Anglican Communion pleads to United Nations for an end to gender-based violence

An end to gender-based violence and the role of faith communities in the fight for gender equality are amongst the issues highlighted by the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations (ACOUN) ahead of this year’s meeting of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women.

The 64th UNCSW meeting in March will mark the 25th anniversary of the keynote Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

In an official statement to the UNCSW, ACOUN is also highlighting the need for a strong response to the threat of climate change and the importance of the voices of women on the frontline of creation care, particularly indigenous women; as well as investment in economic empowerment for women.

To support its message, ACOUN is taking a delegation of eight women from across the Communion to New York in March.

The statement identifies four key areas for Anglicans ahead of UNCSW64 and makes particular reference to the work that Anglicans from around the world are undertaking in their own communities within each of these key areas. It cites specific resolutions passed by the Anglican Consultative Council in the areas of gender-based violence and climate change.

There are seven recommendations at the end of the statement. These include urging UN member states to:

Take urgent and accelerated action to fully implement and finance the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in partnership with civil society and other stakeholders, including faith-based organisations and faith leaders;

Recognise the positive role that faith and communities of faith are playing in the provision of social services, humanitarian response, building resilient communities, promoting well-being, transforming social norms, and achieving gender equality, and consider faith communities as integral partners within civil society; and

Take action to reduce gaps in and remove barriers to the full and equal representation of women in leadership and decision-making at all levels in all sectors.

UNCSW64 will focus on the 25th anniversary review of the Beijing Declaration. Rachael Fraser, Advocacy and Research Officer for ACOUN, told ACNS that this year was “a moment to celebrate how far we have come over the last 25 years, but also a moment of challenge; to reflect on how far we still have to go”.

This week, the Anglican Communion News Service has published a blog by Marla Teixeira, the Administration and Research Assistant at the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations, detailing a year in the life of the Anglican Communion at the UN.