Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu speaking at the UN Global Leaders Summit in New York on June 22nd, 2016. (Courtesy photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Friday, July 8th, 2016
New York (TADIAS) — Ethiopian entrepreneur Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu addressed the 2016 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York last month. Bethlehem, who is the Founder and Executive Director of soleRebels — an award-winning green shoe-brand based in Ethiopia — was one of more than 1,000 leaders from business, finance, civil society, labour, academia, the UN and Government that attended the two-day global gathering on June 22nd and 23rd.
According to the UN News Center “The UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, supports companies to do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with ten principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption; and to take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation.”
Bethlehem, who was born and raised in a low-income Addis Ababa neighborhood of Zenabwok/Total area, established SoleRebels in 2005 hoping to increase job opportunities in her community. Since then not only has SoleRebels created hundreds of local jobs, but it has since become an internationally recognized eco-fashion brand. Solerebels opened its first U.S. retail shop two years ago at the upscale Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, California.
In his remarks at the Summit, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon “stressed that achieving the aims of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development would require finding new ways of living that would end the suffering, discrimination and lack of opportunity for billions of people around the world,” reports the UN News Center. “As such, he called on all stakeholders – from world leaders and chief executives, to educators and philanthropists, and across all sectors and industries – to work together in broader and deeper partnerships.”
Below are photos from the Summit:
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu takes the stage to address the 2016 United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit at the UN headquarters in New York June 22nd, 2016. (Courtesy photo)
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu addressing the 2016 United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit at the UN headquarters in New York June 22nd, 2016. (Courtesy photo)
(Courtesy photo)
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Related:
Video: 2016 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit (UN WEB TV)
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