President of University Women Federation to speak

19 September 2014

PRESS RELEASE

President of International Federation of University Women to Speak at Conference on Empowering Women as Leaders

Catherine A Bell, President of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), will be in Wellington from Thursday 25 to Tuesday 30 September to speak at the national conference of the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women (NZFGW), on the theme of Women Empowering Women as Leaders.

Dr Ann Pomeroy, President of the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women, said: ‘We are delighted that Catherine will be in New Zealand to be a speaker at our conference, bringing us her valuable international perspective and insights.’

Ms Bell is passionate about educating girls and women and believes that families, communities and countries can only develop if both genders are educated at least up to the end of secondary school and preferably beyond.

IFUW advocates for women’s rights, equality and empowerment through access to quality secondary and tertiary education, and training up to the highest levels. Their vision is for 100% of girls and women in the world to achieve quality, lifelong education.

Ms Bell believes that financial literacy is a fundamental life skill and essential for women’s economic, social and personal empowerment and independence. She also advocates for ending gender streaming in schools so that girls are encouraged to access all disciplines of learning especially in areas where the gender gap is most prevalent, such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Notes for Editors:

• Catherine Bell is from South Africa where she is a member of the South African Association of Women Graduates (SAAWG). With a BSc in Mathematics and trained in financial management, Catherine’s professional life includes working as a project manager in the Information technology (IT) field.

• Ms Bell is available for interview to speak about global issues affecting women and girls, drawing from her recent experiences of visiting many IFUW affiliates.

• IFUW, founded in 1919, comprises over 60 national federations and associations throughout the world, all working towards the empowerment of girls and women through education. For further information about IFUW see: http://www.ifuw.org/who-we-are/our-vision/

• The NZFGW conference is taking place from Friday 26 – Sunday 28 September at Rydges Hotel, Featherston Street, Wellington.

• NZFGW has nine branches across the country, who speak for women and girls on the issues that affect them before, during and after their tertiary education. NZFGW distributes around $1.7 million annually in scholarships and awards to support women to access tertiary education and undertake research.

• For further information about NZFGW, see: http://www.nzfgw.org.nz/

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