King’s College London Master’s student to speak at the United Nations in New York

A King’s College London Master’s student will be speaking at the United Nations (UN) in New York next month.

Stephan Atkinson, who is doing an MA in international relations will be there on behalf of the Kyrgyz Republic, a landlocked country in central Asia. 

He will be attend the UN on Monday 10th March at the 69th session on the Commission on the Status of Women by invitation of Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development and Commerce

The Commission on the Status of Women is a yearly event in which every nation in UN records its status on women’s policy. The event takes over two weeks and each nation gives a five minute presentation.

This means that the UK will be in attendance, and its presentation this year will be on “accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”

Although originally from Wyoming, United States, Stephan became aware of the status of women in mountains during his time at Utah Valley University (UVU), and his senior lecturer was former Kyrgyz Republic Ambassador to the United States and Canada.

Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous state that relies heavily on mountains for the conservation of their water and glaciers. Mountain women are at the centre of this as they keep the mountain communities together.

Kyrgyzstan flag on the right

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In simple terms, mountain women are defined as women and girls who reside in a mountain community or associate themselves with one. They are often very resilient women, who are isolated from the outside world, and lack similar opportunities to those who live in the city or the suburbs. They won’t work a “traditional” job, but rather work in the agricultural industry and or focus on maintaining the home and raising a family.

The King’s Tab spoke to Stephan, who has been invited by the Kyrgyz Republic Embassy, to speak at the UN event, titled: “Empowering Mountain Women Economically Through an Inclusive Student-Engaged Learning.”

This is Stephan’s fourth visit to the UN, so he is no stranger to public speaking and debate. However, we asked him a few questions to better understand why he was going to talk at the UN this time, especially for an event directed at women’s politics. 

Stephan spoke of his upbringing in Wyoming, United Status, a highly mountainous state. He said he grew up in the suburbs in a single-parent household, but the mountains were literally on his doorstep.

The view from Stephan’s home in Wyoming

He said: “The population in my town in Wyoming is currently about 50,000 population. When I was growing up, it was about 40,000. Now the whole state is about half a million.”

However, Stephan also lived in Utah for five years, another mountainous state.

Stephan said that mountain women are hugely underrepresented. He gave the example of how women all over America go into politics, however they are rarely from the mountains.

Globally, mountain women have trouble uprooting themselves, commitments to family and children. 

In addition, there is a non-existent job market for mountain women in Kyrgyzstan.

When asked why he believes he’s a suitable advocate for mountain women in Kyrgyzstan, Stephan said: “Somebody needs to advocate for them.” He then also explained how he works “closely” with a charity called The Mountain Research Initiative and the Utah International Mountain Forum.

However, the issue is much bigger than Kyrgyzstan. This issue covers from the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, the mountains of central Europe, all the way to central Asia and even in the mountains of Japan. This is why Stephan is an advocate for the Utah International Mountain Forum, a group based out of UVU, which engages in student-lead actions to advocate for women in mountains.

He further elaborated on his upbringing in Wyoming by a single mother and his and time spent in Utah. A mature student, Stephan said how his life experience enables his knowledge of “what works and what doesn’t”. He also said that his previous career in engineering aids his logical and analytical thinking that contributes to his political career. 

Stephan gave a link to join the Mountain Youth Hub, whereby other students can learn and contribute more to the advocation for mountain women.