On April 2, 2019, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) published an article about the advocacy of mountain women and girls by the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University (UVU), at the 63rd Session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63), held in New York on March 18-20, 2019.

The article, written by UIMF member and UVU’s UNA-USA Liaison Megan Davis, describes UIMF’s preparations for CSW63 since September 2018 conducted under UVU’s student engaged learning (SEL) model, which gives students the primary responsibility to solve problems by working together as a group, with faculty serving as mentors.

As examples of such preparation, the article highlighted a written statement prepared by students under SEL, and advocating for mountain women, was sponsored by the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development and Commerce, and published as official document E/CN.6/2019/NGO/64 by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on November 19, 2018. Additionally, UIMF held at CSW63 a parallel event titled “Student Engaged Learning to Empower Mountain Women and Girls” at the Church Center for the UN on March 19, 2019.

Additionally, the article highlights how UIMF at CSW63 also for the first time worked closely with Rotary International, UN Academic Impact (UNAI), and UNA-USA to advocate for global mountain women.

For more information, see: https://unausa.org/uvu-advocates-for-mountain-women-at-csw63/

By Hazim Alshanbari, UVU student