{"id":878,"date":"2017-03-13T18:55:59","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T18:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=878"},"modified":"2017-08-09T17:09:30","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T17:09:30","slug":"mg-singh-addresses-the-international-womens-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2017\/03\/13\/mg-singh-addresses-the-international-womens-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"MG Singh addresses the International Women\u2019s Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hosted by the Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association<\/a>, the International Women\u2019s Conference held in Tallinn, to highlight the importance of women and their contributions to peace and security. Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, the adjutant general of Maryland, discussed her unique experiences as a women, mother, soldier, and contractor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile women have played a role in military and security operations for hundreds of years, it has only been codified in the mission of the United Nations<\/a> in the last two decades,\u201d said Singh.\u00a0 \u201cThanks to those women and men who have come before us recognizing the important role that women play globally, we are seeing an increase in the number of women in peacekeeping and security operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United Nations Resolution 1325<\/a> was adopted in October 2000 and it was the focus of the conference. The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It also stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.\u00a0 The conference participants discussed the progress women have made and how much more needs to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the equality movements, I would not have been able to serve in the military or even as a leader in the civilian sector,\u201d said Singh. \u201cWhen I think about the changes that have occurred\u2026it has been monumental.\u00a0 We need to recognize and give credit for the progress, but we should not lose sight that globally, we still have progress to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh reflected on her deployments to Kosovo and Afghanistan and the different roles women have in their societies. She worked as a mentor for a male Afghan general and with other male members of the military. She knew that she could earned their respect through hard work. She felt that she was constantly being scrutinized as a female soldier and leader. Her greatest joy was getting the opportunity to interact with local civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would visit with schools to engage with the students,\u201d said Singh. \u201cWatching the young girls\u2019 faces as the women soldiers came into the room was the highlight of the visit.\u00a0 You knew that even a small interaction presented a level of hope and aspiration for them that things can be different.\u201d<\/p>\n

She discussed her current role as adjutant general and working with Estonia as a part of the National Guard\u2019s State Partnership Program<\/a>. She is working with the senior leadership in Estonia to assist them in accomplishing their goals and objectives.\u00a0 Since 1993, the Maryland National Guard has been partnered with Estonia. The SPP is part of the initial outreach by the United States toward new democracies in Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union.\u00a0 The program emphasizes civil and military cooperation to foster democracy, encourage market economies and promote regional cooperation and stability.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGeneral Singh is an excellent example and role model everyone should follow,\u201d said Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau<\/a>. \u201cShe has overcome many obstacles in her life to become the commanding officer of the Maryland National Guard. She is the first woman and African-American to hold that position.<\/p>\n

“With less than 100 days on the job,” Lengyel continued, “she marshaled all of her skills and talents to manage the civil unrest in Baltimore. We are fortunate to have leaders like General Singh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh ended her remarks on how important it is to achieve diversity at all levels within an organization. She also stated it is also just as important to understand our role in achieving diversity.\u00a0 For her, to serve it is her passion. She recognizes that the fact she is serving something bigger herself and that she must pave the way for those who will prosper as a result of her efforts. She serves to show others the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hosted by the Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association, the International Women\u2019s Conference held in Tallinn, to highlight the importance of women and their contributions to peace and security. Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, the adjutant general of Maryland, discussed her unique experiences as a women, mother, soldier, and contractor. \u201cWhile women have played a role in military  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,810],"tags":[289,284,285,288,286,290,287],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-state-partnership-program","tag-afghanistan","tag-estonian-atlantic-treaty-association","tag-international-womens-conference","tag-kosovo","tag-maj-gen-linda-singh","tag-national-guards-state-partnership-program","tag-united-nations-resolution-1325"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":885,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions\/885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}