For Immediate Release

July 24, 2006

Contact: Vince Matthews 973-509-0388

SENATOR GILL GRADUATES FROM FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTE

A Program of the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, DC

MONTCLAIR - Senator Nia H. Gill, recognized as a national leader on women's issues, is a graduate of the Class of 2006 of the Center for Women Policy Studies' Foreign Policy Institute for State Legislators. The Institute is the first in the United States to focus specifically on preparing state legislators as policy leaders on US foreign policy on women's human rights.

Senator Gill attended the Institute July 8 - 13, 2006 in Washington, DC. "I have accomplished my goal of increasing my knowledge of the impact of our nation's foreign policy decisions on women worldwide. Now I can add this to my repertoire of resources," said Gill. "The Institute has expanded my ability to be a thoughtful advocate for foreign policy who promotes human rights and the principles of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action and the Beijing Platform," she added.

The 15 graduates of the Class of 2006 are state legislators -- representing 13 states -- who share a commitment to women's human rights and are involved with the Center for Women Policy Studies' Contract with Women of the USA State Legislators Initiative. The Institute's curriculum addresses many of the issues that Senator Gill and the Center for Women Policy Studies have addressed in the context of domestic policy -- reproductive rights and health, the women's HIV/AIDS epidemic, ending violence against women, combating international human trafficking, alleviating poverty worldwide, and expanding women's political participation and leadership, for example.

"Participation in the Institute helps concerned state legislators to take on a global vision and global leadership to improve the lives of women worldwide, as well as in their own states and in our nation," said Center President Leslie R. Wolfe.

Participants learned about these issues from a faculty of scholars and activists and also met with key members of the US foreign policy establishment at the US Department of State and on Capitol Hill.

The Center for Women Policy Studies is a national, nonprofit, multiethnic feminist policy research and advocacy institution in Washington, DC, founded in 1972. The Center identifies and addresses cutting edge issues that have a significant impact on women and girls.

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