School Sisters of Notre DameGeneralate

Via della Stazione Aurelia 95
00165 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39.06.6652.01 Fax: +39.06.6652.0234

For Immediate Release: March 1, 2019
Contact:

Sister Eileen Reilly, SSND
203-856-4430
eileenssnd@gmail.com

School Sisters of Notre Dame delegation to participate in United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women
An international delegation from the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), including
students from SSND schools in Brazil, Hungary, and the United States, will attend themeeting of the 63rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) March
11-22 in New York. The priority theme for the 2019 meeting: social protection systems,
access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and theempowerment of women and girls.
In addition to the priority theme, the CSW will evaluate progress of member states on theimplementation of the agreed conclusions from the 60th meeting: women’s empowerment andthe link to sustainable development.
Member states, as well as representatives of United Nations entities and non-governmentalorganizations such as the School Sisters of Notre Dame, will participate in the two-week
session.
“Social protection systems are a key to achieving gender equality and empowering womenand girls,” said Sister Eileen Reilly, SSND, director of the SSND UN-NGO Office, linking
the CSW theme to Sustainable Development Goal #5. “These systems, which would
mandate universal protections, would address some of the challenges, such as the unpaid carework which is almost always provided by women and girls.”
As a registered NGO (non-governmental organization) with the UN Department of PublicInformation since 1993, the School Sisters of Notre Dame also have Special Consultative
Status with ECOSOC, which provides them with the opportunity to submit statements forconsideration by the UN secretary general and the CSW. Past statements (2016, 2017) havereflected the SSND commitment to ensure that women and girls have a place at the table anda voice during these deliberations.
This year’s SSND delegation of high school and university students again demonstrates thiscommitment. SSNDs have been sponsoring high school or university students at CSW
meetings for more than 11 years.
In addition to Sister Eileen, the SSND delegation for the first week of the two-week CSW
session will include Sister Carolyn Jost, SSND, of Brookfield, Illinois, Sister Beatriz
Transforming the World through Education
www.gerhardinger.org

Martinez-Garcia from Woodhaven, New York, and participants from SSND sponsoredschools in Hungary, Brazil and the United States.
Notre Dame of Maryland University, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA will be sending six
students and two faculty members.
The congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame is a community of women religious in
mission on five continents. The sisters educate with a world vision believing that the world
can be changed through the transformation of persons. The sisters and their colleagues seek
to empower women, youth and persons who are poor or marginalized and strive to changesystems of poverty and injustice. Today approximately 2,500 SSNDs minister in 30countries.
###Additional information about the CSW is available at:
http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw63-2019.
SSND updates from the CSW63 will be available at: www.gerhardinger.org
For more information about the School Sisters of Notre Dame, please visit:www.gerhardinger.org or www.ssnd.org

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