ADRA Participates in 52nd Session of UN Commission on the Status of Women

Silver Spring, Maryland?The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International participated in the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 52), held at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York City, from February 25 to March 7, 2008.

As part of ADRA’s commitment to gender equality, a group of representatives, led by Anne Woodworth, ADRA International’s official representative to the United Nations, and including experts in health, gender relations, program planning, and marketing, joined the more than 5,000 other session attendees from around the world. Established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission on the Status of Women is dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of women. Each year, individuals representing the UN, governmental, and nongovernmental agencies worldwide attend the 10-day session to analyze the improvements and setbacks in the status of women, create internationally recognized standards, create new legislation, and strengthen existing policies.

In 1997, the ECOSOC granted ADRA International general consultative status, which allows ADRA to participate in public meetings such as CSW and consult with the UN Secretariat.

Session organizers chose “Financing for gender equality and empowerment of women,” as the theme for CSW 52. The theme highlights the women-focused Millennium Development Goal (MDG) #3, one of eight goals set by the UN in 2000 to challenge nations to achieve measurable improvement in alleviating poverty and other crucial humanitarian issues by the year 2015.

“ADRA considers gender equality and the empowerment of women as a cross-cutting intervention for all of its programs,” shared Woodworth. “In order for us to meet the targets set up under the Millennium Development Goal #3, all countries must utilize a proportionate share of resources to develop gender equality, policies, strategies, and action plans.”

In addition to observing UN delegate and expert panel discussions on theme-related issues, the ADRA team members actively participated in caucuses to strategize how best to influence member states, including the United States, to adopt and strengthen global policies and encourage countries to uphold their individual commitments related to financing initiatives that improve the lives of women.

Two reports issued by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon guided the session. The first report identifies and discusses important issues in the financing of gender equality and the empowerment of women and suggested policy recommendations. The second report presents a summary of mainstreaming efforts in financing gender equality women’s empowerment initiatives on a national level. ADRA was also pleased to attend the launch of the secretary-general’s new initiative to end violence against women and girls.

Across its program implementation, ADRA coordinates or partners directly with appropriate UN agencies to provide necessary services in developing countries. ADRA’s community-based programs also support the goals of UN agencies on a national level in the specific countries where it works.

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

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Author: Nadia McGill

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