On September 10 and 11, 2019, the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University (UVU), participated in the annual Club Rush event hosted by UVU. Club Rush is an event whereby UVU students can learn about and join the many student clubs on campus.
Our magic stress balls were popular among students during Club Rush
UIMF took this opportunity to raise funds, recruit new members to participate in its advocacy work and inform UVU students in general about its mission, which since 2007 has been empower women and girls living in mountain communities and “to promote the sustainability of the world’s Mountain Environments and livelihoods through youth efforts and community-engaged learning, both locally and globally, through advocacy, networking, knowledge sharing, and exchanges of best practices.”
(L to R) UIMF members Ahmed Alsharif, Hazim Alshanbari, and Abdulrahman Alghanmi at Club Rush
As the vice president of UIMF, I had the opportunity to organize member efforts to prepare and participate in Club Rush. Thankfully, UIMF members were eager to help out with both the preparation of the table and materials for our display, as well as working shifts to promote UIMF’s cause to UVU students and recruit prospective UIMF members.
New UIMF member Yana Andersen helping out at Club Rush
There was a substantial amount of UVU students who had never heard of UIMF and were impressed with the different advocacy campaigns UIMF has performed, such as the advocacy at the 68th United Nations (UN) Civil Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on August 26-28, 2019. Many UVU students participated in the conference but were unaware that UVU had student groups contributing to the conference’s mission; as a result, many students were eager to get more information about how they could contribute to similar forums under the umbrella of UVU and UIMF.
The two days of Club Rush were a success, both for recruiting prospective UIMF members, and for promoting the empowerment of women and girls in mountain communities as part of the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Many UVU students are interested in sustainability topics, including Utah-specific issues such as water quality, air quality, rural economic issues, and sustainable infrastructure; UIMF thus provided an important opportunity for more learners to be empowered to implement the 2030 Agenda in their own communities, per Sustainable Development Goal target 4.7.
UIMF continues to work to prepare to advocate for mountain women and girls, as well as the education of all learners, at the upcoming 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2020.
Michael Hinatsu, UIMF Vice President
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POSTERS AND BROCHURE USED AT CLUB RUSH
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UIMF at CSW63 UIMF at 2018 HLPF
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STUDENT REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
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VIctoria Bindrup-UIMF members contribute to Club Rush at UVU
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Abdulrahman Alghanmi and Hazim Alshanbari Participating at Utah Valley University Club Rush
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