Pictured, left to right, Molly Melching, Barrie Landry and Janet Atkins of Beacon Hill at the UNICEF Luncheon.
Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, joined guests at the Hampshire House in Boston on March 5 to discuss the ongoing effort to end the practice of female genital cutting (FGC). Tostan advocates for the rights of women and children by encouraging the abandonment of FGC and child/forced marriage, reducing infant and maternal mortality, organizing school and birth registration campaigns and nurturing female leadership. Through strong relationships with development partners, governments, and non-governmental organizations such as Tostan, UNICEF works to strengthen legislations outlawing FGC and supports policies enabling communities to make a coordinated and collective choice to abandon the practice.
This is the 10th year of the UNICEF Women’s Luncheon Series in Boston. This series of three luncheons attracts women from the professional and philanthropic communities in Boston to an intimate event with a brief presentation by the featured speaker followed by an enriching Q & A session. The speaker’s remarks are about UNICEF and the speaker’s personal experience with issues that affect women and children in developing countries.