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New York City – The UN
Women for Peace Association (UNWFPA) gave their annual
awards this year to Actor/Director Paul
Bettany, Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group Robert
Kraft, and Bond No.
9. The Awards Luncheon ceremony celebrating
International Women’s Day was held on March 6, 2015 at
11:30am at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
The event was in collaboration with the United
Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). Academy
Award-winner Ron Howard introduced
Bettany before he received
UNWFPA’s Humanitarian Award. Jennifer
Connelly, Bettany’s wife, was also in attendance, along
with Rita
Cosby, Richard Lui, Somaly Mam, AnnaLynne McCord, and Anna
Strasberg. Participant in the ceremony also included UN
officials and ambassadors, as well as a slew of
philanthropists, celebrities, and members of the media.
UNWFPA Patron H.E. Mrs.
Ban Soon-taek, spouse of UN Secretary-General H.E.
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and UNWFPA Board Chair Muna
Rihani Al-Nasser, presented the awards. Robert Kraft
received UNWFPA’s Achievement Award. Laurice Rahmé accepted
the UNWFPA Peace Award on behalf of Bond No. 9.
Guests included: Geoffrey
Bradfield, Anna Scott Carter, Jennifer Connelly, Rita Cosby,
Asha Curran, Dee Dee Taylor Eustace, Susan Gutfreund, Ron
Howard, Jana Jaffe, Lakshmi Puri, Francine Lefrak, Denise
Lefrak, Somaly Mam, Annalynne McCord, Uma Pemmaraju,
Alexandra Richards, Joyce Brooks, HRH Prince Alexander
and HRH Princess Catherine of Serbia, Miss USA Nia Sanchez,
Sana Sabbagh, Patt Tigrett Kerr, Jackie Wilson, Bruce
Winston, and Stephanie
Winston Wolkoff.
UNWFPA’s annual awards luncheon was in
celebration of International Women’s Day and this year’s
theme was “Men to End Violence Against Women.” UNWFPA Board Chair
Al-Nasser says, "ending violence against women is not just a
women's issue, it is a men's issue as well. Men must stand
up and speak out against this crime." The
event raised awareness to the issue of violence against
women. Funds from the luncheon support the UN Trust Fund to
End Violence Against Women. Al-Nasser, Rema
DuPont, and Deirdre
Imus werd
co-chairs for the event.
UNWFPA board member Barbara
Winston says,
“Human liberty has been born of earnest struggle. The people
dedicated to correcting injustice and oppression of women
and girls have to work together deliberately. This is a
battle: soldiers get ready. UN Women For Peace Association
and their partners take on this challenge.”
Paul Bettany was honored for his consistent
and positive stance on women’s issues, including making a
new film Shelter,
which explores the plight of homeless women in New York
City, starring his wife Jennifer Connelly and
Anthony Mackie. Bettany wrote, produced, and directed Shelter,
which was produced by Robert Ogden Barnum, Paul Bettany,
Katie Mustard, Daniel Wagner and executive produced by Dana
Brown, Melanie Greene, Cassian Elwes, Clay Floren and Kevin
Scott Frakes. The Film will be distributed by Screen Media
with a targeted release date of November 6, 2015.
Bettany says, “I am humbled to be honored by
UNWFPA, and to be part of the extraordinary work that they
do.”
Robert Kraft was honored for everything the
NFL, and especially the New
England Patriots, are doing to bring awareness of
violence against women to the public and show how men must
be at the forefront of ending such violence.
"Men have to take a leading role in the
prevention of violence against women,” says Kraft. “We have
a tremendous opportunity, and social obligation, to work
with advocates likes the UN Women for Peace Association to
accomplish this mission. I am honored to accept this award
and look forward to continuing our work towards this goal.”
Bond No. 9 was honored for their continuous
support of UNWFPA, their corporate ambition to spread peace
internationally, and their new attempt to raise money for
the cause with their Scents of Peace for men and women.
“Bond No. 9 is humbled to be honored by
UNWFPA,” Rahmé says. “We’ve always admired their work and
the commitment they have to ridding the world of violence
against women.”
Also at the luncheon was a special
performance of Tena
Clark’s anti-abuse
and violence song “Break the Chain,” sung by American
Idol-finalist Miss
Jackie Wilson of
Memphis, TN. The Memphis
Charitable Foundation sponsors
the performance in honor of UNWFPA chair Muna Rihani
Al-Nasser.
UN Women
for Peace Association is engaging a global audience in
conversation about violence against women with an
international social media campaign, #IWalk4Women, leading
up to a joint march with UN Women on March 8th from
the United Nations to Times Square. Recognizing that
violence against women is a problem that affects communities
across socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic divides,
the #IWalk4Women campaign utilizes the power of social media
to engage a vast diversity of people to join the call for
change.
Paul
Bettany, filmed a Public Service Announcement with UNWFPA’s
partner, The 92nd Street
Y, to spread awareness of violence against women and
encourage others to participate in #IWalk4Women.
Participants in #IWalk4Women are taking videos of their own
feet walking four steps and uploading them, using the
hashtag, to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and adding
their own voices, stories, and experiences. They are tagging
friends to participate and film their own steps as well. The
goal is to walk millions of steps across the world to end
violence against women.
#IWalk4Women aims to stress how united the world must be in
confronting the epidemic of violence against women and how
the power to change lives and behaviors lies with everyone,
not only a few leaders and activists.
UNWFPA believes violence against women and
girls is a criminal act that should not be tolerated. Yet,
as you read this, five million women and girls across the
globe are suffering from forced sexual exploitation or are
victims of human trafficking. More than 60 million girls
have no access to - or are being deliberately excluded from
- primary and secondary school. One in three women
experience violence from an intimate partner or sexual
violence from a stranger in their lifetime. UNWFPA was
founded in 2008 under the patronage of H.E. Mrs. Ban Soon-taek.
UNWFPA aims at raising awareness about these horrible
crimes. We seek to promote and advance the goals of UN
agencies that provide opportunities for women through
social, cultural, educational and empowerment programs
within the framework of the global peace-building process.
All our proceeds go directly to the UN Trust Fund to End
Violence Against Women. The Fund, which aims to prevent and
end violence against women and girls, provides services and
programs to those affected by violence and supports the
implementation of laws and policies conducive to ending
violence against women.
The Committee of Honor includes: Reem
Acra, H. E. Nassir A. Al-Nasser, Sheika Paula Al Sabah,
Fadil Berisha, H.E. Daniele D. Bodini (P.R. San Marino),
Natalie Cole, Vlora Çitaku, H.E. François Delattre (P.R. of
France), Toni Devolani, Amb.
Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Diandra Douglas, Kathy Eldon, Nacho
Figueras, H.E. Mary Flores (P.R. Honduras),
Allan E. Goodman, Dayle Haddon, H.E. Laura Elena Flores
Herrera (P.R. Panama), H.E. Dina Kawar (P.R. Jordan), The
Hon. Jeanine F. Pirro, Joaquin Phoenix, Cindy McCain,
AnnaLynne McCord, Richard Meier, H.E. Nawaf Salam (P.R.
Lebanon), H.E. Simona-Mirela Miculescu (P.R. Romania),
Alexandra Richards, Kelly Rutherford, Henry Timms, and Miss
Jackie Wilson.
The Benefit Committee includes: Roshanak
Afkhami, Mariam
Azarm, Geoffrey Bradfield, Clarissa Bronfman, Dr. Karen
Burke, Elisabeth Cobler, Donna Corbat, Asha Curran, Dee Dee
Taylor Eustace, Somers Farkas, Beatrize Garcia, Michael
Gormley, Susan Gutfreund, Sule Haskell, Leila Heller,
Phyllis Hendry, Yaz Hernández, Meriel Hosty, Jana
Jaffe, Bushra and Imad Jomaa, Allegra Jordan,
Elizabeth R. Kabler, Eleanora Kennedy, Francine LeFrak,
Denise LeFrak, Donia Liechti, Sharon Handler Loeb, Valerie
Mallick, Michael Mallick, Jonathan Marder, Erwin and Kim
McManus, Hanifa Mezoui, Amy Mollenkamp-Chidiac, Sonia
Nassery-Cole, Luiza
Petre, Nihal Saad, Sana
Sabbagh, Sahar Baassiri
Salam, Shpresa Xhakli, Aida Saliby, Whitney Skibell, Pat
Kerr Tigrett, Julie Vacca, Julie Weindling Geier, HH Prince
Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Kimya Zahedi, and May
Zawaideh.
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