Dilijan, Armenia – February 14, 2017 – – UWC Dilijan students will help expand the international “One Billion Rising” revolution into Armenia – and help raise awareness of issues of equality and empowerment of women – during a campus-wide event on Saturday, February 18 at 3 p.m. Through art, dancing, singing, poetry recital the idea of One Billion Rising movement will be introduced to Armenia’s citizens. UWC Dilijan community will join United Ambassadors at Large for Global Integration, NGOs working in Armenia, international guests, and Dilijan Community Centre to promote the values and mission of UWC and help raise awareness of the violence against women worldwide.
According to reports 1 in 3 women across the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That’s ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Every February, hundreds of countries across the world sponsor events to raise awareness in their local communities “and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face.” This year, One Billion Rising Revolution is giving sharper focus and visibility to the exploitation of women, and to harnessing even stronger global solidarity to demand an end to violence in all forms and to end the causes of violence against women – poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy.
The UWC Dilijan event will include readings of motivational speeches of many prominent and successful women aimed at inspiring the audience. Included among the invited guests and local dignitaries are: Yevgenia Hovhannisyan, Head Doctor of Dilijan Children’s Antituberculosis Sanatorium; Teresa Daban Sanchez, IMF Resident Representative for Armenia; Laura Bailey, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia, Europe and Central Asia; Graziella Seif, President of United Ambassadors at Large – for global integration – USA; Zara Batoyan, President of National Alliance of People with Disabilities; Natalya Harutyunyan, UNDP Coordinator, Women in Local Democracy project, and Marie Lou Papazian, Managing Director, Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.
About One Million Rising
One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women in human history. The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. On 14 February 2013, people across the world came together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women. See more on https://www.onebillionrising.org
About UWC Dilijan
UWC Dilijan College is the first international boarding school of the UWC education model on the post-Soviet space. The college opened in 2014 in the Armenian town of Dilijan and currently has 194 students enrolled from 72 countries and 38 academic staff members from 15 countries.
UWC Dilijan represents an exciting extension of the UWC movement into the Caucasus region at the junction of Asia and Europe. Established in 1962, UWC educational movement now is comprising of 17 international schools and colleges, national committees in more than 150 countries, and a series of short educational programmes. For more information, please visit: https://uwcdilijan.org/
