Min-Hee Kim was one of 12 young women sponsored by the Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries Young Women’s Leadership program who participated in the United Nations’ 61st CSW. Each year the ministry provides scholarships to young Presbyterian women from around the world to attend the event.
Several ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have issued alerts and provided information on their activities in response to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 1.61 million people are internally displaced and another 751,000 people have escaped into neighboring countries, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, since conflict broke out in 2013.
Troy Byrdsong and Alison Oglesby are two young women with big dreams and big hearts. The freshman and junior attend Wayne State University and are attending the United Nations 61st Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as a part of the 12-person delegation of the Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Leslie Cox is a second year seminary student at Columbia Theological Seminary in the Masters of Divinity program. She is focusing her efforts in the area of advocacy and inclusion, and has started the blog loveles.co about “Queer Love Stories.”
In a room filled with women from around the world, participants attending the opening of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s parallel event at the 61st Commission on the Status of Women waited expectantly to hear what presenters had to say about gender discrimination within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women will soon begin at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Commission will meet from March 13 – 24 and the Presbyterian Ministry to the United Nations will once again host a group of Presbyterians interested in following the work.
From an early age, Ryan Smith had an interest in the international arena. A graduate of Seton Hall University, he received his Masters in Diplomacy and International Relations, focusing on international economics & development and international organizations.
On October 24, 1948, the founding members of the United Nations ratified a document that officially created the organization with 51 member states. Seventy-one years later, the UN boasts a membership of 193.
To raise awareness on the work of churches and church-related organizations engaged in peace-building efforts in Colombia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Caritas Internationalis are promoting an August 18 event in New York.
For the past nine months the Rev. Jennifer Butler has chaired the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Butler, who served with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations between 1998 and 2005, believes the time has been well spent.