Anglican Women Celebrate 50 Years Since Founding of UN Women’s Commission

|TOP|Anglican women from across the Anglican Communion will gather Saturday for a special celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW).

The event, sponsored by Anglican Women’s Empowerment (AWE), will see a special programme and panel discussion featuring women from across the Communion as they share their hopes and concerns for putting their faith into action in the present world.

The 2006 UNCSW meeting will examine the progress that UN member countries have made in realising and safeguarding gender equality, the advancement of women in the fields of education, health, and work, and also the increased participation of both women and men in decision-making processes at all levels.

The panel discussion will be led by Abagail Nelson, vice president of Episcopal Relief and Development, and panellists will explore what developments are taking place in their respective countries, their particular concerns, and also the next steps in realising gender equality.

|AD|The audience will also be challenged to consider what they as Christians can do to transform vision into action.

"Working together, Anglican women delegates to the UNCSW are raising their voices in support for women's education and development, to combat hunger, poverty, and the spread of AIDS, and to work for equal opportunity," said Margaret Rose, Director for Women's Ministries, Episcopal Church.

"This event provides an opportunity for Episcopal women and men to listen to and learn from the experiences of our Anglican sisters and to strategise together for women's empowerment throughout the Communion."

Special guests at the celebration include Angela King, former UN Assistant Secretary General and Special Advisor on Gender Issues, and Jenny Te Paa, UNCSW delegate from the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The event has been organised by AWE and forms part of a larger programme for the Anglican and Episcopal delegates to the UNCSW meeting.

The 50th Anniversary events will take place mainly at the UN headquarters in New York and continue through to March 8.

This is the third year that Anglican and Episcopal delegates have attended this annual event, under the auspices of the Office of Women’s Ministries of the Episcopal Church and the Office on the Anglican Observer to the UN.

This year’s event is the largest gathering of women from across the Communion so far, with 96 women representing 37 provinces of the Anglican Communion.