Valued secondary school instructors,

The University Women’s Club of Montreal Inc. (UWCM) is proud to spearhead the first North American competition of Olympes de la Parole right here in Canada.

For the first edition of this competition, we have set the topic for reflection on the priority theme and the review theme for the Sixty-Second Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Students are invited to use team work, critical thinking, parent and community involvement, and innovation to reflect on the following:

“The emergence of new communication technologies has transformed lifestyles, work organization, learning methods, and skills needed to acquire and to apply knowledge. Using information supported by evidence, you, a secondary school student, will explain how access to new technologies could contribute to the empowerment of indigenous girls and women in a particular region of Canada.”

The competition theme will vary each year. To register for the 2018-2019 competition, your school must:

1. Use the enrolment form to register before January 31st, 2018. A confirmation will be sent to the school by February 28, 2018
2. Select Secondary 4 and 5 students who will work on the competition theme from September 2018 until February 2019, taking account of the Competition Rules.
3. Collaborate with their UWCM mentors as the Competition progresses
4. Prepare participants for their preliminary evaluation in January 2019
5. Prepare participants for their final evaluation in February 2019

Winners will be announced on International Women Day, March 8th, 2019. An Award Ceremony will be held at the end of March 2019 and will be open to all UWCM members and partners, personnel of participating schools, participating students and their families, media and political personalities.

Winners will present their project to the public.

All participants will be honoured with a certificate for volunteer hours invested in the competition.

Scholarships will be awarded to the best three projects:
– 1st Prize $2,000.00
– 2nd Prize $1,500.00
– 3rd Prize $1,000.00.

About the University Women’s Club of Montreal Inc.

The UWCM was founded in 1927 by university graduate women involved in the promotion of quality education for girls and women in Montreal. The UWCM Foundation raises funds for scholarships to university- and college-aged female students in Montreal and to Indigenous girls and women at all academic levels.

UWCM is a member of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW), a non-partisan, voluntary, self-funded organization with over 100 clubs and 8,000 members, located in every province across Canada. Since its founding in 1919, CFUW has been working to improve the status of women and girls, to promote human rights, public education, social justice, and peace. CFUW is affiliated with Graduate Women International (GWI), located in Geneva, and holds Consultative Status with the United Nations.

Dr. Saôde Savary, Chemist, Ph.D. Public Health
UWCM President