To mark International Women’s Day, the Embassy of Italy in the Republic of Korea organised the third edition of “Ambassador for a day”, a project that allows a female Korean university student to work for a day alongside the Ambassador of Italy in Seoul, Emilia Gatto, in order to gain valuable first-hand experience in an international work context.
The student was selected following an evaluation of the papers submitted by applicants from different Korean universities on the theme “Empowering Change: Why eliminating violence against women will contribute to the wellbeing of men”, whereby students were asked to develop their own ideas and contribute to a dialogue that could lead to a profound change in the field of gender-based violence, not least in the light of the recent events occurred in Italy.
The winner Jennifer Yaewon Lee, a student of International Studies at the prestigious Ewha Womans University, had the opportunity, on 5 March, to accompany Ambassador Gatto during her daily activities, taking part in meetings with relevant figures from the cultural, scientific and industrial sectors. These included a meeting with Professor Marica Branchesi, full professor of Astrophysics at the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and associate researcher at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), who chairs the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) and the Observational Science Board of the Einstein Telescope (ET), the future world’s largest gravitational wave detector that Italy is a candidate to host.
The day ended with a networking dinner, attended by influential women from different fields, such as politics, culture and academia.
“With this edition, we wanted to reflect on the idea that gender-based violence does not only affect women but also has consequences for society as a whole. It is not a zero-sum game, the elimination of violence against women can contribute and has positive implications for men as well. It is important that we discuss these issues. That is why this year we wanted to focus on creating and strengthening a network of knowledge leading to a fervent exchange of ideas”, said Italian Ambassador Emilia Gatto.
