Guanajuato, Gto., April 10, 2019.- Roberto González and Daniela Hernández, students from the University of Guanajuato (UG) and Edith Valdez, a student at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara won first place in the first international Debate tournament held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York.

Young Mexicans from the University of Guanajuato (UG), as well as institutions of higher education in Jalisco and Aguascalientes, attended the 63th edition of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the most important international forum on gender equity issues, promoted by the United Nations Women's Organization (UN women).

In this context, the Civil Association 'Mar Adentro Mexico' held the tournament in which the champion team led to the victory by the paper "Strategies to achieve gender equality in Latin America should give priority to rural communities".

The debates were evaluated by specialized judges in different ranges, excelling Oscar Romero, specialist in technology and development, Director of participatory innovation in The New York City Mayor´s Office of the Chief Technology officer; Andrea Suárez, who provides care to women in Colombia through the Choose Life Foundation of Colombia and who officially represented the World Youth Alliance (WYA) during the tournament; Daniela Blanhir, specialist in international affairs and who has served as official delegate of Mexico for more than 3 occasions; and finally the Executive director of Mar Adentro in Mexico, Alexy Romero García Castellanos, specialist in social development, innovation and youth.

The CSW is the space to exchange reflections and proposals where the international policy of gender equity is built. The priority theme of the 2019 was "social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality", the review theme focused on women's empowerment and its link to sustainable development.

There were 12 youth leaders representing the civil Association 'Mar Adentro de Mexico', who were actively participating from March 11 to 22 at UN Headquarters in New York with the aim of representing the interests of Mexican youth to the International Agenda for Women's development.

During their stay, the delegates attended more than 30 parallel events within the UN, where they had the opportunity to connect with different high-level actors such as Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General; Prime Ministers, ambassadors, Presidents of intergovernmental organizations and NGOS. In addition, they had an approach with the official delegation of Mexico, represented by Nadine Gasman, president of the National Institute of Women.

As part of its activities, the delegation also visited the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations, where they were greeted by Fernando de la Mora, second Secretary of the Mission, with which they externalized the common interest to open more spaces for Listen to the concerns and proposals that arise from the Mexican youth.

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