Washington DC, February 8, 2012 – The World Bank and Fotopedia, the publisher of popular iOS apps and winner of the Best Tablet App of the Year Crunchies Award, today announced their collaboration on a new free app titled “Women of the World” for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. “Women of the World” takes users on an eye-opening tour and educational look into the lives of women all across the world.
Through the app, users will encounter women from every corner of the globe and witness their fighting spirit in the face of human, political, and religious events. The app explores the stunning images of a bride at her wedding in Singapore, a woman whose daughter had just been saved from malaria, women minesweeping the fields of Cambodia, nuns in the convents in France, girl-soldiers in Mozambique, which are just a few of the hundreds of moving scenes composing this magnificent sociological study.
The app showcases the work of professional photographer Olivier Martel, who traveled to more than 75 countries to assemble these images. “Women of the World” is updated weekly with Visual Stories to provide insight into the lives of women from cultures spanning the globe.
Olivier Martel said: “These topics require a persistent but discrete approach, determination, and a lot of patience. This work is about giving women the opportunity to share their hopes or daily struggles, and give them their dignity in a photographic homage that takes the form of a search for beauty.”
This collaboration also highlights the World Bank’s #thinkEQUAL campaign that aims to increase awareness of progress and obstacles in gender equality around the globe. Today, more girls go to school and more women receive maternal healthcare than ever, yet only 15 percent of landowners and only one in five lawmakers are women..
“We hope these images inspire people to act,” said Jeni Klugman, the World Bank’s Director of Gender and Development. “Much has improved, but in many parts of the world, women's rights and opportunities remain very constrained. This inequality is very unfair and it is bad economics. It hampers poverty reduction and limits development. The World Bank has major programs to support girls and women to become more educated, gain better access to health care, water, start businesses and access credit. These are becoming an increasingly important aspect of our work around the world.”
About “Women of the World”
Women of the World is packed with hundreds of professional, moving photos, social media sharing tools, powerful slideshows and wallpapers.
Additional features of the app include:
- A collection of hundreds of photos
- Visual stories, updated every week
- Complete navigation with smart tags, search and interactive maps
- Instant Slideshows
- Free Wallpapers for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
- Favorites to create your own personalized photo albums
- Photo sharing via email, Facebook and Twitter
- This app requires an Internet connection, WiFi recommended.
Pricing & Availability
“Women of the World” is available for free for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, in the App Store.
About Fotopedia
With more than 7 million downloads to date, Fotopedia is the publisher of the Fotopedia Magazine and a suite of iOS apps, including “Fotopedia Heritage”, one of Apple’s Hall of Fame best 50 apps of all times. Fotopedia is also the recent recipient of the 2011 Best Tablet App of the Year Crunchies Award. Fotopedia provides new ways to discover, explore and share the beauty of the world. The company was founded by Jean-Marie Hullot, who was previously CTO at NeXT and CTO of Apple’s Applications Division and a team of Apple veterans. Fotopedia has offices in San Francisco and Paris.
About The World Bank
The World Bank Group’s goal is to fight poverty. It provides loans and grants to developing countries.
The World Bank is helping eliminate persistent gender barriers to accessing quality social services, entering the job market, and building resilience the to shocks and volatility. Our work includes expanding access to family planning and reproductive health services, promoting gender parity in education, providing social safety nets and insurance, and helping people acquire the resources and skills to secure decent jobs and provide for their families.
Getting to equal is a smart investment. By closing gender gaps in human development, the Bank is helping developing countries reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), enhance productivity and growth, and promote the well-being of all their people.
