By Karen Woodward Ide, Diocese of Los Angeles (Province VIII)

As a first-time attendee, I was not prepared for the intensity of sights, sounds, and emotions that accompany UNCSW68. First and foremost, there is the challenging work of advocacy. Our daily sessions are filled with heart wrenching stories of suffering experienced by women and girls around the world.  And yet UNSCW68 is also a place of incredible joy.  Delegates revel in the opportunity to be together and to work toward our common goal of gender equality and a better life for fellow sisters worldwide. Imagine the steady buzz of conversation, in all languages, filling your ears. Imagine a kaleidoscope of humanity, intricate in design and brilliant in color, infused with light.  It’s a little slice of heaven, and it is an easy place to make new friends.  

My special focus is to learn all I can about how to effect change for women in Afghanistan, where gender apartheid is now systemic. Females have no access to secondary education, and freedom of movement and the right to work are severely restricted.  Mahbouba Seraj, who runs a women’s shelter in Kabul, shared that conditions are worse than one can imagine:  “Women in Afghanistan are being erased.”  

The Episcopal Church calls for the universal implementation of international agreements, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which specify protection of the very rights that are now being denied to Afghan women and girls.  At UNCSW68, Bishop Curry specifically charged his delegates to advocate for the eradication of poverty by ensuring gender parity and equal access to basic resources, such as education.  We are also to advocate for the strengthening of institutions, such as promoting economic independence for women.  I have attended many sessions and made connections with policy makers, educators, and journalists, with whom I hope to work when I go home, to highlight the crimes against humanity that are taking place within Afghanistan.  Denial of the right to education and the right to work is not acceptable.  As a student of Jesus, I believe that we must follow Him into all places where there is suffering, and a UN Report released in September 2023 reflects a substantial deterioration in the mental health of Afghan women since the Taliban gained control.  It is my vow that the women of Afghanistan will not be forgotten.  #EpiscopalUN #EpiscopalCSW #CSW68 #EWCSW68 #UNWomen #Episcopal #Genderequity 

About the author: Karen Woodward Ide, Diocese of Los Angeles (Province VIII) resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, Brian, and her two children.  In her professional life, she works as Managing Assistant City Attorney for the City of LA, overseeing the General Civil Litigation Division. She is a life-long Episcopalian and has been a member of All Saints’ Parish, Beverly Hills, for over 20 years.  She currently leads the parish’s Immigration & Refugee Ministry.  In the past 3 years, the parish has supported 19 Afghan refugee families in building new lives in the U.S.  She is a passionate advocate for the rights of Afghan refugees in the United States as well as the women of Afghanistan.