Hello I am Melanie Ohl, a Public Health (Health Promotion) student and Global Voices scholarship recipient. Never in the world did I think I would receive a scholarship to attend the profound United Nations conferences in such the iconic city of New York!
I started my adventure on a long flight on International Women’s Day, an experience like no other- flying high as a proud Australian woman to attend the UNCSW61 (United Nations Commission on the Status of Women).
I have now been in New York City sightseeing for the past week, and am ready for the official proceedings of the UNCSW61 to start tomorrow.
I am so honoured and thrilled to be representing Australian women and our perspective on gender equality in New York this week. I expect the conferences to not only be incredibly inspiring, but also greatly insightful into the lives of women around the globe. I am particularly interested in the discussions centred on women’s health and wellbeing outcomes.
I hope to walk away from this journey with a fresh motivation and boldness to continue the fight for gender fairness within regional and rural areas of Australia. With three young boys of my own, I can only pray that my adventure will encourage them to follow their dreams and most of all, display gender equality within their future endeavours.
From this experience so far, I have learnt that the possibilities are endless if you take a leap of faith and believe in yourself. Always remember to Be what you want to be and follow your dreams, hard work does pay off!
Melanie Ohl
