Since 2008 more than 100 torches have been handed over to people who are making an extra effort to improve living conditions for women throughout the world. The recipients include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, First Lady Michelle Obama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton along with quite ordinary, but at the same time extraordinary, people around the world.It is so simple in its form and so powerful in its symbolic expression that it overcomes cultural, social, and language barriers: the torch that Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tornaes, in 2008 put at the heart of the MDG3 Global Call to Action, a global campaign to promote women's rights and empowerment. MDG stands for Millenium Development Goals, the 8 goals set by the UN in 2000 to eradicate poverty and inequality by 2015, and the number 3 stands for the third goal concerning gender equality and women's empowerment.
In his acception speech Ban Ki-moon said:
"We come from different walks of life, from international organizations to grassroots groups, from ministers to educators, and from CEO's to artists. That is what makes this torch project so meaningful. Because we need all partners working together to make gender equality a reality."
These torches are a creation of the Danish designer Pernille Vea produced by MENU.
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