I am Avia Weber and I have been involved with UNA-USA since 2020 as a young professional. Serving as UNA-USA’s delegate to the 67th Commission on the Status of Women, I collectively attended 21 events. Looking back, I am grateful for the friends I made and information I learned. Above all else, it sets well with me that there is an entire community of women when we need each other.

The side event that was most memorable for me was Indonesia’s “Innovation, Technology and Education in the Digital Age for Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of all Women and Girls in Area of Non-Discrimination, Women-Led SMEs Gender Equity Health Response, Rural Women and Women with Disabilities.” I had not originally planned to attend the event, however, I befriended Ani from Indonesia at a side event the day before and she had given me a flyer. The event was held on International Women’s Day and since it was the earliest event of the day, it set the energy. Everyone was so excited and we were all wishing each other a “Happy International Women’s Day”. I cannot quite put into words how special I felt to celebrate being a woman. This moment is something that I will remember for a long time. At the end of the event, they handed out mini bags with necklaces and other trinkets from Indonesia, so I brought home a little something from across the world.

After the long days, I really enjoyed exploring the city! New York City was so vibrant and I was glad that I was able to see a couple Broadway shows at night! One specific evening event was the high-level event, “From School to Work: Examining the “broken rung” for Women in STEM” hosted By: LinkedIn, Microsoft, and UNF. It was held in the Microsoft office which was very beautiful and I heard from prominent educators in the New York metropolitan area and the world. Their insights spanned from local education programs in the Bronx all the way to education in Ukraine during the war. These conversations were the entire week and I was so grateful to be at the table for them. Following the event, there was a networking event where I spent time with my UNA-USA delegates and met people from prestigious industries and companies. The amount of #girlpower in the room that night was insurmountable!

In my final reflections, conversations can be effective in learning and drawing attention to the issues that exist, but we have the power to do SO much more beyond that. When we do this, we can find lasting solutions. For instance, we know gender inequality is real. However, we also need to know that female genital mutilation, hypersexualization, and positive masculinity are the issues that are not discussed as much. How can we fix this? Empower our girls, educate them, and do more. In the age of tech, we shouldn’t just donate computers, we should train them how to use them and implement sustainable learning procedures. Additionally, they should not be limited to how Western tech operates, but tailored to what will help them be the most successful. It is an exhaustive funnel, but when it is an action that everyone gets involved in, it is something that we can all be a part of. We have a lot to be proud of, but there are way more things to be proud of too. I truly hope that we can lean on each other and think of MORE and create sustainable solutions.