TicketsCINCINNATI - Vanessa Gilles, one of the most decorated players in University of Cincinnati women's soccer history and a current member of the Girondins de Bordeaux women's professional team in France's top division, spoke at the United Nations in New York City Wednesday, March 20, as part of the UN-Women's 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (March 11-22). Gilles, who is in her first season with Bordeaux, is back in the States with her club side to scrimmage teams in New York and Washington, D.C., while also taking in sites and participating in the Commission.
Each year, the session is held in New York at the UN World Headquarters with a priority theme set in place for speakers, visitors, delegates and all other participants to come together and collaborate on ways to improve equality for women throughout the world. This year's theme was dedicated to 'social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equity and the empowerment of women and girls'. Gilles was asked to speak about her experiences playing the global game of soccer to coincide with a speech on the evolution of the status of women through sport.
"I was unanimously selected by the staff and owners (of Bordeaux) to give a speech because of my experiences and journey in soccer, which is somewhat different than the norm," Gilles said following her speech. "I felt it went incredibly well and I almost got a standing ovation! I'd like to think it was because of some of the jokes I threw in here and there, but I am assuming it was really because the topic of the whole conference was so empowering, especially surrounded by such incredible people!
"Just being able to be part of an event surrounded by such incredible ambassadors, not only for women in sports, but for women in general was amazing," Gilles continued. "Having the chance to share my story and hopefully helping bring more awareness to the issue of inequality was a very humbling experience."
In the future, Gilles hopes her speech will be part of a bigger movement that will continue to carry the world closer to equality.
"I do hope the speech I prepared, along with the other ambassadors who shared their stories on the topic, is just a small step to bringing awareness to what we have already accomplished and what we need to tackle next as well as how to go about it," Gilles said. "What has been accomplished thus far has already been incredible, but the road ahead is even longer for equality in this sport. It is events like these and people from all around the world fighting bit by bit, one speech and one legislation at a time, that will make the difference."
And making a difference is why the Commission was formed. According to the UN website, the UN-Women "is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN-Women was established to accelerate progress on realizing their rights and meeting their needs worldwide. UN-Women supports United Nations Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women's enjoyment of their human rights in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women's leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women's economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN-Women also coordinates and promotes the United Nations system's work in advancing gender equality."
For more information on the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women please visit: www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw63-2019.
Each year, the session is held in New York at the UN World Headquarters with a priority theme set in place for speakers, visitors, delegates and all other participants to come together and collaborate on ways to improve equality for women throughout the world. This year's theme was dedicated to 'social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equity and the empowerment of women and girls'. Gilles was asked to speak about her experiences playing the global game of soccer to coincide with a speech on the evolution of the status of women through sport.
"I was unanimously selected by the staff and owners (of Bordeaux) to give a speech because of my experiences and journey in soccer, which is somewhat different than the norm," Gilles said following her speech. "I felt it went incredibly well and I almost got a standing ovation! I'd like to think it was because of some of the jokes I threw in here and there, but I am assuming it was really because the topic of the whole conference was so empowering, especially surrounded by such incredible people!
"Just being able to be part of an event surrounded by such incredible ambassadors, not only for women in sports, but for women in general was amazing," Gilles continued. "Having the chance to share my story and hopefully helping bring more awareness to the issue of inequality was a very humbling experience."
What an incredible experience being able to share my story at the Comission on the status of women and participate at an event dedicated to addressing the topic of inequality in womens soccer at the United Nations with my colleagues at @fcgbgirls pic.twitter.com/bCqO6HAqE1
— Vanessa Gilles (@VanessaGilles) March 21, 2019
In the future, Gilles hopes her speech will be part of a bigger movement that will continue to carry the world closer to equality.
"I do hope the speech I prepared, along with the other ambassadors who shared their stories on the topic, is just a small step to bringing awareness to what we have already accomplished and what we need to tackle next as well as how to go about it," Gilles said. "What has been accomplished thus far has already been incredible, but the road ahead is even longer for equality in this sport. It is events like these and people from all around the world fighting bit by bit, one speech and one legislation at a time, that will make the difference."
And making a difference is why the Commission was formed. According to the UN website, the UN-Women "is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN-Women was established to accelerate progress on realizing their rights and meeting their needs worldwide. UN-Women supports United Nations Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women's enjoyment of their human rights in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women's leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women's economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN-Women also coordinates and promotes the United Nations system's work in advancing gender equality."
For more information on the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women please visit: www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw63-2019.