Activist to Climb World's Highest Mountain - Her Sixth of Seven Summits Climb to Support of Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Online, March 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Only 13 women in the United States have done it and a total of 37 globally: climb the highest peak on each continent of the world. Los Angeles native, activist and climber, Georgina Miranda, hopes to reach new heights of her own and join this elite group of women, while also raising awareness about women's rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In a campaign called "Climb Take Action," 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.

Miranda, who set out in 2008 to climb the highest mountains on each continent, will begin her trek to Everest Base Camp on April 1, where she will stay for two months to acclimate to the altitude and to attempt to scale 8,850 meters to the top. McKinney Rogers (www.mckinneyrogers.com), the international business consultancy group where Miranda works, has sponsored half of her climbing costs for Everest. The company also made a charitable donation to support the women of DRC. It is a country that has experienced 20 years of internal strife leading to massive displacement of its people and where incidents of rape remains a rampant epidemic.

"I embarked on this journey three years ago not only to fulfill my personal dream to climb the seven summits in the world, but also to bring awareness to the harsh conditions and realities women experience daily in DRC," says Miranda. "These women have survived experiences I could never have imagined and inspire me to climb and to take action for them in hopes it will also inspire others to get involved and help the people of DRC."

Miranda's "Climb Take Action" campaign (http://www.climbtakeaction.com/DonateNow.html) seeks to raise funds and awareness around the epidemic of rape in DRC. Money raised through Miranda's climbs will be divided equally to support International Medical Corps and V-DAY, two organizations working to support the women of DRC and prevent future cases of sexual and gender-violence. All donations are tax deductible.

Over the past three years, Miranda has summitted Russia's Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), Australia's Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m), Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m), North America's Mount Denali (6,194 m), and South America's Aconcagua (6,962 m). After Everest, Miranda will move onto her final climb, Vinson Massif (4,897 m) in Antarctica. She also plans to climb Indonesia's Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 m) in 2012, so that she will have completed both versions of the so-called "Seven Summits."

To learn more about Miranda and to donate to the "Climb Take Action" campaign, visit http://www.climbtakeaction.com/DonateNow.html.

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 Fondation 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