On February 21, 2013, over 50 people attended a lecture on the state of women’s rights hosted by the ARS Mayr and Bergen County Chapters at St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in New York City. Anahid Ugurlayan, Vice-Chairlady of the ARS Mayr Chapter of NY and moderator of the program, welcomed the attendees and provided a brief overview of the ARS and its work. Ugurlayan introduced ARS UN Coordinator, Houri Geudelekian, who provided an overview of the ARS and its history as an NGO at the UN since 1975.
Geudelekian introduced Madeline Brecher, a representative of the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW), a prominent NGO at the UN, who provided an overview of her organization. Brecher explained that ICJW was established in 1912 and is an umbrella organization representing women’s organizations in 43 countries. ICJW also has consultative status at the United Nations an NGO with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and has permanent delegations in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Paris. Brecher explained her extensive work on the various committees at the UN, including the NGO CSW Executive Committee where she works with Geudelekian, partnering with the ARS on many parallel events during this year’s CSW.
