Panmela Castro with Estelle as Diane von Furstenberg looks on.

Tonight at the DVF Studio in New York, all eyes were on Panmela Castro–in a vivid green dress from the back rooms of a yet unseen collection, she stood out in the crowd gathered to celebrate International Women’s Day–not in the least because her hands were covered in dark fuchsia spray paint. Panmela is one of the six incredible women we’re honoring at the 2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards on Wednesday; a graffiti artist from Brazil, she brings the message of women’s rights to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro through art that informs women of their rights under the nation’s only domestic violence law, passed four years ago.

In just two hours, she created a striking painting using only spray paint to send out a very significant message: women have power. Her take on a painting of a warrior who symbolized power and conquest, Panmela replaced the masculine with the feminine–now a woman would be the image of power. Mixing dark colors with bright yellow and fuchsia splashes, she quickly turned a white canvas into an evocative statement.

Before signing the back of the canvas, Panmela added something that distinguishes her work from any other: with a black paint marker, she writes a string of words that hold no meaning in any language–they signify the unspoken words of every woman who has ever been silenced or abused. To see her as she writes this message, a message she intends for all women, is to understand why she does what she does.

Our host, Vital Voices Board Member Diane von Furstenberg, arrived just off the plane from LA, and embraced Panmela while admiring her work. Addressing the crowd gathered, she said that everyday, and especially today, “we should all be proud that we are women.”

She went on to say that we are all inspired by women, and must support one another, so we can “build a chain of love and strength” that stretches the world-over.

Furstenberg shared her love for Vital Voices and said she wanted to do something very special this year, which is why 12 remarkable female artists have been brought together through her vision to create a benefit compilation CD, Proud to be Woman, which will support our work at Vital Voices. Estelle, one of the artists featured on the CD, was in the Studio DJing tonight. Today also marks the first day in a weeklong promotion across all DVF stores and online: 10 percent of every purchase benefits Vital Voices.

Our President and CEO, Alyse Nelson, spoke after Diane, introducing Panmela and describing the importance of her work. Alyse said that Panmela is innovatively using “culture to fight culture,” shaping a different world, one that reflects the equality she portrays in her art. At a time when violence against women is growing worse around the world, Panmela is a powerful and beautiful force for change.

Today was an inspiring start to the week, and we were proud to join so many NGOs and nonprofits around the world in sharing our support and celebrating women internationally. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, co-chaired by one of our 2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Award honorees, Melinda French Gates, dedicated their website to IWD, check it out.

Tomorrow we continue this amazing week of events as we go over to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell, launching Women Can and Do, an exciting media campaign in collaboration with Diane von Furstenberg and founding partners Standard Chartered Bank, Avon, and Time Inc. Tomorrow is also the first day of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women, a summit hosted by Vital Voices and the Avon Foundation for Women at the State Department. We’re so excited to be partnering with the Avon Foundation for Women, be sure to visit the Avon Products Inc. page on Facebook and become a fan of this great organization supporting women around the world.

Today, March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day, joining with advocates and leaders around the world to recognize the progress made and obstacles that remain in advancing women’s equality. In a video address, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that this year “marks an anniversary very close to my heart,” referencing the 15-year anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China.

“The message from that conference rang loudly and clearly, and still echoes across cultures and continents: Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”

Secretary Clinton went on to say that much work remains: “Women are still the majority of the world’s poor, unhealthy, underfed, and uneducated. They rarely cause violent conflicts but too often bear their consequences. Women are absent from negotiations about peace and security to end those conflicts.”

Throughout the week, Secretary Clinton will be commemorating International Women’s Day, and will present Melinda French Gates the Global Trailblazer award at the 2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards on March 10.

Today marks the start of an exciting week for Vital Voices. This evening, Board Member Diane von Furstenberg will host a reception for Panmela Castro, our Human Rights Award honoree. Panmela is a graffiti artist from Brazil who brings the message of women’s rights to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, informing women of their right to live free of violence under Brazil’s domestic violence law. During the day, Panmela will be creating a mural at the DVF Studio in New York City.

Other events this week include:

March 9

Launch of Women Can and Do media campaign with the ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. 2010 honorees will join past honoree Danielle Saint-Lot of Haiti to introduce this exciting collaboration with Diane von Furstenberg and founding partners Standard Chartered Bank, Avon, and Time Inc.

Day one of a three-day summit hosted by the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women, a collaboration between Vital Voices and the Avon Foundation for Women at the State Department. Delegates from around the world will gather at the State Department for dialogue and working sessions on ending violence against women. An evening reception will honor Men’s Voices to End Violence Against Women.

March 10

2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center. We will honor six remarkable women for their contributions in the fields of human rights, economic empowerment, and political and social activism.

March 12

Opening night of The Daily Beast’s Women in the World: Stories & Solutions summit at the Hudson Theatre in New York. Vital Voices’ play SEVEN will be performed by actresses including Meryl Streep, Shohreh Aghdashloo.

March 13

Inaugural DVF Awards at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Four outstanding women will be recognized for their contributions to their communities, including Vital Voices Global Network members Danielle Saint-Lot and Sadiqa Basiri.

Visit our site to learn about the many exciting events of the week!

Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities and Economic Power
Ashoka’s Changemakers, ExxonMobil, and The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) have issued a global challenge for innovations which enable women to access and use the power of tools and technology to expand their opportunities for economic advancement. See Women | Tools | Technology for competition details and deadlines.

Women ONE2ONE
Women ONE2ONE is a growing voice made up of people who know that maternal health, girls’ education, economic opportunity and women’s empowerment are key to fighting poverty and preventable disease for everyone. This campaign recognizes women as change-makers, community-builders and peace builders. Harness your power to connect, take action and shape the future. Learn more about Women ONE2ONE.

Women for Women International
Join Me on the Bridge
To honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign called Join Me on the Bridge on International Women’s Day: March 8, 2010. Women from Rwanda and Congo will come together in peace on a bridge between their countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development. At the same time and in solidarity, women (and men!) will come together on bridges throughout the world, creating a truly global movement that says NO! to war and YES! to peace and hope. Learn more about Join Women on the Bridge.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a performance of documentary play, SEVEN.  Hosted by Vital Voices in partnership with NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, the play was performed on NYU’s campus for an audience of around 1,000 people.

The performance was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Tina Brown, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Beast and featuring 4 of the SEVEN women whose stories are profiled in the play.

It was truly a remarkable and transforming experience. In closing, panelist and Vital Voices leader, Hafsat Abiola from Nigeria read the following poem that captured the spirit of the evening- which was filled with strength and hope:

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
But to be fearless in facing them
Let me not pray for the stilling of my pain
But for the heart to conquer it
Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield
But to my own strength
Grant me that I may not be a coward
feeling your mercy in my successes alone
But let me find the grasp of your hand
In my failure.

by Rabindrath Tagor

Vital Voices Board Member and Global Head of Corporate Engagement at Goldman Sachs, Dina Habib Powell, contributed commentary, ‘Educate a woman, create a nation’ to CNN.com.  The article outlines current efforts that are being made by the public and private sector to empower women globally.

Read the article.

On March 8, women from a high-profile gathering in Liberia to a high school auditorium in Afghanistan discussed women’s progress and the need to further women’s empowerment. It was International Women’s Day and women were ensuring that their voices were heard.

At a round table discussion in Kuwait, activists discussed the role of women in catalyzing social and political progress. Dr. Aseel Alawadhi, a professor at Kuwait University and former parliamentary candidate, noted the need for society to overcome prejudicial structures, which often exclude women’s participation, in order to allow women to play a more meaningful role in constructing the country’s future. While women are still striving to overcome certain barriers, they have already been making progress, with several female candidates running competitive campaigns in Kuwait’s last election.

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With hardly a moment to take breath as my colleagues and I organized a diverse spectrum of activities across Cameroon, a fascinating country where over 250 languages are spoken and the landscape ranges from the bustling congestion of the port city of Douala to the hilly rural areas spotted with homes adorned by spectacular tin-thatched roofs that reach up to the sky in a triangle shape. We were told that the more majestic the roof, the greater the status of the residents in terms of the village hierarchy.

We started our week with an introduction to the volunteer pilot committee and dedicated staff working on the AMA Market Women project, an initiative supported by Vital Voices Leadership and Advocacy Fund through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The pilot committee is an impressive group of men and women, all market traders themselves, who have volunteered their time to see through the realization of the project’s objectives, which are to strengthen the voice of women market traders in the areas of tax administration, public health and sanitation, and commercial regulation.
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The alliance between Vital Voices and Diane von Fustenberg, had me flying across the world this time . . . and it was an amazing experience!!!

More and more, as women, the awareness of who we are, our possibilities, our role in creating a beautiful world, become evident and fascinating!!! This week was a peek into it!!

Before the trip, I was somehow nervous . . . the journey from working with women in rural Guatemalan communities to Washington, through Vital Voices, seemed far enough!! But to be able to go into a totally new world, the Fashion World is something I never imagined . . . but was possible because of Diane working together with Vital Voices.

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To celebrate International Women’s day Vital Voices has planned various events across the globe. The London event was the first to kick off at the Diane von Furstenberg shop in Mayfair. As I arrived promptly at six for the cocktail I was greeted by all the Brower Lewis staff (Diane von Furstenberg’s PR people) and the wonderful sales assistants all dressed in various DVF dresses. Soon the shop was buzzing with a good atmosphere as it was filled with the 100 or so people who attended, including some guests who came all the way from Paris. With people talking, networking and shopping, it made for a very lively event. Women loved the fashion and quite a bit of shopping was done!
I spoke about Vital Voices and their role not only in training and empowering women leaders but also in combating Human Trafficking. Young women who I spoke to were very interested in the issue of Human Trafficking.
We all left with a bag, containing Vital Voices literature and a Diane von Furstenberg t-shirt.

Memories of a small woman with a huge voice leading hundreds of women in singing ‘Bread and ‘Roses’.
They were celebrating women who lived in a time when women’s rights had no name. Women whose names will never be known who had fought the shadow of injustice so that their daughters and granddaughters could live in the sun.

Memories of warmth and laughter as women of different traditions and communities in Northern Ireland stepped outside their own worlds, exchanged stories and discovered the pleasure in each other’s company

Memories now of watching a play in New York which honored the courage and determination in the lives of all such women across the world.

Through telling the stories of seven women who had embarked on journeys for which there were no footprints, the women playrights and actresses resonated the strength and determination of women around the world who make these lonely choices.

Humbled at being one of the seven, honored by the company I am keeping, marveling at the ingenuity
of the women in vital voices who used their space and power to insist that such voices be heard as of right and respected as the necessary pre condition for the health of our world.

Memories of a night of strength, of pain but most of all memories of a night of love and laughter in good company.