News

Call for papers on women’s lives in mountains

02.02.2015

Scholarly papers related to women’s lives in mountainous areas may be submitted for the Fourth International Women of the Mountains Conference until 30 June 2015. The conference, organized by Utah Valley University (UVU), the Kyrgyz National Center for the Development of Mountain Regions under the auspices of the Mountain Partnership, will be held on 7-9 October 2015 in Orem, Utah (United States).

Paper topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Transmitting Family Values, Heritage & Culture: The role of women in sustaining family values, heritage, and culture in mountain communities.
Health of Women & Children: Challenges of high rates of disease and mortality among mothers and children in mountain communities; problems such as malnutrition, female genital mutilation, domestic abuse, and HIV/AIDS.
Education of Women & Children: Women’s and children’s education in highlands; development of political, legislative, and technological frameworks for improving the quality and availability of education.
Economic Issues Related to Women & Children: Women’s role in economic development in local communities and use of microcredit; women’s rights to property; issues of equal access; poverty; and drug trafficking.
Climate Change and Gender: Environmental issues such as the impact of climate change on mountain women and families.
Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Migration in the mountain areas and mistreatment of women and children; the aftermath of terrorism and violence; and measures for countering human trafficking and sexual exploitation in mountain areas.
Leadership Roles for Women: Women in leadership roles in mountain regions; developing women’s leadership capacities; and women’s leadership in entrepreneurial development and governance.
Access to Information and Public Services for Women: Women and technology, including use of modern information and computer technologies and distance education in remote regions.

Proposals from scholars written with students in particular in global mountain communities are especially welcome. The Conference may have limited funding for participants from developing countries in mountainous regions. For more information on the upcoming 2015 conference and past conferences, please visit: www.womenofthemountains.org.

Taking into account the successful contribution to the Second and the Third International Women of the Mountains Conferences by UVU students, Utah International Mountain Forum, a coalition of student clubs at UVU, will play a major role in hosting the Fourth International Women of the Mountains Conference with faculty assisting them as advisors (www.utahimf.org). Students from other universities from the Rocky Mountain states are invited to join the organizing committee of International Women of the Mountains conference as well. For more information, students may email [email protected].

An abstract (300 words maximum) and short bio of each participant should be sent to [email protected] by 30 June 2015. After confirmation of acceptance of abstract, the complete paper should be submitted to the above e-mail address by 31 August 2015.

This conference will continue the tradition set during the previous International Women of the Mountains Conferences hosted in Orem, Utah in 2007 and 2011 and in Puno, Peru, in 2012 of strengthening the involvement of North American mountain communities with the United Nations’ Mountain Partnership. The International Women of the Mountains Conference promotes worldwide sustainable development in mountainous areas. It also addresses critical issues facing women and children in mountainous regions across the globe and provides a forum to raise both awareness and advocacy on eliminating gender inequality and addressing challenges to sustainability.

Photo: Flickr/justinwoolford