Preparations for the seventh annual Girls Leading Our World (G.L.O.W.) conference are un-derway. 

The conference will bring together the largest number of participants than any previous confer-ence. 

This year, more than 90 girls and 24 female counterparts from villages across Upolu, Savai’i and Manono will gather in Lea’uva’a for the four-day conference, from October 3-6, a press release stated

G.L.O.W. is a worldwide Peace Corps initiative that seeks to empower women and girls through holding workshops, conferences, and camps. This conference will enable girls to further develop leadership skills and confidence while becoming catalysts of change within their own lives and communities. 

With support from Women in Leadership Samoa (W.I.L.S.), a joint programme between U.N.D.P. and U.N. Women, each day of the conference will have a designated theme in accordance with the three pillars of G.L.O.W. - Careers and Education, Healthy Bodies and Healthy Minds, and Ending Violence Against Women and Children. 

According to the press statement, the girls will attend training sessions and activities implemented by influential Samoan women and organizations and hear from speakers who will share advice and success stories. At the end of the sessions, girls will participate in goal setting and leadership activities to help them develop ideas for how to take these messages back to their vil-lages and local G.L.O.W. clubs.

Meanwhile, the 12 female counterpart chaperones will also be participating in parallel sessions that will run in observance with the themed days, the release said. 

The conference would not be possible without funding and support from U.N. Women, Samoa Stationery and Books, Sunrise Chinese Restaurant, Apollo Cinemas, MANA Care Products, Eveni and Siva Afi Printing.

For more information on G.L.O.W. Samoa and to keep tabs on the conference, check out their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GLOWSamoa and Instagram: @SamoaGLOW.