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UN Discussed the Economic Empowerment of Women in the Working World

LGW presents recommendations on innovative initiatives in Education

Sâmara Caruso
Partial view of the UN Plenary at the 61st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61), with the presence of world leaders and representatives to discuss women's empowerment.

For two weeks, government delegations, specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN) and civil society organizations from around the world have discussed the theme "Economic Empowerment of Women in Dynamic World of Work" during the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61). The event took place from March 13 - 24 at the UN headquarters in New York.

The Legion of Good Will - LGW (Legião da Boa Vontade - LBV) was chosen to represent a success story from Latin America in a side panel organized by the NGO Committee on Education, Learning and Literacy at the United Nations. The workshop focused on "Innovative Initiatives in Education for Empowerment of Women and Girls", and occurred on Friday, March 17th.

Eliana Gonçalves
Danilo Parmegiani, the Legion of Good Will (LGW) representative at the United Nations, shares the presentation "Promoting Economic Empowerment through Global Citizen Education – A Model Designed by the Legion of Good Will." Ms. Elizabeth A. N. Patterson, Robert Bernstein from the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana and and Fatima Diallo from Giving Back for Tomorrow/Miss Guinea USA on the right.

Throughout its 67 years of work, the LGW has gathered a number of recommendations and best practices on strengthening women's role. Thousands of women who participate in social and educational programs of the institution have overcome their challenges, changed their destiny and the ones for their families and communities. These stories are shared every year in the magazine GOOD WILL Women (published in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese). This year, the publication brings the article "Solidarity: The Reason and the Heart of the Economy," by the President of the Legião da Boa Vontade (LBV), journalist and writer Paiva Netto.  In the article, he highlights the importance of enhancing the role of women in the world: "If we are dealing here with the urgency of providing women with economic empowerment, it is because we must abolish, once and for all, the discrimination against them in terms of the access to the same development opportunities that men receive in the world of work. We can no longer accept the impediments that women encounter in this field,leading to a delay in the fight for gender equality and the eradication of poverty. How can we imagine drawing up effective public policies while half of the world’s population is relegated to an inferior economic level? This goes against logic."

Eliana Gonçalves
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary General and High Commissioner of the United Nations, with the LGW team representative, Sâmara Caruso, during the event. The magazine GOOD WILL Women highlights an interview with Mr. Anwarul.

The Legion of Good Will is associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations since 1994. In 1999, LGW obtained general consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Thus, it presents recommendations for some of the major meetings of this international body, available in its six official languages (Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French, English and Russian).

The magazine content can be accessed through the free GOOD WILL application for iOS and Android. For additional information, please visit www.legionofgoodwill.org