Day 1 at the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women

On March 7th, Utah Valley University Rotaractors hosted a parallel event during the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women

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On March 6th - 8th, Utah Valley University (UVU) Rotaractors traveled to the United Nations 67th Commission on the Status of Women to present in a parallel event. Rotaract is a student club that works with Rotary International to provide students service opportunities in their community. As a student club Rotaract provides opportunities for students like me to be involved in different activities through a Student Engaged Learning (SEL) model. SEL places focus on providing students hands-on experience in their field of study, and makes my education feel more practical since I can see how I may apply it after graduating. UVU Rotaract is a member of the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at UVU which advocates for sustainable mountain development in the State of Utah and globally.

We woke up at 5:00 in the morning so we could get to UN headquarters by 7:45. Our group made it with time to spare, but well before the other half of our delegation. We passed the time by swapping stories with Dr. Abdrisaev and his wife, taking pictures of other delegations in front of the headquarters, and familiarizing ourselves with nearby UN buildings. We posed for our group photo and headed through security.

CSW 67 Delegation meeting outside UN Headquarters

Throughout the day, it was my responsibility to record our actions by posting every significant thing we did to the UIMF Twitter page. I’m an incredibly inactive person on social media, so this is a set of responsibilities very far outside my wheelhouse. However, by the end of the day, descriptions were becoming much easier to write, and I’m feeling the urge to put things out on my own socials.

CSW 67 Delegation preparing to meet the PR from The Kyrgyz Republic to the UN

The first event I participated in with our delegation was meeting the Permanent Representative of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United Nations, Her Excellency Mrs. Aida Kasymalieva. During this time we discussed hosting her at UVU in upcoming semesters. The ambassador seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of doing this. When the time comes for this, I’ll have much greater responsibility for coordinating the event, which is both exciting and terrifying to think about.

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CSW 67 Delegation with Ambassador Kasymalieva

After the discussion, we presented gifts to the ambassador and prepared for the parallel event. This event was terrifying to me. We had done plenty of rehearsals, and I had been obsessively running through my speech in my head. One of my goals for this event was to present it well.

While I was at that podium, I was explicitly and visibly representing Rotaract. I love the work these clubs do, and I felt the responsibility to represent them well. Despite all the nerves, the former debate and theater kid within me awoke and delivered what is quite possibly my favorite speech I have ever given.

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CSW 67 delegation finalizing setup for the parallel event

The event went well overall and not just for myself. Our delegation members were familiar with their presentations thanks to all the rehearsals. Thanks to this, we finished presentations and had more time for Q&A than we had planned. Our speakers included, representatives from the NGO’s that sponsored the event, UVU admin, guest students from other schools, and 22 Rotaractors from UVU. A list of our students, and their topics, is included below.

Tristin Juarez-Smith - Introduction of SEL and event moderation

Alitha Thompson - Importance of the inclusive nature of SEL

Stephan Atkinson - Highlighted advocacy by Foreign Affairs club through SEL

Samantha Davis - Technology education for mountain women in India

Joshua Kooyman - Highlighted his empowerment through SEL

Rachel Welker - How SEL empowers women’s civic engagement

Hendrix Bailey - Mental health access for Ukrainian women during the Russian invasion

Chandler Davis - Rights abuses against Guinean women

Winnie Jada - Shrinking the unemployment gap for South Sudanese women through SEL

Smith Griggs - Finding culturally conscious development plans for indigenous Peruvian women

Lisa Jones - Fostering peace in Africa through women's empowerment with SEL

Alex Jessop - Commemorated the late Danielle Butler

Emmanuel Omaria - Ensuring access to education for mountain women in Uganda

Jake Lamoreaux - Improving internet access for mountain communities in France

Laila Mitchell - SEL connecting students to technology that protects national security

Rusden Scott - How SEL empowerment of climate change solutions

Maren Ostlund - SEL as a solution to labor migration issues in rural Armenia

Nikki Smith - Maternal Mortality rates among indigenous women in Bolivia

Camilla Pendleton - Literacy rates for women in Nepal

Handen Torsak - Implementation of SEL by families

Chance Simons - Using the internet to expand access to education for mountain women in Chile

Natalie Williams - Empowering women to further peace efforts through SEL

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Delegation hosting a parallel event at Church Center of the United Nations

Among our guest speakers I was especially interested in the comments offered by Stephanie Velasco. Stephanie is the Rotaract Chair for the Utah Rotary District. Her comments were focused on the specific ways that Rotary International works with individual rotaractors and provides opportunities for rotaractors to learn through SEL. I had learned a little about opportunities like these through involvement with other Rotary activities, but those tended to be higher level opportunities that only opened after completing a degree. Hearing about Stephanie’s work makes me very excited to work with her as the president elect of UVU’s Rotaract club.

As much as we all wished for the contrary, the parallel event wasn’t all smooth sailing. Early into the presentations by the students from our delegation a hardware failure caused video from the livestream to cut out. The laptop we were using for the livestream needed an adapter to connect to the webcam we were using for video

CSW 67 Delegation meeting after the parallel event

It’s doubtful whether or not I will ever know the effects of my presentation, but if nothing else, I am incredibly grateful for the platform this gave me. Despite the nerves making it impossible to move my hands the way I wanted to, I enjoyed myself. Speaking to people about causes I believe in and why they should believe in those same causes is something I am truly passionate about. I need to find what sorts of careers are available that do this kind of work. I am aware of NGO’s that have education focused branches, and this could be a perfect fit for me as a career.

I already knew that CSW would be an event I will look back on as life changing, and this parallel event might have finally given me the career direction I was looking for. I am truly thankful that UVU gives as much support as it does to UIMF and SEL because it has truly changed my life and education for the better.

McKay Brooks - Rotaract Vice President

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Video of the Parallel Event

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STUDENT REFLECTIVE ESSAYS

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23-03-07-Samantha Davis Day 1 at CSW67 Hosting a Parallel Event

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23-03-07-Chance Simons-CSW 67 Parallel Event Day

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23-03-07-Priyanka Prem Kumar My Day 1 at CSW67 and Speaking at Parallel event

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