Each year, over 5,000 women and girls from around the world gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York City to participate in the Commission on the Status of Women, a two week session focusing on the state of gender equality around the world.

This year, four Girl Scouts from Southern Arizona have been selected to serve as UN Girl Delegates at the 55^th session in New York City. Amanda Metropoulos, 16, from Sahuaro High School, Isabel Marrero, 18, from PPEP TEC High School, Sangeetha Pugazhendhi, 17, from Catalina Foothills High School, and Claudia Mavis, from Nogales High School, will depart from Tucson International Airport on Friday, February 18^th for a full week of international education and experience.

As Commission on the Status of Women delegates, Amanda, Isabel, Sangeetha, and Claudia will have an opportunity to learn about global issues, explore how global entities function, and let their voices and opinions be heard on key global issues impacting girls and young women.

The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will focus on equal access for girls and women to education, training, and full employment, especially in the fields of science and technology. Participants will also review last year’s subject of discrimination and violence against girls. As selected delegates, these young women will spend the week engaging with non-governmental organizations, UN Agencies, and other youth delegates from around the world, as well as sharing their personal experiences and beliefs.

Amanda will co-moderate the Girl-Boy dialogue at this year’s event, and will be responsible for introducing and facilitating that workshop. Sangeetha will present to the UN Community on her personal education and experience around STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math), and discuss how STEM careers are presented to girls in her community. Isabel and Claudia will work with PLAN International and their girl delegates to plan a Girl-Led event at the session.

“This is a truly unique learning experience that they will never forget,” said Girl Scout CEO Debbie Rich. “I am so proud of these young women, and of our movement, which makes these life-changing experiences available to girls. We are honored that four girls from Southern Arizona were chosen as delegates to the UN Commission on the Status of Women.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Advocacy, Announcements, Community, Just for Teens, Pathways, Take Action, Travel Pathway. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.