A unique collaborative of four local empowerment organizations has been selected to present at the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women conference in New York City on how creating leadership opportunities for women can combat inequality and gender gaps.

The group consists of the following San Antonio organizations:

• The Dialogue Institute of the Southwest Commission of Women for Humanity.
• The Battered Women and Children’s Center (Family Violence Prevention Services, Inc.)
• Women’s Global Connection
• University of the Incarnate Word

This 61st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), from March 13 – 24, is organized around the issue of “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work.” The San Antonio panel, which will be both local and international in scope, takes place in NYC on March 16.

The discussion will analyze the significant effects of economic, social and educational empowerment towards women’s leadership. It will center on best practices and highlight the importance of opportunities for women to initiate peace in their respective communities.

“Women are not given equal resources and opportunities to empower themselves, so they are eventually underrepresented in decision-making platforms,” said Fatma T. Arslan Korkmaz, moderator of the panel and a representative of the Dialogue Institute of the Southwest.

The nonprofit Women’s Global Connection (WGC), a ministry of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, promotes the learning and leadership capacity of women and girls locally and globally. Executive Director Lisa A. Uribe said she will speak about how economic inequality impedes women worldwide by erecting barriers to formal financial institutions and saving mechanisms. The cycle traps women in vulnerable, low-paid, or undervalued jobs.

WGC works with women in Tanzania, Zambia and Peru on projects involving small businesses, microfinance, nutrition, clean water and education.

“We get to regularly witness how access to education and economic resources creates leadership opportunities for women in these developing countries,” Uribe said.

“Investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity and sustained economic growth for a region.”

Marta B. Peláez, CEO of the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter, will address how social inequality in the form of subordination of women results in gender discrimination. Women and girls are the ones who suffer most from poverty, wars, human trafficking and domestic violence, she said.

And Martha Ann Kirk, CCVI and a UIW professor, will speak about the successes over the last several years in increasing educational attainment for women and the challenges that remain. Peacebuilding efforts across the globe depend on the full participation of women and girls in education and leadership opportunities, she said.

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The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established by Council resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

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We look forward to sharing more information from this United Nations Session Event in the near future!

On the header: Top row: Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, UIW Professor of Religion, Sumeyra Tek, UIW Adjunct Instructor in Physics, Dr. Jessica Kimmel, UIW Emeritus Professor of Education, Marta B. Peláez -Family Violence Prevention Center, Dr. Lisa Uribe, Women’s Global Connection, Dr. Fatma Arslan Korkmaz presented “Women’s Empowerment through Local Leadership, a United Nations Session Event on March 16th in New York City.