Prophetic voices at the 58th Commission on the Status of Women

Greetings to members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, mid council executives, and friends,

Having spent several days in New York City earlier this month at the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, I was powerfully reminded of the prophet Joel, who envisions a time when all of God's people will be gifted with the outpouring of God's Spirit without regard to gender, age, or class.

Surrounded by so many inspiring and prophetic women-of diverse nationalities, races, cultures, languages, and ages-I could not help but experience a foretaste of such a future.

This year's commission focused on the challenges in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for women and girls. Eight MDGs were established in 2000 and form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and by leading development institutions. Among the goals are halving extreme poverty rates, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, and providing universal primary education, all by the 2015 target date. Considerable progress has been made. That is encouraging and demonstrates these issues are solvable. Yet there is much, much more to be done.

Because grave inequalities and gender violence are still a reality for so many women and girls all over the world, UN Women has proposed that a stand-alone goal of women's equality, rights, and empowerment be included in the post-2015 development agenda. The first target would be ending violence against women and girls, which poses such a significant challenge to the achievement of women's rights.

Presbyterian Women (PW) has been a significant presence at the commission since 2006, in partnership with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations and Ecumenical Women. It was great to see such longtime advocates as Lillian Oats, Magdalena Lewis, Jerri Rodewald, and Betty Jones-as well as a new generation of capable and enthusiastic young women-participating in the commission. On Thursday, March 13, a panel featuring Ruth Farrell of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Dora Ester Arce-Valentin of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, Courtney Hoekstra of the PC(USA)'s Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns, Bethany Ruhl, student at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and Marvella Lambright, retired educator and current secretary of the PC(USA)'s National Black Presbyterian Caucus, offered reflections on the MDGs from a Reformed perspective. Later that evening, I participated in a panel with colleagues Rhashell Hunter, director of Racial Ethnic & Women's Ministries/Presbyterian Women, and Sara Lisherness, director of Compassion, Peace, and Justice.
 
I was also greatly impressed with Ecumenical Women at the United Nations, an international coalition of denominations and ecumenical organizations that beautifully demonstrates the power of working together. Ryan Smith of Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations serves as cochair of Ecumenical Women, of which the PC(USA) and Presbyterian Women are members. Everywhere group members went, they distributed a postcard listing Ecumenical Women's four priority issues for the commission: poverty and hunger; access to quality education, employment, and decision making; health; and violence against women and girls.
 
We are able to have a Presbyterian presence at the commission-and to stand and walk together with women of other denominations and organizations-because the PC(USA) holds consultative status in the Economic & Social Council at the United Nations, which allows us to send delegates to the commission and other UN events. My participation, and that of all Presbyterians there, is thanks to the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, Presbyterian Women, and Young Women's Leadership Development, which collaborate to recruit, equip, and support the participants.

While the challenges are many, so are the prophetic voices advocating for justice for women and all God's people. As Cathy Manthei, a Presbyterian delegate, so beautifully wrote on the PW blog Justice and Peace: "Over and over as I have journeyed through this week, I have heard that we all need to band together to fix the many problems of the world. I believe that will be accomplished one Presbyterian woman to another, one small child at a time connecting with the values of the church being played out in authentic ways as PW goes about their work. Let's make certain our children have our story to share!"

With God's help, let us make sure they do.