Plan USA's project for girls in West Africa to be given recognition at CGI

*Releases Latest Report on the State of the World's Girls*

Plan USA's "Commitment to Action" media project for girls in West Africa will be given special recognition at the 5th Annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 in New York City.

The project, "Vocational Skills and Media Training for Adolescent Girls," --part of Plan's own global Because I am a Girl initiative--will be one of seven announced when President Bill Clinton delivers his opening remarks to a special forum on "Investing in Girls and Women." President Clinton will announce more commitments during other sessions at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting.

Through its Because I am a Girl campaign, Plan is actively engaged in a global movement to raise the status of girls--who are more likely to be under educated, abused, unhealthy, and excluded from economic opportunities--to the same level as boys, so that entire societies can be sustainably strengthened and lifted out of poverty.

Plan publishes annual reports, each focusing on a specific topic related to the current status of girls. The recent launch of the 2009 report, "Girls in the Global Economy: Adding It All Up" is especially timely with the launch of the Clinton initiative.

Membership in CGI was contingent upon Plan's deep commitment to addressing the roots of global poverty by empowering girls and women. "Vocational Skills and Media Training for Adolescent Girls" was selected from hundreds of varied global projects focused on girls "as an exemplary approach to addressing a specific global challenge."

In the course of the three-year project, no less than 140 girls will be trained to enter the professional work force, while they concurrently create new and innovative platforms to promote gender equality and girls' empowerment to over 1,000,000 people in West Africa.

"Plan USA is honored to be among the top philanthropic organizations, non-governmental organizations, and Fortune 500 companies gathering together to address such pressing issues as poverty alleviation, climate change, education, and global health," said Plan USA's President/CEO, Ahuma Adodoadji. "Plan strongly supports all initiatives that recognize girls and women as the world's greatest untapped resource. The world can no longer afford to go on without including them fully in the equation."

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