I have been appointed as a credentialed delegate by the Canadian Federation of University Women to the United Nations Women conference in New York, which runs March 5 to 17.

An event of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the conference may result in a new Declaration and Platform for Action, which have historically marked unprecedented steps forward for women’s rights.

The overarching topic of these UN conferences is “innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.”

It couldn’t be more appropriate a topic for me to attend.

It is a mind-boggling opportunity to share Kootenay Women in Trades and Technology’s Digital Archive of Equity in Apprenticeship and Technical Fields with women who will (hopefully towards the end of this year) be able to access the resources in it from anywhere in the world! It will be freely available, publicly accessible and housed at BCIT.

The digital archive has curricula, legislation and lobbying, initiatives for recruitment, training, hiring and retention with descriptions of efforts by women’s organizations, government and industry making change in the make up of trades and technical workforces.

Dr. Marcia Braundy

Nelson