New York, USA
2021 COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN 65
The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards.
During the Commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities discuss progress, gaps, and further actions in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as emerging issues that affect gender equality and the empowerment of women.
As a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), YDC brings Delegates from across Canada to engage in the CSW including through submitting written statements, oral interventions, or organizing side/parallel events. This opportunity enables YDC delegates to engage with stakeholders in Canada and abroad to inform their position and advocate for it domestically.
Katherine Lacroix, Head Delegate
Katherine Carsley Lacroix is the McEuen Scholar ’22 pursuing a Masters of Arts (Honours) in Art History at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, and has been selected by YDC as to head their delegation to the 64th and 65th Commission on the Status of Women. Her research interests focus on the place of women in the popular imagination, specifically in feministic approaches to art historical analysis examining minority body politics and the intersection of gender and violence in visual culture. She hopes to encourage the broader public, both within and beyond learned circles, to gain interest in the contemporary social significance of art. She understands it as a crucial tool for peace in its ability to force the viewer to step outside their perspective and live through the eyes of another. The performance of this ultimate act of empathy has the quality of connecting us all to the experiences of people very different from ourselves. If we can tell compelling stories about artworks, we can make their lessons important in our own society.
A native Montrealer, Katherine holds a college degree in Arts & Sciences from Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, where she developed a passion for international politics, negotiation and questions of good governance. These interests accompanied her to St Andrews, where she heads the conferences of the Carnegie Club, a student-led philanthropic organisation committed to upholding values of education, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and peace. Katherine also devotes her time to the Lumsden Club, an all-female registered charity that provides support to women and children's initiatives, both in Scotland and abroad.
At CSW65, Katherine hopes that Canada’s youth delegation will initiate innovative discussions focussing on the young generation’s engagement to redress inequalities and foster a sustainable, inclusive future.
Katelyn Wang, Communications Coordinator
Katelyn strives to engage the community through capacity building and sustainable youth action. In this way, she aspires to “think globally” and “act locally” to create organic change. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of L.I.G.H.T., a grassroots non-profit organization centred around youth-led community initiatives. In this role, she implemented a new youth fellowship training program dedicated to self advocacy, and social justice awareness, which in turn, empowers youths to apply their skills to develop projects to address issues about which they are passionate. In response to COVID-19, Katelyn co-founded Young Ontarians United, a research initiative which seeks to amplify youth voices and analyze intersectional challenges posed by the pandemic in order to advocate for equitable solutions. The project collaborated with over 20 youth-led/youth-serving organizations across Ontario, consulted hundreds of young people, and hosted 3 design jams to democratize the policy recommendation process.
Furthermore, Katelyn is passionate about accessibility within the science field. Her efforts are demonstrated in providing free coding workshops through Cursor, as well as assisting in organizing the National Big Data Challenge in STEM Fellowship. Katelyn also coaches debate, and endeavours to instill empathy and self confidence in youths. She has received recognition for her social innovations at the Canada Wide Science Fair.
Katelyn is presently a second year student studying pathobiology and global health at the University of Toronto. She is grateful for the opportunity to offer a youth perspective, and also, share her ideas and experiences at the 65th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Nike Salamat, Engagement Coordinator
Nikou Salamat is in the final year of the Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences in Conflict Studies & Human Rights at the University of Ottawa. She is also a Research Consultant with the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) and co-leads GNWP’s COVID-19 and Women, Peace and Security Database. In this role, she has gained extensive experience with the implementation of women-led peacebuilding efforts in Eastern Africa. As an intersectional feminist, she also advocates for gender-inclusive and sustainable peace at various UN and civil society conferences, policy-making spaces and engagements.
As a former Junior Gender Equality Specialist at Global Affairs Canada, she contributed to the implementation of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. She also supported the provision of guidance to Canada’s international development programs in Africa and the Middle East based on feminist principles and a human-rights based approach to gender equality. Her research interests include the role of grassroots women’s organizations in building peace in conflict-affected and post-conflict contexts. At uOttawa, she has worked on a research project examining gender perspectives on mobilization for political protest. She also previously completed a student research project on conflict early warning systems which was recognized for excellence in 2019 by the Venture Initiative.
Nikou is fluent in English, French, Farsi and is currently learning Spanish. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading feminist literature and training as a dancer.