Episcopal, Anglican delegates take part in 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women

The official logo of the 70th meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW70.

[Episcopal News Service] Women from The Episcopal Church are joining with people from across the Anglican Communion to take part in the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, CSW70. The event is the U.N.’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights.

It is taking place March 9-19 both in person at the U.N.’s headquarters in New York City, and official events can also be viewed online. The priority theme for their year’s event is “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls.”

Additional information is available on the website of U.N. Women, the U.N.’s agency for women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and on social media platforms @UNWomen.

Official in-person delegates from The Episcopal Church are the Rev. Erin Morey from the Diocese of New Jersey, the Rev. Jennifer Allen from the Diocese of Kansas, and two people associated with the Girls’ Friendly Society, a church-affiliated program that nurtures and  empowers girls – 18-year-old Peyton Miller and her mother, Samira Savoury.

Accompanying them will be Lynnaia Main, The Episcopal Church’s representative to the United Nations, and members of the staff of Episcopal Relief & Development.

Since The Episcopal Church received U.N. Economic and Social Council consultative status in 2014, it has been able to bring delegates to U.N. meetings to represent and advocate on behalf of the church.

In addition to the official delegates, the Rev. Annalise Castro Pasalo from the Diocese of Hawai’i and the Very Rev. Audrey Sutton from the Diocese of Central Florida will attend as provincial Episcopal representatives to the International Anglican Women’s Network.

Episcopal Church Women is hosting a webinar to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women as one of the meeting’s parallel events. It takes place March 11 from 12:30 – 2 p.m. Eastern. Registration is required, but there is no fee to particpate.

In a pre-UNCSW webinar, Mandy Marshall, director for gender justice for the Anglican Communion Office, said her office will be sending eight people to the first week of UNCSW, with five others joining online.

Main told March 2 webinar participants that UNCSW is undergoing a process that focuses more on regional consultations and hybrid access rather than an annual in-person discussion at the U.N. headquarters.