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Four local Girl Scouts invited to United Nations as part of Global Advocacy Program

February 2009

 

Four local Girl Scouts have been invited to the United Nations March 2-6 as representatives of the national Girl Scout organization, where they, along with eight other Girl Scouts from California and Vermont, will participate in the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, being held at UN headquarters in New York.

Remi, Shelby, Alicia, and Olivia are girl members of the local Girl Scout council, Girl Scouts Louisiana East (GSLE), and its newly created global advocacy program. Remi and Alicia, ages 16, and Olivia, age 15, are residents of New Orleans, while Shelby, age 14, is a resident of Bridge City.  The four Girl Scouts will be sharing what they learn at the UN with the other members of the global advocacy group upon their return home, focusing efforts on leadership and how to inspire and team with others locally and globally. 

Last year, Girl Scouts Louisiana East was selected to partner with the Girl Guides in Africa and the national organization, Girl Scouts of the USA, in a five-year pilot program that pairs Girl Scouts from San Diego, Louisiana, and Vermont with their Girl Guide peers in Nairobi, Kenya. While the platform for Girl Scouts in the United States is abstinence, the group participants will learn about HIV/AIDS, working with organizations and people in southeast Louisiana, before taking their ideas and knowledge to a national and global level.

According to Yvette Hairston, Vice President of Program at Girl Scouts Louisiana East and adult liaison for this group, the council’s global advocacy group will focus on leadership with participants using the topic of HIV/AIDS to immerse themselves in leadership development and how to become successful youth advocates.

“This will be an experiential learning process for everyone, especially as the program develops and takes shape on a national level,” said Hairston, who will travel with the girls to New York.

Applications to join the group were sent out to prospective Girl Scout participants last fall, and the council held information sessions and interviews for interested girls. Twelve girls will form the nucleus of this pilot program, and additional groups will be formed in Louisiana around other topics of interest such as breast cancer.  Other participants in the council’s global advocacy group to date are: Kendra, Baton Rouge; Esther, New Orleans; Whitney, Denham Springs; Zoe, New Orleans.

About Girl Scouts Louisiana East

Girl Scouting’s mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. The local council, Girl Scouts Louisiana East, serves girls 5 to 17 in the parishes of Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. For more information, call the council offices in New Orleans at (504) 733-8220, Baton Rouge at (225) 927-8946, or visit www.gsle.org.

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Media contact: Marianne Addy, VP of Communications
(504) 733-8220, ext. 226 or maddy@gsle.org

 

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