Vatican Participates for First Time at UN Women’s Leadership Event

Crux ^ | 3/15/19 | Claire Giangrave

[marshmallow]

ROME - Amidst some objections, the Vatican participated for the first time at a United Nations session on the role of women on Tuesday, sending one of its most prominent examples of female leadership to say that “the Holy See is clearly adapting to the times.”

“It’s the first time that the Holy See sends a representative to this assembly,” said Barbara Jatta, the first-ever female president of the Vatican Museums who represented the Vatican at the UN gathering, in an interview with Vatican News.

“I’m personally honored, but I think it’s an important symbol that the Holy See wished to send about the presence of women in its structures,” she added.

The conference, organized by the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), began its 63rd edition March 12 and saw the participation of the President of the UN’s General Assembly, Ecuadorian Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, and the female heads of state from Estonia, Lithuania, Nepal, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Thousands of experts from different fields and backgrounds attended the event, which this year focused on access to public services for women, female empowerment and obtaining the gender equality goals detailed in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Jatta was invited to attend several round tables at the event, including one on “the future of women’s leadership” along with other prominent female representatives from government, media and other civil institutions.

[dp0622]

it’s an important symbol that the Holy See wished to send about the presence of women in its structures,”...

I’ve seen women in structures before. I just can’t say what kind :)