United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW)
Episcopalians have participated in annual sessions of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), along with their wider Anglican Communion family, since at least the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995. Read a brief overview about the history of Episcopal/Anglican engagement with UNCSW and how you can get involved on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) sheet below.
- Preparing for UNCSW 68 – March 11th – 22nd, 2024
- How can I participate? Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Presiding Bishop's Delegation
- UNCSW 68 Presiding Bishop's written statement
- UNCSW 68 Fact Sheet
- Episcopal Church events and joint Anglican/Episcopal events
- Generation Equality Forum – #GenerationEquality
- Join us via social media
- Share Your Story
- Beijing Noonday Prayer
- Contact:Ms. Lynnaia Main
- Contact:The Rev. David Copley
- Contact:The Rev. Cn. Dr. Chuck Robertson
- Contact:Ms. Lynnaia Main
Preparing for UNCSW 68 – March 11th – 22nd, 2024
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW)’s 68th session will be a hybrid session for both the official UN meetings and NGO CSW parallel events. The priority theme that will be addressed is “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective“. Read more about UN Women’s plans for UNCSW 68 here.
Looking to get involved? Want to know what is happening with our Episcopal and Anglican presence at UNCSW 68? Joining us virtually? Details below – please check back frequently for updates.
How can I participate? Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Looking to get involved more generally? UNCSW 68 FAQs will be posted here in January 2024 with answers to your Frequently Asked Questions.
Presiding Bishop’s Delegation
Interested in being a Presiding Bishop’s delegate for UNCSW 68? Check back here in mid-November 2023 for the press release announcing the opening of the application process and the link to the online application.
UNCSW 68 Presiding Bishop’s written statement
In October 2023, the Presiding Bishop submitted the CSW68 written statement to UN Women in preparation for the conference in 2024. Based on General Convention resolutions, existing churchwide priorities related to the UN’s work and a churchwide data survey in conjunction with the Ecumenical Women coalition, it outlines our advocacy priorities:
- Eradicate poverty
- Strengthen institutions
- Strengthen financing
UNCSW 68 Fact Sheet
An up-to-date description of the Anglican and Episcopal presence that will participate in CSW68 alongside our faith-based and civil society partners will be posted here in February 2024.
Episcopal Church events and joint Anglican/Episcopal events
You are warmly invited to join Episcopal Church-hosted events, with the participation of our wider Anglican family and the UN faith-based community. If you or your church are planning to host an event at CSW68, please share your event listing to the Episcopal News Service Events page. Flyers will be available closer to the meeting date.
January 2024: CSW68 Information Call for all Episcopalians. Information Call (bilingual English/Spanish) for all Episcopalians about the upcoming UN Commission on the Status of Women 68th session (CSW68). First-timers, returning participants, individuals and groups.
March 2024: Welcome to CSW68: Meet the Presiding Bishop’s Delegation. Meet the Presiding Bishop’s delegation and learn about the advocacy priorities they will be raising at CSW68. Contribute to the conversation and meet other participants.
March 2024: UNCSW 68 Opening Eucharist for all CSW68 participants, hosted by the Presiding Bishop’s delegation.
March 2024: UNCSW 68 Closing Eucharist for all CSW68 participants, hosted by the Presiding Bishop’s delegation.
March 2024: Taking It Back Home: Report Back from the CSW68 Presiding Bishop’s Delegation, a question-and-answer session for Episcopalians and all who are interested.
Generation Equality Forum – #GenerationEquality
In 2021, UN Women launched a new campaign, Generation Equality Forum, to accelerate progress towards gender equality and justice over five years. The Forum launched officially in Mexico City in March followed by follow-up pledges committed at a second event in Paris in June/July. The Forum’s 5-year action journey plans to realize irreversible progress towards gender equality, founded on a series of concrete, ambitious and transformative actions, including $40 Billion in financial commitments. Read more about GEF’s outcomes here.
The Episcopal Church’s #CSW65 Presiding Bishop’s delegates Tatiana Hoecker (Dio West Texas, Prov VII), Maria Gonzalez (Dio Olympia, Prov VIII) and The Reverend Annalise Castro Pasalo (Dio Hawaii, Prov VIII) attended virtually the Mexico launch and hosted “Generation Equality: Lifting Up Young Women’s Voices”, a follow-up webinar to share their experiences representing the Church at GEF in Mexico and the importance of mentoring and identifying opportunities for developing young women’s leadership. They were joined during the webinar by a representative of the Social, Economic, Human Rights and Humanitarian Section of the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN.
Join us via social media
Follow the action and contribute your own experiences/stories/thoughts via hashtags #CSW68 (official UN hashtag), #GenerationEquality, #EpiscopalUN (all things Episcopal Church and the UN) and #EpiscopalCSW (our Episcopal Church involvement at CSW, continuous reporting from year to year). More information about social media channels will be available in the FAQs and Fact Sheet.
Share Your Story
What is your connection to UNCSW, Generation Equality and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action? Episcopalians have been involved with Beijing since before the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, adapting the Platform for use in their churchwide, diocesan and local ministries. They also have been involved in attending UNCSW for decades. If you are one of them, or know of one, you are invited to share your story as part of documenting our collective Episcopal and Anglican achievements and reflecting on the state of women’s and girls’ empowerment 25 years after Beijing. Share your story, photos, videos and other materials here.
Beijing Noonday Prayer
Join in praying the Beijing Noonday Prayer. By praying this prayer at noon in each of our time zones, we pray not only for those who will be gathering, we also join in a tradition born during the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995:
Beijing Noonday Prayer [updated for Beijing +25]
Dear God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, we pray for all who gathered in Beijing and for all those attending and supporting the sixty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women Meeting. Bless them.
Help us to see one another through eyes enlightened by understanding and compassion.
Release us from prejudice so we can receive the stories of our sisters and brothers with respect and attention.
Open our ears to the cries of a suffering world and the healing melodies of peace.
Empower us to be instruments in bringing about Your justice, peace and equality everywhere.
Questions? Feel free to contact us at EpiscopalUN@episcopalchurch.org.
Please join us in celebrating and praying with all those who have been involved with Beijing and UNCSW, for our delegations who will represent and advocate on our behalf, and most especially for women and girls, in all their diversity, worldwide.
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