Farhan Akhtar

We know you’ll love Farhan Akhtar – Bollywood star – and UN Women’s first male goodwill ambassador. He is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, producer, singer, songwriter and TV star who’s been appointed South Asia ambassador to help advance empowerment of women and girls by engaging boys and men. 

His first song has already generated awareness and social media buzz. Chulein Aasman (“Reach for the Sky” in Hindi) – challenges centuries-old discrimination against Indian women. It’s had over 3 million views on Youtube, since it was uploaded in September.

As part of the UN agency’s HeForShe initiative,  Farhan Akhtar joins fellow famous ambassadors Emma Watson, Nicole Kidman, HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand, and tennis superstar Sania Mirza.

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[/symple_column] [symple_divider style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”20″]Men Against Rape and Discrimination

In 2014,  Ambassador Akhtar launched the MARD Campaign which stands for “Men Against Rape and Discrimination.” In Hindi, the word “Mard” also means man. “Every time I look into the mirror, I want to see a man whose mother, sister, wife and daughter are proud to call their own,” says Farhan Akhtar.

MARD is a social initiative designed to create awareness
and to instill gender equality and respect towards women.

DID YOU KNOW?

India has one of the largest populations on the Internet,
yet only 30% of Indians online are female. 

MARD’s first public campaign focus on this gender gap and is called “ReachForTheSky” (“Chulein Aasman” in Hindi). Akthar partnered with Google’s Helping Women Get Online (HWGO) to empower Indian women to gain digital literacy.

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Take the MARD pledge online!
Just click here. [/symple_column][symple_spacing size=”10″]4GGL thanks Forbes Women for sharing this story. [symple_column size=”three-fourth” position=”first” fade_in=”false”]

 Ruchika Tulshyan writes about diversity in leadership — both ethnic and gender. She’s a journalist who covers leaders around the world. Ruchika believe leadership is entering a new paradigm. Leaders of today and tomorrow come from all over the globe, and many wear lipstick.

“I like to dedicate precious words covering Asia, immigration, millennials, diversity and women. Not necessarily in that order,” she says. “You may have read my work on CNN, Bloomberg, and TIME. I’ve spent most of my career as a financial journalist in New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, Atlanta and most recently, Seattle. Proud moments include interviewing thought-leaders (and provokers) from Jim Rogers to Condoleezza Rice.” [/symple_column][symple_column size=”one-fourth” position=”last” fade_in=”false”]

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