help provide better care for women during childbirth.

Halliwell joined Sarah Brown – wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown – at the UK’s House of Commons on Wednesday, May 6, to highlight a new parliamentary report which claims up to 20 million women suffer serious injuries during the birth process each year.

“Women are at the heart of their families, communities and countries,” she said. “Their health and survival has a huge impact on the economy and the environment, and on peace and stability. This is not about charity – this is about humanity.”

Fashion For Relief A Huge Success

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Supermodel Naomi Campbell took to the runway on Wednesday for her 2008 Fashion For Relief charity catwalk show benefiting the White Ribbon Alliance.

Celebrity models who graced the catwalk included Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, model Erin O’Connor, artist Tracey Emin, rock daughters Kimberley Stewart and Lizzie Jagger, the Sugababes, Cilla Black, and Olympic gold medalists Rebecca Adlington and Sarah Ayton.

The show – which took place at London’s Natural History Museum – was opened by the wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Sarah, and was watched by a star-studded audience that included Mischa Barton.

Naomi Campbell Launches Fashion For Relief 2008

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:30:00 +0000

Supermodel and fashion icon Naomi Campbell has announced September 17 as the date for her Fashion for Relief charity fashion show.

The show will take place as part of London Fashion Week, and will raise money for the White Ribbon Alliance – a charity set up to raise awareness for maternal mortality.

“I am honored to be working with the White Ribbon Alliance on this year’s Fashion For Relief,” said Campbell. “So many woman, children, families, communities around the world are affected by maternal mortality. Fashion is universal, personal and touches everyone in some way. We are using this year’s London Fashion Week catwalk to reach people, showcase the important work of the White Ribbon Alliance and raise money for this cause.”