Four Filipinos Join Gender-Themed World Student Conference in HK

Consul General Antonio A. Morales poses with (second from right to left) incoming Grade 12 students from Brent International School Subic participate at the International Baccalaureate World Student Conference 2018, together with Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza, at the Grand Hall Foyer in front of the Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre in University of Hong Kong’s Centennial Campus at the Cocktail Reception on 05 August 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)

HONG KONG 23 August 2018 – Four Filipino high school students participated in the week-long International Baccalaureate (IB) World Student Conference at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) for young people to discuss the theme “Education for All: Moving Towards a Gender-Fair World” from 31 July to 06 August 2018.

Francesca Hilario, Klouja Reyes, Hanna Knill, and Julianna Lantape—incoming Grade 12 students at Brent International School Subic—engaged their peers from leading secondary schools around the world in discussing quality education and gender equality, two of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals agreed upon by the United Nations.

During the closing ceremony held at the HKU Grand Hall on 05 August 2018, Consul General Antonio A. Morales praised the four students for their active participation in the conference, expressing confidence that the lessons they learned from their experiences in Hong Kong could be shared and implemented with their schoolmates and communities.

At the ceremony also attended by other members of the consular corps in Hong Kong, HKU President Peter Mathiesen introduced four of five selected HeForShe IMPACT Champion Scholars to present their diverse experiences in facing the challenges of gender inequality in trying to attain quality education.

Rabia Kaihan (Afghanistan), Aleena Khalid (Pakistan), Sophiemay Vongkhamsao (Laos), and Alaa Sleiteen (Syria) were awarded the undergraduate scholarships together with an Ethiopian student whose arrival was delayed as HKU’s way of helping reduce barriers against social mobility and promoting gender equity for access to higher education in developing countries.

The conference participants listened to speeches and lectures, and held sessions in honing such skills as creative writing, solutions design, app creation and computational thinking in their engagement with thought leaders, teachers and scholars in exploring solutions to alleviate the gender-related inequality still existing in the world.

Apart from addressing the problems posed by the conference leaders, the young leaders also found time for excursions and recreational activities in order to encourage the formation of meaningful relationships with peers, develop international understanding, and build leadership skills benefiting participants even after the conclusion of the conference.

The IB World Student Conferences, which were also held in June and July in Washington, D.C. and Rotterdam, bring together IB Diploma Programme and IB Career-Related Programme students from around the world to explore and experience what it means to be globally engaged, and to inspire responsible action for making a better and more peaceful world.

HKU is the first university in the world to launch the UN Women's HeForShe Initiative to promote gender equality on campus. The UN HeForShe 10x10x10 Impact Group comprises ten heads of state, ten CEOs of global corporations, and ten University Presidents. HKU President and Mathieson is one of those ten. END

University of Hong Kong (HKU) President Peter Mathieson, Rabia Kaihan from Afghanistan, Aleena Khalid from Pakistan, Sophiemay Vongkhamsao from Laos, and Alaa Sleiteen from Syria, at the closing ceremony of the International Baccalaureate World Student Conference 2018 at the HKU Grand Hall on 05 August 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)

For more information, visit www.hongkongpcg.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinHK/.