Dear Friends of UN Women Canada,
The year 2011 has been a bustle of activity at our organization. UN Women was launched by the United Nations a short time ago, in February 2011, and the UN Women National Committee Canada has only existed since March 2011. In less than one year, the organization has accomplished a great deal to spread the message of gender equality and women's empowerment across the country. Moreover, we have expanded our outreach having developed University-based chapters, cultivated civil society and corporate partnerships, and participated in numerous speaking engagements across Canada and the globe. I am proud of what our organization has accomplished in such a brief period of time.
In 2011, as the President of the UN Women Canada National Committee, I had the honor of representing the organization at numerous international events across the globe. I addressed conferences such as: the University of Montreal- CRI VIFF Quebec (Interdisciplinary Centre for Family Violence and Violence Against Women) Conference, the South Asian Violence Prevention Conference, organized by Social Services Network (SSN), the International Health and Human Rights Conference, organized by the University of Toronto International Health Program, the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA) Conference on Women in Politics, the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (COPA) Conference on Women's Economic Empowerment, the Girl Child Marriage Conference, organized by the University of Southern California, and the Women in Leadership Conference (WIL - Abu Dhabi), organized by the First Lady of Abu Dhabi, Sheikha Shamsa Binte Suhail. I had the priviledge of delivering the key note address at all forementioned conferences; they provided opportune forums through which I was able to proliferate our message of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
During this year, I also had the honor of being interviewed by a number of media outlets to advance the profile of this organization. Most notably, I was interviewed by Peter Mansbridge for Mansbridge One on One. The committee also received media coverage from CBC, TVO, and a profile in the business magazine RSVP, to name only a few. In 2012 we intend to increase our profile, staring with a forthcoming feature in Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine and Lifestyles magazine.
Read more...
challenges. “There are times when I cannot devote the proper energy to my business, and of course when family issues arise and I’m speaking abroad, I’m not able to be immediately present to help. Yet, my philosophy has always underscored placing the needs of society over my own,” Almas Jiwani explains.
