Calling for stronger cooperation with governments to guarantee respect for women’s rights
| 15./03./2019.
New York, USA / Geneva
(Lutheran World Information) – Lutheran women and men from all over the world took part in the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, calling for greater cooperation between governments and faith-based organizations to ensure social protection for women.
During the New York session, which took place from 11 to 22 March in New York, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Church of Sweden organized a joint event to showcase the innovative work of faith-based organizations (FBOs) and governments in providing women with access to health care and other public services. The moderator, Dr. Azza Karam of the UN Population Fund, emphasized that FBOs make a significant contribution, providing between 30 and 50 percent of social services to the most vulnerable groups of people around the world.
Participant Faustine Nilana, the national director responsible for women and children of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), pointed to the many services provided to women by the 24 hospitals and 148 primary health care facilities run by the ELCT. Since 2014, these institutions have offered sexual and reproductive health care services, thereby raising awareness about overcoming violent practices, among them early marriage and female genital mutilation.
Overall, FBOs in Tanzania provide more than 40 percent of health care services, especially in the most remote rural areas. The economic downturn has deepened the problems the government faces in fighting diseases – malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis – and the high mortality rates of their patients. Poverty is closely linked to many of these diseases, since it brings with it inadequate nutrition, poor housing, and sanitary conditions that lead to poor health.
Another participant in the discussion was Dina Nasser, a health consultant at the LWF-run Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem and an expert in hospital infection control. She demonstrated the role AVH plays in improving the situation of Palestinian families, especially women, who benefit from high-quality services for the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. She emphasized that it is important to combine health care services with a comprehensive rights-based approach, promoting health as a fundamental human right.
“It is important to combine health care services with a comprehensive rights-based approach, promoting health as a fundamental human right,” Dina Nasser, health consultant at the LWF-run Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem
Scarlette Bishara, a judge in the court of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, emphasized the potential of churches to challenge social norms that prevent women from receiving social protection. She noted that the state grants the churches in Palestine autonomy to decide matters of marriage, inheritance, or divorce. She emphasized the role played by the LWF’s gender justice policy in providing theological tools that allowed the church to revise its rules, which, until the establishment of the Church Court in 2015, discriminated against women.
Lotifa Begum, Global Advocacy Coordinator at Muslim Aid, spoke about the challenge posed by public perception of Islam as an unjust religion, even though one of the fundamental aims of Islamic law is to achieve the highest degree of human development. She said that more needs to be done to teach what religion is really about, in order to avoid a negative reaction concerning women’s rights in Islam.
Lena Ag, head of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, confirmed the experiences of the FBO representatives, underscoring the state’s central responsibility in providing women with religious freedom and equal rights. The Church of Sweden’s involvement in the field of social protection includes working with men and boys to prevent sexual or gender-based violence, maintaining high standards of child care and parental leave, and ensuring that no one is left behind, which includes the rights of the LGBTQI community.
The event was organized by the LWF and the Church of Sweden, with the support of the World Council of Churches, Muslim Aid, the UN Population Fund, and the Swedish government.
Dina Nasser, health consultant at the LWF-run Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem. Photo: Gerald Peart
Faustine Nilana, national director responsible for women and children of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Photo: Gerald Peart
Lena Ag, head of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. Photo: Gerald Peart
Scarlette Bishara, judge in the court of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Photo: Gerald Peart
Lotifa Begum, Global Advocacy Coordinator at Muslim Aid. Photo: Gerald Peart
Panelists at another LWF event in New York during the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Photo: Gerald Peart
Photographs by: Gerald Peart
Source: Lutheran World Federation