Dr. Marcia Braundy of the Slocan Valley at work in 2015. She will attend the 2024 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW68) conference on March 11-22 in New York City.
Dr. Marcia Braundy of the Slocan Valley will be among the 20 members of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) delegation at an upcoming conference in New York City. She will join policymakers, government officials, and activists from around the world for the 2024 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW68) on March 11 to 22.
The UNCSW is the main intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls throughout the world. CFUW holds consultative status with the UN through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which permits it to send a delegation to join other accredited civil society organizations, UN member states, and UN agencies.
Braundy, a Red Seal carpenter with a PhD in technology studies from the University of British Columbia, current sits on the board of governors of the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She is the president of Kootenay Women in Trades and Technology Association and is leading the project to build the digital archive for Equity in Apprenticeship and Technical Fields, currently with 63,000 documents.
Materials include educational curricula, programs and other hiring and training initiatives, policies, legislation, historical stories, supporting organizations, etc, from across British Columbia, Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the Caribbean. The digital archive will be housed in the British Columbia Institute of Technology Digital Archive to ensure its technological currency.
The priority theme for UNCSW68 is accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.
What will be considered at UNCSW68? Strategies to eliminate poverty, which has distinct adverse impacts on women, changes to institutions (including laws that restrict women’s rights) and levelling the financial playing field to enable women to participate more fully in business and economic life.
“The various unique platforms provided by UN Women, the arm of the UN focused specifically on women, will assist in the development of these discussions,” says Braundy.
CFUW nationally has some excellent preliminary policies on Women in Skilled Trades, which can form the basis for anti-poverty initiatives and discussions. Braundy hopes to participate with others with similar objectives.
She looks forward to sharing her UNCSW68 experiences with local community leaders and members of CFUW Nelson and District after she returns.