Fundraising Soiree To Be Held In Support Of Women Of Congo @ The Ambassador This Friday!

Online, March 15, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Fundraising Soiree to be Held in Support of Women of Congo at the Ambassador this Friday!

Climb Take Action will be holding a Fundraising Soiree in support of Women of Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, March 18th from 7-10 PM at the Ambassador, one of San Francisco's favorite bars for good drinks, good music, and good times. All event proceeds benefit V-DAY and International Medical Corps and their efforts for women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All are welcome and there will be a suggested donation of $10 @ the door. The Ambassador has generously agreed to donate 10% of bar proceeds to the beneficiary charities from 7-10 PM.

This will be a fun-filled event, for a great cause and help raise support and awareness for survivors of sexual violence in Congo. To learn more about the cause and to donate to the "Climb Take Action" campaign, visit http://www.climbtakeaction.com/DonateNow.html.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has suffered more than a decade of civil wars that have left millions dead and even greater numbers homeless. None have suffered more than the women and children. Although there are many humanitarian needs in the world, the case of the Congo, has been deemed to have the worst sexual violence in the world by John Holmes, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs. In 2010 alone, it is estimated that 15,000 women were raped in Eastern Congo.

Climb Take Action~7 Summits Challenge is a campaign dedicated to empowering women in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo by climbing to raise awareness about their suffering and funds to support their healing. The initiative was founded by Georgina Miranda with the goal of climbing both versions of the 7 summits (highest peak on each continent) and taking action to bring awareness and relief to these fellow women. These climbs are for them! Miranda will attempt next month to summit her sixth mountain - the highest in the world - Mount Everest, to bring to light the plight of women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and raise support for these survivors of sexual violence. www.climbtakeaction.com

Initiated in 2007, V-Day's global campaign STOP RAPING OUR GREATEST RESOURCE: Power to the Women and Girls of the DRC is raising worldwide awareness about the level of gender violence in the DRC and advocating for change throughout the Congo. In February, V-Day and the Foundation Panzi (DRC), with support from UNICEF, opened the City of Joy, a revolutionary new leadership community for women survivors of gender violence in Bukavu. City of Joy will provide up to 180 Congolese women a year with an opportunity to benefit from group therapy; self-defense training; comprehensive sexuality education (covering HIV/AIDS, family planning); economic empowerment; storytelling; dance; theater; ecology and horticulture. Created from their vision, Congolese women will run, operate and direct City of Joy themselves.

V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2011, over 5,500 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $80 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, reopened shelters, and funded over 12,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic Of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. www.vday.org

International Medical Corps has worked in DRC since 1999 to provide health care, nutrition, food security, GBV prevention and treatment, and water/sanitation services. In partnership with USAID, International Medical Corps has launched two programs to address GBV in eastern DRC, one to provide critical services to survivors of GBV, and the other to prevent GBV through behavior change communication. Over the next five years, International Medical Corps will target over one million people in the region with messaging aimed at ending GBV and providing information and services for survivors.
Since its inception 25 years ago, International Medical Corps' mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster, and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit: www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org