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News
February 2005
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Adventists
Attend Status of Women Conference
New York, NY…
USA. February 28 - March 11, 2005, marked an historical moment for more
than 9,000 women and 1,000 non-governmental organizations (NGO's) at the
United Nations' 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
that focused on gender equality and reaffirming the Beijing Declaration
to be voted at the Millennium U.N. Conference in September 2005.
"Equality between women and men is one of the fundamental principles
of the United Nations Charter," said José Antonio Ocampo,
Under-Secretary-General for the Economic and Social Affairs, in his statement
to participants and U.N. representatives.
The 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women commemorates
ten years since the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing in 1995,
as well as the 30th anniversary of the First World Conference of Women
held in Mexico in 1975.
Attending on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was Heather-Dawn
Small, acting director for the church's Women's Ministries Department.
"I felt very privileged to represent my church at this conference.
It gave me a chance to see the 'big picture' when it comes to women's
needs, not just in the church, but in the community where the church exists
and where we witness."
The Adventist Church's statement submitted to the 49th Session on the
Commission on the Status of Women reads in part, "not only do women-and
the girls who will soon be women-need support, but they need empowerment
so that they can better solve their own challenges. To be able to do this
they need the help of all organizations, such as the United Nations, NGOs,
churches and religious organizations, and governments. The rewards in
improved quality of life for all people will make it well worth the effort.
The statement also included areas in which the Adventist Church is making
a contribution in education, literacy, health, abuse prevention, and leadership
training.
"Our challenge to the United Nations, NGO's, and other representatives
present at the conference was to develop concrete action plans for empowering
today's women and girls to work in partnerships with local governments
and institutions," the statement concludes.
Although the ten-year review and appraisal of implementation by Member
States of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action indicates that
much has been achieved over the past decade in terms of increased awareness,
policy reforms, improved legislative frameworks, and institutional development
at the national level in many countries, a number of Member States have
yet to implement the Beijing Declaration, a concern to the women attending
the conference. Acknowledging that there is a gap between policy and practice,
Mr. Ocampo outlined 12 Critical Areas of Concern in his statement and
challenged the Commission to "secure reaffirmation of commitment
and enhanced action to ensure full implementation."
On March 4, the Commission also proposed a new resolution to "Reducing
Demand for Trafficked Women and Girls." The resolution calls on "governments
to enforce or adopt legislative and other measure to deter exploiters
and sex buyers who create the demand for prostitution that fuels sex trafficking…
It also calls for passage of anti-slavery laws, international cooperation
in fighting human trafficking, public awareness and education efforts,
research on the link between sex trafficking and legislation concerning
prostitution and sexual exploitation, anti-TIP (trafficking in persons)
and anti-sexual exploitation policies for U.N. peacekeeping forces,"
said Ambassador John Miller, director for the Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State.
For more information on the church's work at the United Nations and Women's
Ministries, visit http://un.adventist.org and http://wm.gc.adventist.org.
[Viola Hughes]
For more information
of the church’s involvement at the U.N., visit http://un.adventist.org.
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