Govt, Star TV, HP, Intel & USAID come together to champion education for girls

The Girl Rising initiative includes a film on girl empowerment by Oscar-nominated director Richard E Robbins, community programmes, and a mass media campaign by O&M

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | September 1, 2015

Girl Rising, a global movement for educating and empowering girls, premiered its film 'Girl Rising: Woh Padhegi. Woh Udegi' (She Learns. She Rises.) in India on August 29, 2015. The film was aired on Star Plus at 1.30 pm.

The film, directed by Academy Award-nominated director Richard E Robbins, tells the stories of eight extraordinary girls from around the world and features actors Priyanka Chopra, Freida Pinto, Madhuri Dixit, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Nandita Das, Sushmita Sen, and Parineeti Chopra, with narration by Farhan Akhtar and Amitabh Bachchan.

With support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Intel, The Documentary Group and Vulcan Productions, Girl Rising is going beyond the broadcast space and working with partners to drive impact. The global initiative is collaborating with the public and private sectors in India to help communities understand the value of educating girls. In Rajasthan and Bihar, community programmes are being launched in partnership with Save the Children. Screening kits of the film will be available online for companies, schools and non-profit organisations to spark community conversations about girls' education.

In collaboration with HP and Ogilvy & Mather, Girl Rising is also developing a new mass media campaign to help more girls complete secondary school. Nationwide, 25 per cent of girls drop out by Class 5 and over 40 per cent never make it to Class 10.

Sanjay Gupta

Sanjay Gupta, COO, Star India, commented, “Star India has constantly worked to redefine the role of television as an agent of social change, Women empowerment is a cause we feel strongly about and our aspirational content has influenced the changing role of women in society. We felt that Raksha Bandhan was a great aperture for Star Plus to present 'Girl Rising: Woh Padegi, Woh Udegi', a ground-breaking film that we hope would inspire viewers to go beyond and do something meaningful to empower the young girls of our country.”

Emphasising the role of technology as an enabler for change, Debjani Ghosh, Vice-President - Sales & Marketing Group, Managing Director, South Asia, Intel, said, “India can achieve sustainable inclusive growth only if girls and women are able to come forth and contribute effectively to its economy. As a founding partner of Girl Rising, Intel has worked with policy makers across the world to talk about improving gender equity in education. Girl Rising in Hindi will spread the important message to Indian citizens that together we can empower girls and help them become agents of positive change in their communities.”

Lloyd Mathias, Head of Marketing, Personal Systems, HP India, added here, “We understand that when girls receive the same secondary school opportunities as boys, the prospects of the entire family, and thereby the village, changes for the good of the country. Girl Rising's initiative is a perfect fit for HP's #BendTheRules campaign, the platform we have provided for young millennials to chase their passion and make it happen. Through this association, we aim to highlight the importance of school education for girls and urge the millennials to #BendTheRules and be the change by helping them pass class 10.”

Girl Rising is partnering with non-profits working on behalf of girls across India and around the world. They include WorldVision, CARE, PLAN International, and others. WorldVision was instrumental in the pre-production and production of the Girl Rising film in India. Sony Thomas, Group Director - Public Engagement, World Vision India, stated, “All the girls in the movie 'Girl Rising' were cast not based on their acting talent but because their story speaks of the aspirations of many girls across the country. WorldVision India works to empower families and children with job skills and education programmes to ensure children – India's next generation – are educated and equipped enough to end this cycle of poverty.”

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Administrator Alfonso E Lenhardt, executives from Star TV and Intel, actor Alia Bhatt and wrestling champion Sangram Singh helped launch the premiere in Mumbai. Freida Pinto and Priyanka Chopra participated remotely via video.

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