Italy wins Miss Progress International 2022

For this year’s edition, twenty-seven international delegates participated in this pageant, the global tilt’s eighth edition. The Miss Progress International pageant’s tagline is “Be the change that you want to be,” and hopes to show “that there is a way to let different cultures peacefully coexist sharing the same goals,” its website says. 2019 Miss Progress International Vanessa Lopez Giraldo of Colombia relinquished the main title to Italian and host delegate Francesca Speranza, during the final staged at the Messapia Hotel and Resort in Santa Maria di Leuca, Italy, on September 17, 2022. The Italian queen also received the Miss Progress Environment crown.

The 24-year-old newly crowned Miss Progress International lives in Caserta. She has a degree in law and speaks fluent English and Spanish but, a little French too.

Participating in the Erasmus program in Spain has allowed Francesca to live her first multicultural experience and to make her decide to continue her studies with a specialization in international relations, with the hope of establishing herself in the diplomatic field, in particular in the protection of human rights.

“I know that I have been given a great responsibility – Francesca says enthusiastically after her winning of Miss Progress Italia – but I am used to challenges. The mere idea that my project can give further impetus to actions aimed at protecting the environment, makes me feel that I have the energy to make the most of this fantastic opportunity“.

In this pageant, the projects developed by each participant, dedicated to Environment, Health and Human Rights, highlight dramatic realities often completely unknown and it is the task of the jury to determine the most feasible one, rewarding it with support for its realization. Francesca Speranza presented a project on “Urban Agriculture-Hope for the city” that stems from the desire to create a simple self-sustainable activity within one of the most beautiful gardens in Caserta. It involves growing blackberries and bitter oranges, the fruits of which will be transformed into jams inside a building confiscated from the Camorra. The jams will then be sold and the proceeds will be used for the maintenance of the park.

The 2022 Miss Progress International’s court includes

Miss Progress Environment – Francesca Speranza (Italia)

Miss Progress Health – Andrea Pineda (Colombia)

Miss Progress Human Right – Beatriz Vasquez Awatin (Philippines)

Miss Progress Cultural Integration – Gabriella Alejandre Monserrate (Puerto Rico)