news

February 2, 2010
The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood Presents the Global Dinner Party Guide by Yasmin Mills Celebrating the 100th Year of International Women's Day

 

"The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood is asking people around the world to wear white and hold a dinner party in March for the 100th year of International Women's Day 8th March. Please get together with your friends, have some fun and join this global celebration of women and babies - and also remember those lost. Together we can really show governments and national leaders that we won’t be ignored and that all women in every country deserve access to basic healthcare. We can save so many lives by refusing to be ignored. Please play your part to prevent the needless deaths of women and newborns in childbirth."
Naomi Campbell, WRA Global Ambassador
 
For the 100th year of International Women’s Day on 8th March 2010 the White Ribbon Alliance and its coalition members at Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Children, Mumsnet and Women For Women International are asking women across the world to wear something white and come together in solidarity and celebration. All around the world WRA members and maternal health champions will be holding dinner parties or similar events and celebrating with friends.
You can add your voice to this important celebration  and help build the growing pressure for change – and for more resources for women’s health - by signing up to the White Ribbon Alliance and pledging to hold your own dinner party in aid of the global campaign to stop the needless deaths of women in childbirth.
Hosts can get brilliant dinner party tips, recipes and ideas from some of the White Ribbon Alliances’ VIP supporters in the shape of a special White Ribbon Alliance Global Dinner Party Guide, written by writer and international charity event organiser Yasmin Mills.
 
The Guide is downloadable from the WRA website and includes information and ideas on how to create your own dinner party to raise awareness and funds  as well as have some fun getting ready with anecdotes, recipes and advice from contributors: Martha Stewart, Naomi Campbell, Assia Webster, Claudia Winkleman, Erin O’Connor, Kelly Hoppen MBE, Tess Daly, Ben De Lisi, Aparajita Gogoi, June Sarpong MBE, Patrick Shelley, Elle McPherson, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan, Lauren Kemp, Maureen McTeer, Natalia Vodianova and Stephen Webster.
As Martha Stewart says: “Organization is the key to being a good, relaxed host and being able to enjoy the gathering as much as your guests.” 
So the Guide has been designed to make planning a fabulous dinner party as painless and enjoyable as possible. It covers preparation, table setting and even make-up and styling tips and includes some great party recipes from Martha Stewart, Ben De Lisi, Kelly Hoppen and June Sarpong.
It also includes a couple of stories to make you feel better if you don’t think you’re the world’s best host . . .
‘Things don’t always go to plan. Erin O’Connor knows this: “I once set fire to one of my guests.(By accident!)”
 
As does Claudia Winkleman: “Once I forgot to turn the potatoes on. I think I served them raw. Um. Cooking isn’t my strong point...”

As Yasmin concludes ‘But the odd little dinner party disaster is not the end of the world. The most important thing is for you and your friends to enjoy your evening together.’
 
Download the Guide and add your voice to the campaign by pledging to hold a dinner party at: http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/internationalwomensday/iwd.html
 
By holding a dinner party for International Women’s Day you will be joining women across the world in support of the important work the White Ribbon Alliance does to reduce needless maternal and newborn deaths:
 
Canada: Maureen McTeer, lawyer and wife of former Prime Minister Joe Clark is heading up the group of high-powered maternal health champions organizing a dinner party to celebrate International Women’s Day.
 
United Kingdom: Baroness Glenys Kinnock will be just one of the women hosting dinners in the UK. There will also be a VIP Dinner with The Guide’s celebrity contributors organised by Yasmin Mills, with special guests at a prestigious London venue.

United States: Princess Sarah Zeid, wife of Jordan’s Ambassador to Washington Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, and Social Diva Peg Samuels, will participate in the IWD Global Dinner Party, hosting guests in Washington, DC and New York.
 
Other activities in celebration of International Women’s Day by our members include:
 
Nigeria: White Ribbon Alliance members in Nigeria have teamed up with the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs to organizing a march in Gusau, Zamfara State. Zamfara Well Woman Initiative and the wife of the Governor of Zamfara State are co-chairing the grassroots organizing committee in Gusau.

Uganda: White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood – Uganda is organizing a week-long youth musical convoy across Uganda .
 
Join these and other WRA members from Bangladesh, France, India, Nepal, Kenya and Sierra Leone who are organizing dinner parties and community events to celebrate IWD and support the WRA’s efforts to ensure every woman everywhere has a healthy pregnancy and safe birth.
WRA Background
The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood is a global movement to prevent the needless deaths of women in childbirth. 
  • Half a million women die each year – that’s one a minute
  • 99% are in the developing world
  • The risk is 1 in 8 in some countries, compared with 1 in 8,000 in western Europe
  • Half of women in developing countries give birth alone or with only a neighbour or relative to help
The White Ribbon Alliance is a coalition of tens of thousands of individual and organizational members in 143 countries with affiliated National Alliances in 15 – Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda Yemen  and Zambia – all raising the voices of men and women from all walks of life and  holding governments and institutions to account for the tragedy of maternal mortality. www.whiteribbonalliance.org  
Yasmin Mills 
Yasmin modelled and worked in television before becoming a writer, entertaining expert and charity party organiser. She has written on topics ranging from fashion to interiors, but mainly entertaining, for publications including the Sunday Times, InStyle and Harpers Bazaar. Yasmin was an entertaining ambassador for Wedgwood and recently wrote her first book, a guide to entertaining called "How To Party", in aid of the charity Hope and Homes for Children. She has also organised many charity events.
PRESS CONTACT:
UK – Jenny Rose jenny@happypr.co.uk +44 (0) 7957 551 697
US – Deborah Clark dclark@whiteribbonalliance.org +11 202 679 2399
Notes to Editor:
 
Download the Guide:http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/internationalwomensday/gdp_guide.pdf. 
 
Information quotes and images from the Guide available on request. 
 
Spokespeople and case studies are available for more in-depth features on the work of the White Ribbon Alliance internationally.
 
There will also be media opportunities with high profile supporters and events in the lead up to International Women’s Day.