Monday, March 7, 1-3 pm at the UN's Dag Hammarskold Library Auditorium

Contact: Chip Rose
UMBC News
410-455-5793
crose@umbc.edu

Claudia Morrell, executive director of the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) will be one of five panelists participating in Creating Global Transformation: Women & ICT on Monday, March 7, from 1-3 p.m. at the United Nations.

The meeting’s purpose is to build on the conclusions of an agreement signed March 14, 2003, in which the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women stated, "globally, there are substantial differences in participation in, access to and use of media and information and communications technologies (ICTs), their content and production."

"Media and ICT," the agreement also stated, "offer tools for enhancing tools for women’s empowerment and the promotion of gender equality."

National and international leaders representing business, education and nongovernment sectors will address the ways in which ICTs make a difference in the lives of women, their families and communities.

Speakers include UN and corporate leaders from this country and the United Kingdom. Morrell will make the concluding remarks that will include suggestions for future opportunities for national and international collaboration.

CWIT, a global resource building women's participation in information technology, has wide-ranging initiatives, including the annual Computer Mania Day (Saturday, April 9th this year), a designed especially for 11 and 12 year-old girls to have hands-on experiences with computers and technology; and June 12-14, 2005, the first International Symposium on Women and ICT: Creating Global Transformation.