News

December saw some changes to Soroptimist International’s representation at the UN Centres. We were sad to say goodbye to long standing representatives Yseult Kaplan and Christine Dagain who represented SI at UNESCO in Paris, and Linda Stillman and Andrea Mills who represented SI in New York.

Yseult represented SI at UNESCO for 16 years and Christine for 8 years. They both contributed a huge amount to increasing the visibility of SI at the Paris centre. Yseult played a particularly important role as the coordinating representative for the SI UNESCO team for the majority of her 16 year term.

“My motivation during these years was to make sure Soroptimist International responded as well as possible to the vision of UNESCO - the development of a Culture of Peace based on Human Rights, through inspiring programmes and actions.”

Yseult will remain connected to the UNESCO team as a mentor to the new team coordinator, Marie Christine.

Linda Stillman served SI at the UN in New York for 11 years, Andrea Mills for 6. Both ladies were an important part of our busy and proactive team in New York. Despite work commitments, both managed to give SI significant amounts of time, particular during CSW.

Linda Stillman (R) and current UN Representative Yoko Komori Olson (L) at CSW 55

Linda is now working on establishing a Young Global Leadership Foundation which seeks to develop young global leaders to work towards a more peaceful, prosperous and positive global society. In addition to working full time, Andrea remains involved with the New York team, helping with CSW preparation.

As well as saying farewell to four long standing members of our SI UN team, we were delighted to welcome four new representatives at the end of 2011. Bette Levy and Paulette Forbes Igharo have joined the New York team. Rina Dupriet joined the UNESCO team in Paris and Martina Gredler joined Roswitha Benesch and Dora Vrdlovec in Vienna. We extend a very warm welcome to all four representatives and wish them all the best in their new roles. We look forward to working with you!

For more information about our UN Representatives, click here.