Recently Utah Valley University had the great opportunity to host the 2011 Women of the Mountains Conference. The Conference gained attendance from diplomats, ambassadors, organizations and citizens interested in sustainable mountain development from over twenty nations, among them were, Dr. Alexey Tikhomirov, Chief of Transition Economies Unit, DPEPA/DESA, Dr. Douglas McGuire, Coordinator of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, UN-FAO, Rome United Nations, Honorable Jeffrey Jones, Undersecretary for Agriculture of Mexico (2006-2009), His Excellency Zoran Jolevski, Ambassador of Macedonia to the United States, His Excellency Gyan Chandra Acharya, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Dr. Susan Madsen and Mrs. Karinjo De Vore, Chairperson, Aspen International Mountain Forum, Colorado. The Conference sought to address very specific goals:
1. To continue the coordinated efforts begun at the first Women of the Mountains International Conference (Orem, 2007), as expressed in the Orem Declaration of Mountain Women;
2. To share knowledge about the global status of mountain women, with a strong focus on women in leadership roles around the world working to advance sustainable development in various sectors of activity;
3. To mobilize the Rocky Mountain members of the Mountain Partnership and grass-roots level entities, including high-schools and universities to work together toward specific goals to improve the status of women and increase opportunities for leadership;
4. To provide recommendations for the Mountain Partnership and Mountain Forum members around the world regarding actions to improve the status of women and to increase opportunities for leadership over the next two years with contribution to the agenda of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
5. To encourage the next generation to support gender issues and sustainable mountain development (note: high-school and college students throughout state of Utah will participate in all stages of this Conference).
Within the past 6 months there has been a great interest within the Rocky Mountains with respect to the activities of The Mountain Partnership. For this reason Aspen and Basalt Colorado as well as Park City, Salt Lake City and Orem City, Utah have all joined the Mountain Partnership to be a part of the global network of mountain regions and organizations linked together with the common cause to foster mountain growth in all mountainous regions. The 2011 Women of the Mountains Conference was organized with the intention to catalyze these efforts as well as bring organizations together to open the dialogue to development.
Before the opening of the Conference there was a high school essay contest held in which high school students from across the state wrote essays on women’s issues and challenges in mountain regions. The top finalists presented their essays at the Orem Public Library to an audience of visiting diplomats, ambassadors and involved citizens.
The essays were on a variety of topics that ranged from, trafficking of women, education of women and the unequal rights and inferior treatment of women, especially on Native American Indian Reservations. The essays were very elaborate and detailed on problems and solutions. It was very encouraging to witness our next generation of leadership with an already keen understanding of these issues and the ability to diagnose problems and thoughtfully brainstorm plausible solutions.
The winner of the contest, Shelby Jorgensen of Utah County Academy of Sciences addressed the need for education of women in her essay and described many of the tangible and intangible problems that lack of education poses to mountain societies.
At the conclusion of the essay contest many of the ambassadors described the problems and challenges faced by the women and inhabitants of their regions and the successes and triumphs they have achieved. Dr. Douglas McGuire also had the opportunity to address the audience and describe the role of the Mountain Partnership on the international level. He addressed that he is excited to have new members from the Rocky Mountains and felt that they have a lot to offer. Also just as important he addressed that the Rocky Mountains also have w a lot to learn as well. He specifically mentioned the problems among Native American women and that these travesties are occurring in the territory of the Rocky Mountains and need to be reconciled, among others.
The event was finalized with a brief message from Mayor Washburn of Orem. He exclaimed that he was delighted that his city was able to host the conference and applauded the work, study and dedication of the many high school participants of the essay contest.
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