[From ngocsw.org] January 15, 2012 – New York, NY – The NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NY (NGO/CSW/NY), one of three women’s committees of CoNGO that advocates for women’s rights and gender equality, is proud to announce the 2012 NGO CSW Woman of Distinction awardee. Ms. Mirna Cunningham Kain, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues, is this year’s recipient. She will be the keynote speaker at the NGO/CSW/NY Consultation Day (26 February), along with Michelle Bachelet, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women.
Ms. Cunningham Kain, an indigenous Miskita woman from Nicaragua, became the first female Miskita doctor. Following the victory of the Sandinista Revolution, Ms. Cunningham Kain returned to her community as an organizer and leader, and later became the first female Miskita governor of the autonomous region. As governor, she played an integral role in the negotiation of peace agreements that resulted in the approval of the Law of Autonomy of the Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Communities from the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (1987) and the establishment of the first autonomous regional governments. She served as Deputy of the Autonomous Region of the North Atlantic Coast (RAAN) in the National Assembly as well as the Autonomous Regional Council of the RAAN.
In the 90’s, Ms. Cunningham Kain became the founding director of the University of the Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast (URACCAN), one of Latin America’s first institutions of indigenous and intercultural higher education with a focus on gender. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Fund for Women, and serves as an advisor to three international indigenous groups: the Alliance of Indigenous Women of Mexico and Central America, the Continental Network of Indigenous Women and the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI). Ms. Cunningham Kain is also President of the Center for Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples (CADPI).
The formal presentation of the NGO/CSW/NY Woman of Distinction award will take place at the annual NGO Reception, to be held 28 February at the Turkish Center, 6 – 8 pm. To register for Consultation Day and Reception please see the website: www.ngocsw.org.
Photo credit: Myrna Cunningham website