Blog - Soroptimist International

Is the gender gap narrowing in science and engineering?

Blog written by Evelyne Para, SI UN Representative at UNESCO. "More than 200 scientists from around the world and representatives of NGOs gathered at UNESCO on 11 February 2020, on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science. As a SI UN Representative at UNESCO, but also

25 years since the Copenhagen Declaration and Program for Action – a vision and commitment still valid today

A blog by Linda Witong, Special Advisor to Advocacy "Twenty-five years ago, 186 countries gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark for the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD), joined by 2,300 representatives from 811 non-governmental organisations and created the Copenhagen Declaration and Program for Action. This year marks the 25th anniversary of

Business and Innovation Through Sustainable Living

Blog by Liliana Mosca, UN Representative to Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome. "Last month, I attended the 10th International Forum on Food and Nutrition: 'Fostering Business and Innovation while preserving Mother Earth', held in Milan. The forum promoted healthy and sustainable people’s choices and exhibited the relevance of food for

International Day of Education

Blog by Evelyne Para, UN Representative of SI at UNESCO. "For UNESCO, education is a priority, as a human right, and as a public good. UNESCO assists countries in developing high-quality and inclusive education systems through building capacity to design and implement education policy. Without inclusive and equitable quality education

The Presence of Women in UN Peacekeeping Operations

A blog by SI UN Representative in New York, Maria Fornella-Oehninger, “In no other area is our collective failure to ensure protection for civilians more apparent - and by its very nature more shameful – than in terms of the masses of women and girls, but also boys and men,

Make Science Accessible

A blog by SI UN Representative in Paris, Marie-Christine Gries. “The concept of ‘Open Science’ is one of the most important and innovative ideas adopted by the General Conference for UNESCO. Open Science is a movement whose objective is to make the advances and results of scientific research universally accessible"(INSERM

Soroptimists advocating for Gender Equality

Ulla Madsen, Soroptimist International Assistant Director Advocacy 2020-2021 reports from the International Conference on Gender Equality, Istanbul, Turkey. "It was with excitement that I received an invitation from President Melek Berkem to be a keynote speaker at the conference organised by SI Etiler Club 15 November 2019. My topic was

An Ethical Approach to Artificial Intelligence

A blog by Rina Dupriet, as she joined fellow SI UN Representative, Evelyne Para at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) event 'Youth Voices and the Future of Artificial Intelligence: Towards a Human-Centred Approach', in Paris. "The two panels were organised by UNESCO. The first panel was

The Weight of Words

A report by Marie-Christine Gries, SI UN Representative at UNESCO, Paris. "The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in cooperation with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, has just published a handbook for journalists (see feature image) on the formulation and content of messages to report on violence against

The Power of Education

A blog by Rina Dupriet, SI UN Representative, following her attendance at the UNESCO panel discussion which introduced the 'UNESCO Strategy for Gender Equality in and Through Education 2019-2025'. "Education lies at the heart of 2030 Agenda. The UNESCO Assistant Director for Education said : “It is only through Education