PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles City Council Member Cherie Kidd represented Washington state recently at the United Nations in New York City for International Women’s Day.
She said Monday she was honored to attend U.N. Women’s International Women’s Day last Friday as Ms. Senior Washington, a part of the Ms. Senior Universe delegation, representing senior women.
“It was just amazing and everybody wanted a picture with us,” Kidd said Monday. “We were escorted to the floor for International Women’s Day … and I was given the title of the senior United Nations ambassador this year.”
Kidd was the first runner up at the Senior Universe Pageant in Las Vegas in November.
The theme for the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women conference was “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change.” Kidd also represented Soroptimist International of Port Angeles.
“It was more than I had expected,” Kidd said. “We were the first group of senior women to represent senior women and we were just so embraced by everyone. It was totally amazing.”
The U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke on making gender parity a priority in leadership positions, Kidd said, adding that he said the United Nations senior management this year consists of 26 women and 16 men for the first time.
He said that investing in women and ensuring their human rights will move us toward a new vision of equality and opportunity contributing to all the world’s success, Kidd said.
The focus was also on education for girls. Currently 130 million girls do not have access to education, Kidd said.
Ellen Ochoa, veteran astronaut and former Director of the Johnson Space Center, focused on the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education for girls, Kidd said.
Lorraine Twohill, the chief marketing officer at Google, spoke about the importance of the availability of technology to women around the globe, Kidd said. Their focus is to get more women online around the globe and they have initiatives in 39 countries to introduce women to technology, Kidd said.
“I am honored to represent Port Angeles and Washington state at the U.N. Women International Women’s Day in New York,” she said.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
