MZONEG

  Good afternoon everybody, ladies and gentlemen, and the Smile Train extended family. I congratulate Smile Train today for completing 500,000 cleft surgeries in India. In the context of what we are talking about, it is a short span of 18 years, and I considered myself extremely privileged to be sharing this, in celebrating this occasion because in the honorable work that Smile Train does, this is truly and very endearingly referred to as a “smilestone”. One that we collectively are extremely proud of. And one we feel blessed to be a part of. Smile Train and I have now been associated for almost a decade. In addition, this journey has truly been wonderful. Thank you for having me on board, on this wonderful journey. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of making a difference in the lives of so many children born with a cleft, and I am happy to see so many children treated. I have had the opportunity on various occasions with Smile Train to interact with the ch...

  I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has often become man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is: "The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago, when I was eight I was confused to be called "bossy" because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents but the boys were not. When at 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the media. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn't want to appear "muscly". When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings. I decided that I am a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. B...

  I think the first thing when I came to know that I‘ll be speaking over here is that I was actually crossing my stars because I know nothing about economics. I am a science student, so I will introduce myself. So, you all know my name, I am Manushi and I come from a family of doctors and I am studying to be a doctor as well. I am 20 right now, and I have been honored to be your Miss World for this year and carry out her duties. Therefore, growing up, I had a very normal childhood, as any Indian girl from a middle-class family would have. I got my education. I had my siblings, and then suddenly overnight, my life changed and now I am here. Therefore, we just had a panel about women entrepreneurs. In addition, I know the word entrepreneur sounds scary because you start thinking about all business, which is something I do not understand. However, I think being Miss World and being an entrepreneur are quite similar because you have similar goals. You want to bring change. I think cha...