Sunday

The morning began with Guides Own, presented by participants from the Canadian Senior Girls Summit.

 

Rennie Dutton, Senior Consultant for Voices of America’s Children, presented a session on evaluation – its purpose, tools and framework. She used the WAGGGS-UPS partnership and the Signature Programme as a concrete example and talked about the importance of indicators to measure progress.

 

The highlight of the morning was the presentation of the WAGGGS Bronze Medal given by Mary Lynn Myers, Deputy Chairman of the World Board, to Mrs Leslie Wright, a lifetime member of Girl Scouts USA and past team leader of the United Nation (UN) team in New York. The award is to honour individuals within the movement who have given remarkable service of an exceptional nature at both national and world levels.

 

In her thank you address, Leslie stressed the importance of WAGGGS presence at the UN and the need for girls to speak for themselves on a number of topics that affect them. She reminded the conference that WAGGGS is the only international organization specifically dedicated to the girls and young women and that our voice must be heard on a number of levels including the review of the UNICEF publication, A World Fit for Children, and in our collective responsibilities towards the environment. 

Diversity  

In the afternoon, the conference was divided into working groups and discussed the topic of diversity. Afterwards, nominees for the next Western Hemisphere Regional Committee were introduced by Gabriela De Rosa. Each nominee gave a brief overview of their experience and what they would bring as a committee member to the Western Hemisphere Region. Voting will take place on Tuesday, the last day of conference.

 

The day ended with a wonderful international night, showcasing the breadth of the region. Each country was featured on stage through song, dance, poems and photos with each Member Organization posting a word symbolizing what Peace means to their country. Delegates then celebrated until late into the night, enjoying tasty treats and snacks from all of the different places.