Professor Melanie Hughes recently brought three University of Pittsburgh sociology PhD students to New York City to participate in events at the 70th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), a leading global forum on gender equality.
At a session hosted at the United Nations Secretariat and organized by Algeria’s Ministry of Justice in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, Dr. Hughes presented with PhD student Gloria Jasmine Akoba on women’s leadership in justice institutions across Africa.
In a second event, Dr. Hughes joined GIRL Co-Director Dr. Müge Kökten Finkel and members of the Gender Equality in Public Administration (GEPA) working group, including sociology PhD students Maria Said and Hanning Wang, to discuss women’s leadership in public administration worldwide. The team headlined alongside the UNDP Global Policy Governance Center.
These events gave Pitt graduate students the opportunity to engage directly with global policymakers and practitioners, highlighting the department’s commitment to mentorship, collaborative research, and real-world impact.
(pictured center is Kenya’s Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court, Martha K. Koome)