By Karen Castellon
Three youth delegates from Crozet made their mark at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 68) in mid-March, bringing their voices to the global stage in advocating for healthy relationships. Western Albemarle High School’s sophomore Catalina Solorzano, senior Claire Castellon, and Henley 8th grader Elisa Solorzano participated as youth representatives of FAWCO, the Federation of American and International Women’s Clubs Overseas.
The trio facilitated a transformative One Love workshop titled “Empower Youth: See the signs of Healthy and Unhealthy relationships,” a powerful One Love video, “Beyond the Post,” to spark an interactive dialogue among participants.
Reflecting on her experience, Elisa Solorzano said, “It was an honor and a great opportunity when I was with my fellow youth leaders giving our presentation. It was great to hear from a wide range of people, whether that be age, sex, ethnic background and many more. I find that education is key and being able to help educate and explore different ideas means a lot to me.”
Catalina Solorzano emphasized the importance of education in fostering healthy relationships, stating, “Being able to educate people of any background about healthy and unhealthy relationships was an amazing opportunity. Everyone at the workshop had many great ideas and perspectives. During the process of training for the workshop, I learned how to improve the relationships that I already have and avoid unhealthy relationships in the future.”
Castellon added, “You have to first know the signs before you can recognize them in your relationships. And we talked about all kinds of relationships—friendships, siblings, families, classmates, teammates, and intimate partners.”
The workshop, supported by NoMore.org and IHaveTheRightTo.org directly addressed the priority theme of CSW 68, which focused on accelerating gender equality and empowering women and girls by addressing poverty.
In addition to their workshop, the delegates actively participated in side and parallel events hosted at the US Mission to the UN as well as a youth forum on the UN grounds. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) serves as the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. With the theme of “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective,” CSW 68 convened at the UN Headquarters in New York from March 11–22.
The Crozet team’s event was selected by NGO CSW Forum, which coordinates participation by global civil society and non-governmental organizations in parallel events at CSW 68.
