Bangkok, Thailand – AstraZeneca Thailand, in collaboration with global children’s charity Plan International, continues its latest initiative as part of the Young Health Programme (YHP) by organising the #GirlsBelongHere2022 campaign to commemorate the International Day of the Girl, marked on the 11th of October each year. The activity strives to empower the potential of girls and women and equalise their rights.
AstraZeneca first participated in fostering gender diversity and developed many initiatives to include individual differences more than a decade ago. We believe in the principle of Inclusion & Diversity and advocate for women to be granted equal responsibilities in science, innovation, and technology. However, the recent crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered this group’s social and economic equality. More than 47 million girls and women worldwide have been directly affected by the pandemic, including forced school outages and the loss of full-time occupations to care for their families, including the elderly and children.
At AstraZeneca, health is our business and our number one priority. The company is committed to ensuring equal access to sustainable healthcare solutions. Sustainability is fundamental to ensuring a healthy future for people, society, and the planet. And whether it’s increasing access to healthcare, protecting the environment, or demanding ethical, inclusive and open behaviours, all of us have a role to play in taking action to drive sustainability.
As part of the Young Health Programme (YHP), AstraZeneca has partnered with Plan International, launching the #GirlsBelongHere2022 campaign to celebrate the International Day of the Girl. At this year's event, girls in high schools and universities will participate and be part of a meaningful Girls Takeover experience for both the young woman and the AstraZeneca leader, whose role will be taken over to share similar interests and backgrounds. The experiences will be shared with AstraZeneca's professional women in leadership roles while brainstorming policies that AstraZeneca may implement to support greater gender equality in the organisation.
Waranchalee, one of the participants of the Girls Takeover campaign, said: “It is one of the greatest experiences for me to be part of this programme, it inspires me to learn and understand the roles of working and responsibilities from expert mentors in different background and expertise. The fact that women have contributed so much to the organization impressed me, and it has influenced what kind of profession I want to pursue in the near future. Additionally, this is a wonderful chance for us to meet new people and exchange experiences with one another, which enables us to develop fresh perspectives on a variety of societal issues, such as girls' rights and gender equality.”
James Teague, Country President, AstraZeneca (Thailand) Ltd., said: “Each year, we see a growing number of girls from around the world, including Thailand, step into the front rows in various fields of business to demand equal power, freedom, and representation for girls and young women. Girls occupy spaces of leadership and decision-making through our annual campaign, #GirlsBelongHere, demonstrating that they have the right to be there. We continuously raise broad awareness about the issues girls and young women face internally and externally while reinforcing AstraZeneca’s commitment to gender and health equity, inclusion & diversity.”
The #GirlsBelongHere campaign is an annual event jointly organised by AstraZeneca and Plan International. The campaign aims to promote deep recognition of the factors contributing to gender inequity while encouraging women's true potential and ability. It aspires to be a voice for equal opportunities and access to rights that everyone deserves, to advocate for and drive inclusion in society, and to raise awareness and reaction to women's challenges and prejudice in the business sector.
For more information about the #GirlsBelongHere campaign by AstraZeneca, please visit: https://www.younghealthprogrammeyhp.com/young-leaders/girls-belong-here.html
###
About AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme
AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme (YHP) is a global disease prevention programme with a unique focus on young people aged 10 to 24, living in vulnerable environments and under-resourced settings around the world. The YHP aims to prevent the most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, and mental ill health. Since 2010, it has directly reached over six million young people in over 30 countries with information about NCD risk behaviours.Please visit www.younghealthprogrammeyhp.com for more information.
About Plan International Thailand
Plan International is a non-profit organisation operating in more than 70 countries worldwide to promote, enhance, and protect children's rights and ensure equality for girls. Plan International Thailand has been working in Thailand since 1981 to help build a just society using a Child Centered Community Development approach that puts childrens’ best interests as its top priority by working with children, young people, public/private partners, communities and families to drive positive changes that further children’s rights and gender equality at the local, national and global level. Please visit https://plan-international.org/thailand and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/plan.thailand
Reference:
1. UN Women: COVID-19: Rebuilding for Resilience. Available here: https://www.unwomen.org/en/hq-complex-page/covid-19-rebuilding-for-resilience
2. How Will Covid-19 Affect Girls and Young Women? Available here: https://plan-international.org/emergencies/covid-19-faqs-girls-women/
3. Young Health Programme Thailand. Available here: https://www.younghealthprogrammeyhp.com/programmes/thailand.html
TH-12031
Expiration Date: 10/10/2024