Meeting with UN Women Executive Director Mlambo-Ngcuka
17.04.2014. New York, USA/Geneva
LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge underscored the commitment of the church communion to gender justice and to the support of women in a meeting with the UN Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
“The Gender Justice Policy adopted by the LWF Council in 2013 was received with high appreciation by the Executive Director of UN Women, who affirmed that it is a very significant contribution to the discussions among faith-based organizations,” Junge said of the 16 April meeting.
“We discussed ways to support one another in promoting the participation of society in the review process on the situation of women and girls in the context of ‘Beijing+20.’ Their emphasis on engaging young people connects with strong ties to the central place of LWF youth in connection with the Reformation commemoration in 2017,” he added.
In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1996. The Beijing Platform for Action provides a global framework for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. It calls on governments, the international community and society, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector, to support women and girls by taking action in 12 critical areas: poverty, education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, the economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, human rights, the media, the environment and adolescents.
At the annual CSW session last month, Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasized the crucial role of churches and church-related organizations in eradicating gender inequality. She called violence and discrimination against women a moral problem that requires churches to take up their prophetic role and put women at the center.
“I have come to offer our own path as a global Christian communion on issues related to the empowerment of women and gender justice. The LWF has already taken important steps, yet we are also aware of the significant distance still ahead of us,” Junge said. “Violence against women is still a reality in this world, and unjust relationships still characterize the interaction between the sexes. Our engagement on these issues is our own way of fulfilling our vision of being a communion of churches working together to build a just, peaceful and reconciled world.”
Junge and Mrs. Mlambo-Ngcuka, who is the first woman to hold the office of Deputy President of South Africa, also discussed “the need to strengthen society by engaging it in advancing the human rights of women in order to put them into practice.”
Photo: The Lutheran World Federation/Christine Mangale
http://www.lutheranworld.org/news/lwf-general-secretary-junge-affirms-commitment-gender-justice
Translated from English by LELBāL pastor Ieva Puriņa
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe