A side event at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women at U.N. headquarters in New York was offered by the government of Iceland and the Council of Europe, a human rights organization. The event highlighted the importance of protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls. Marja Routanen from the Council of Europe hosted the panel, introducing the prime minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who’s led the country since 2017.
In remarks to the recent Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that gender equality is centuries away and called for worldwide efforts to empower women.
Imagine at age 17 being able to say that you’ve developed a device to detect lead-contaminated water, conceptualized a service to thwart cyber bullying and appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
Those are just a few of the accomplishments of Gitanjali Rao, one of the inspirational women and girls applauded at the United Nations observance of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
In remarks on Monday to the Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that gender equality is centuries away and called for worldwide efforts to empower women.
All who call this planet home are impacted by a warming climate. But our most vulnerable, particularly women and girls, are disproportionately affected. And although women may carry the burden of weathering storms (and tsunamis and droughts and all events that result from a warming planet), they are also the first to embrace earth-friendly policies and practices as they (and their families and communities) are literally on the front lines. Seeing our way forward to a sustainable future can only be realized when the leadership of women and girls is encouraged and valued.
The 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is scheduled for March 11–22, 2019, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event is expected to draw representatives from member states, U.N. entities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world. Applications are now being accepted and can be accessed on the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations (PMUN) web page.
Jesus’ concern and respect for women is evident in Scripture — and quite astonishing for the day. He healed a very ill woman on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10–17); stood by a woman accused of adultery (John 8:1–11); raised from the dead the only son of a grieving mother and widow (Luke 7:11–15); publicly recognized the extravagant gifts of the poor widow (Mark 12:41–44) and the “sinful woman” (Luke 7:36–50); gave permission to set aside domestic chores for more important matters (Luke 10:38–42); shared the message of living water with a Samaritan woman at a well (John 4:7–30); and even appeared first to women after his resurrection (Matthew 28:1–10). Despite his radical care and consideration for women in his day, in our day many girls and women struggle to find a way to thrive in a world that often disregards (sometimes violently) their right to live into God’s intended abundance.
El Comité de Defensa por los Intereses de las Mujeres y Mujeres Presbiterianas de la Iglesia Presbiteriana (EE. UU.) han emitido una declaración conjunta sobre la injusticia sexual en respuesta a la atención nacional enfocada en este tema.
The Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns and Presbyterian Women of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have issued a joint statement on sexual injustice in response to national attention being focused on the topic.
When the news about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual harassment became public, women flooded social media with the hashtag #MeToo. In solidarity with women who were harmed by Weinstein, women shared their personal stories of being emotionally and physically demeaned by men.
