Successful Meeting at the United Nations

During the fifty-sixth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (United Nations), held in New York from 27 February to 9 March 2012, Dianova International and the United Methodist Church organized and sponsored a side event on the theme: “”Rural Women and Girls: Education and Empowerment for Life (Human Rights & Social Justice Approaches)”. The event was a frank success  and helped meet a number of people committed to education.

 

During his presentation, Mr. Rafael Guerrero, Executive Director of Dianova in Nicaragua, evoked the key role of education in promoting the empowerment of rural women and girls through the experience conducted in the Esther del Rio – Las Marias school, in Nicaragua.

Dianova holds a meeting in the UN

Dianova’s “holistic educational center” in Nicaragua is a private, primary and secondary school officially recognized by the country’s department of education (MINED). On an average basis, Dianova’s educational center annually hosts 320 students, part of whom are granted a full scholarship by the Dianova foundation aimed at providing disadvantaged children, mostly stemming from rural areas, with a better chance of development and integration.

A unique feature of the Esther del Rio – Las Marias school is to bet on human development through a comprehensive care based on five specific programs: formal education, boarding school, the NEOVIDA prevention program, environmental protection programs and sports.

Other panelists discussed additional issues arising from the practice of the education of women and girls, emphasizing the achievement of human rights, the assertion of human dignity, and the struggle for social justice. The panel also evoked the urban and rural divide and what this means to issues related to access to education and skills for life and living. Panel included discussion of issues related to the holistic training of women in a variety of skills for empowerment.

  • Venue: CCUN, Boss Room (8th Flr.)
  • Start: March 1, 2012 12:30 pm
  • End: March 1, 2012 2:00 pm
  • Address: 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY, United States, 10017

Panelists

  • Nelcia Robinson Hazell (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) – Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples
  • Rafael Guerrero (Nicaragua) – Dianova Nicaragua
  • Tess Vistro & Lita Mariano (Philippines)- AMIHAN Peasant Women’s Organization
  • Linda Bales Todd (USA) – General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church

Commission on the Status of Women – CSW 56

A global policy-making body, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of women.
The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 27 February to 9 March 2012. Representatives from Member States, UN entities, and NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) from all regions of the world are attendin the session. The two-week session includes a high-level round table, interactive dialogues and panels, and parallel events.
The 2012 session is focusing on the following key area: The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges