THE GIRL Guides of Lucan are celebrating International Women’s Week in the best way possible – by succeeding on two fronts and doing West Dublin proud.
Local Girl Guide leader Jenna Goodwin (26) this week heads to New York City to take part in a prestigious United Nations event.
Jenna was chosen to be part of an 11-strong delegation from the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts who will speak at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
While in New York, they will also take part in an event promoting body confidence in young women.
Jenna this week told The Gazette: “We want to highlight that investing in girls is a primary means of increasing economic outcomes in later life.”
But the good news doesn’t end there – a patrol of six young ladies from Lucan Girl Guides came out on top at a recent Irish Girl Guides (IGG) regional competition on team-building, and will now go on to represent the IGG’s Eastern Region in a national competion to be held in Killarney in May.
A Lucan Girl Guide leader is heading to New York this week to take part in a prestigious United Nations (UN) event.
Jenna Goodwin (26) was chosen to be part of an 11-strong delegation from the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) who will speak at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
Jenna has been a member of the Guides since she was five and she says that being a member has allowed her to avail some exciting opportunities in the past – including volunteering for five months at the WAGGGS World Centre in Sangam, India.
Speaking about her upcoming trip, she told The Gazette: “I’ve had some really cool opportunities with Girl Guides and this is one of them.”
Jenna and the rest of the delegation will be representing 10 million girls from 146 countries who are members of the Girl Guides worldwide.
During the commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organisations and UN entities gather at the UN HQ in New York.
Member States agree on further actions to accelerate progress and promote women’s enjoyment of their rights in political, economic and social fields.
The theme of this year’s event is, Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work, and the delegation are hoping to impress upon decision-makers the importance of education in empowering girls and young women.
Jenna said: “We want to highlight that investing in girls is a primary means of increasing economic outcomes in later life.
“That can be everything, especially non-formal education which is what guiding is all about.
“Through education, it will increase women’s equal participation in the workforce in the years to come and equip girls with essential skills for entering the workforce and staying in the workforce.”
The delegation will speak at the UN Youth Forum over the weekend where they will also be highlighting the Stop the Violence: Speak out for Girls’ Rights campaign which was started by WAGGGS in 2011.
Later in the week, they will take part in an event promoting body confidence in young women.
