Title: GOA Girl Advocate Participates in Girls Advocacy Forum with UN Member States

On Tuesday, February 21st, GOA Girl Advocate, Beatriz Fino Morfogen, of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Southampton, NY, participated in a virtual Girls Advocacy Forum at the United Nations. The Girls Advocacy Forum is a collaborative space for girls and Member States to discuss the annual theme the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW). This year’s priority theme is “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.” Beatriz advocated directly to representatives from Malawi and Canada, promoting protection for girls within technology, particularly within the sphere of social media where girls are most vulnerable to cyberbullying, harassment, and the risk of human trafficking. Beatriz called on the member states to ensure that the outcome document and agreed conclusions of CSW include provisions to make the digital world a safe one for girls to work, learn, and thrive. The forum gave member states an opportunity to hear directly from girls like Beatriz, and for the girls and representatives to better understand one another’s perspectives with respect to girls’ leadership, participation and inclusion in decision-making.

The GOA Girl Delegate Program empowers Orthodox girls from Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Parishes to advocate for issues important to them at the United Nations. As a pilot program out of the Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, the GOA Girl Delegate Program will likely expand this year which will enable more girls to join. For more information, please email [email protected].