MEDIA ADVISORY - Toronto Eaton Centre - Join Plan International Canada and Hon. Rona Ambrose in celebration of International Day of the Girl

Come out and find out why #GirlsBelongHere

TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2016 /CNW/ - Please join us on International Day of the Girl (October 11) as  girls fill high profile seats and engage in spaces where they are traditionally not seen or heard. Canadian girls are illustrating every girl's right to equal opportunities by declaring #GirlsBelongHere.

To mark this important day, Plan International Canada is bringing together youth, the organization's President & CEO, Caroline Riseboro and Hon. Rona Ambrose, who helped lead the effort to create an International Day of the Girl through the United Nations. In a world where millions of girls still bear the brunt of poverty, are denied an education, forced into marriage and subjected to violence, simply because they are young and female, it's time to unlock the power of girls.

WHAT

• Women leaders including Interim Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Hon. Rona Ambrose and Plan International President & CEO, Caroline Riseboro, along with youth at the Eaton Centre to urge all girls, boys, women and men to stand up for gender equality and declare that #GirlsBelongHere in positions of leadership.
• Onsite will be a highly visual, interactive display featuring oversized chairs that symbolize Canada's leadership seats, facing mirrors that allow girls to see themselves in those seats. Participants are invited to take a selfie in a symbolic decision-making seat and share online to show their support for International Day of Girl and the #GirlsBelongHere initiative.

WHO

• Hon. Rona Ambrose, Interim Leader of the Opposition
• Plan International Canada's President & CEO, Caroline Riseboro
• Plan International Canada Youth

WHEN

• Tuesday October 11, 2016
• 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

WHERE

• Toronto Eaton Centre, Level 1, Gap Court (outside The Gap, north end of mall, near Dundas Station)
  220 Yonge Street
  Toronto, ON

**Please sign-in first with Toronto Eaton Centre Guest Services on the second level just above the fountain

BACKGROUND
Leading up to the 5^th International Day of the Girl on October 11th, girls challenged Canadian leaders to give up their seat for a day by declaring that #GirlsBelongHere. Across the country, a diverse group of remarkable Canadian girls will fill high profile seats to illustrate every girl's right to equal opportunities – seats such as those of Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie; Michael Grant, Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations; Dr. Jennifer Adams, Director of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board; and many other distinguished Canadian leaders. The Canadian #GirlsBelongHere initiative is part of a global mass takeover, with over 160 leadership roles being filled by girls in over 50 countries.

Join our International Day of the Girl conversations online:

Plan International Canada

• @plancanada
• @biaagcanada
• Join Plan's #GirlsBelongHere initiative to support girls' and women's rights.

About Plan International Canada and the Because I am a Girl movement
Founded in 1937, Plan International  is one of the world's oldest and largest international development agencies, working in partnership with millions of people around the world to end global poverty. Not for profit, independent and inclusive of all faiths and cultures, Plan International strives for a just world that advances children's rights and equality for girls. Because I am a Girl is Plan International's global movement to transform power relations so that girls everywhere can learn, lead, decide and thrive. Visit plancanada.ca and becauseiamagirl.ca for more information.

SOURCE Plan Canada

Image with caption: "Plan International Canada/Because I am a Girl (CNW Group/Plan Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161006_C1297_PHOTO_EN_790461.jpg

Media contacts: Kaili Colford, Senior Media and Public Relations Manager, Plan International Canada, T: 416 920-1654 ext. 350 | C: 647-459-7557 | [email protected]; Jeanelle Awa, H+K Strategies, W: 416-413-4752 | C: 647-460-3345 | [email protected]