MEDIA ADVISORY

April 3, 2008

Contact: Nasserie Carew, 202-552-6561 (Office), 202-341-3814 (Cell), ncarew@interaction.org

Tawana Jacobs, 202-552-6534 (Office), 301-326-8687 (Cell), tjacobs@interaction.org

Unprecedented Humanitarian Alliance to Announce New Investments

in Women and Girls, as Key to Ending Poverty Worldwide
Women, Faith, and Development Alliance is the crescendo to recent, growing calls for more
global aid, as UN women’s agency says commitments to women remain unmet

WHO: Ashley Judd, Kenyan youth activist Stellamaris Mulaeh, former Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Queen Noor will help launch the Women, Faith, and
Development Alliance (WFDA), the first collaborative campaign between long-at-odds faith
communities and women’s organizations.

WHAT: WFDA will highlight the global needs of women and girls and kick-off a campaign,
Breakthrough: The Women, Faith, and Development Summit to End Global Poverty, that [to-date has
received commitments of X] to increase investments in their advancement by governments,
multilateral institutions, and private entities.

WHEN: Sunday, April 13, 2:00-5:30 p.m.

Camera pre-set (1:00 p.m.); Final access (1:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

The global wealth of developed nations has skyrocketed in recent decades, and yet billions, mostly
women and girls, still suffer in extreme poverty. The U.S. is gearing up for a deeper debate about its
role in the world, particularly on the importance of foreign aid. All over the world, leading voices – Ban
Ki-moon, UNIFEM, Condi Rice, Goldman Sachs – are rising to acknowledge a failure to support
women and demand change. The Summit will be the moment when these voices join to announce
millions of dollars worth of new programs, landmark about-faces and policy changes, and collective
resolve.

Other Points of Note:

• Archbishop Tutu to offer a landmark statement on faith and gender justice
• Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to plea for resources for Africa
• The faith community to announce groundbreaking gender violence initiatives
• Icons of the women’s and development movements will literally pass the torch to a new
generation of female leaders like Stellamaris Mulaeh of Kenya
• Leaders from the women, faith, and development communities will share a stage with
corporate executives and developing world farmers
For more information on women, faith, and development leaders and the Summit:
• The WFDA website: www.wfd-allliance.org
• Archbishop Tutu and Breakthrough Co-Chairs: http://wfd-alliance.org/EVchairs.htm
• The diverse Breakthrough Leadership Council: http://wfd-alliance.org/EVcouncil.htm

SPACE LIMITED – Press RSVPs at 202-295-0174

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InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental
organizations. Our 165 members operate in every developing country, working with local communities to
overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life.