Loretto at the UN celebrates International Women’s Day 2022

This year the theme of the United Nations’ observance of International Women’s Day (#IWD2022) was “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow.” Our Loretto at the UN office celebrated with a virtual program honoring the co- founders of Green Mountain Monastery [http://www.greenmountainmonastery.org/]. We hosted an inspiring conversation with Gail Worcelo and Bernadette Bostwick on “The Wisdom of Women in the Ecozoic Era: An Introduction to the Sisters of the Earth Community.” (Find the recording here: https:// youtu.be/tU5VJtQ54tk.)

The conversation was co-sponsored by the Justice Coalition of Religious (JCoR) and addressed the “Ecozoic Era as an Era of Wisdom — the Wisdom of Universe”and practical applications of women’s wisdom through the work of the Sisters of the Earth Community. Many of us will remember that this community was able to purchase land for the location of the Green Mountain Monastery in Greensboro, Vt., thanks to a no-interest loan orchestrated through the Loretto Earth Network.

Attendees at the virtual event came from as far away as Scotland and Nicaragua, and the discussion inspired a thought-provoking presentation by Durham University assistant professor Dr. Carmody Grey. That talk, entitled “What Do We Want to Sustain? Thinking about Faith and The Climate,” can be found at https://youtu.be/DIEQeG3IRM4.

Additional virtual #IWD2022 celebrations included an hour-long U.N.-sponsored conversation entitled “WOMEN RISE: The To-Do List for Gender Equality,” where five prominent leaders gathered at the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Studio to discuss the priority actions to achieve SDG 5 (Gender Equity) by 2030. See the recording at: https://youtu. be/0FLA0BMzy2s.

Inspirational videos as we stretch International Women’s Day out to last for months include Amanda Gorman reading her poem “Earthrise” (https://youtu.be/ xwOvBv8RLmo) and Women Rising for Climate Justice and Future Generations (https://youtu.be/ cVLLY5xJbOk) from Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network International. Finally, the official U.N. Observance of the day (https://www.youtube.com/watchv=vDNAzq4qgiM) included the highlight of hearing from the U.N. Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall.

We’re sponsoring two parallel events and collaborative events with the Loretto Earth Network, the Latin America/Caribbean Committee and the Loretto Feminist Network. Watch future issues of Interchange for highlights from the March 2022 Commission on the Status of Women, where the priority theme is “achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programs.”