LWF General Secretary Junge affirms support for partners who influence the local situation
The need to strengthen relationships with partners and to broaden alliances in order to counter the growing resistance with regard to women’s human rights was voiced as a shared concern at the launch event of a joint publication by five faith-based organisations (FBOs) on 6 May at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva (Lutheran World Information Centre).
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) published the document Affirming Women’s Human Rights – Resources for Faith-Based Organisations as the result of a joint initiative for training on the advocacy of women’s human rights, organised by the Church of Sweden, Finn Church Aid, Mission 21, the LWF and the World Council of Churches. Its launch was attended by representatives of the United Nations Organisation (UN), including participants from “UN Women” (UN Women), international non-governmental organisations, diplomatic missions, some churches belonging to the LWF, and Geneva-based FBOs.
Maria Cristina Rendón, the assistant of the LWF gender equality and women’s empowerment programme, presented the publication on behalf of the five partner organisations. She thanked the FBOs for enriching the cooperation since 2015, when they first organised an event that became an annual training in human rights advocacy.
The annual trainings have provided an important platform for discussions related to the theological conviction that both men and women are created in the image of God, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the dignity and equal rights of all people.
“The contribution of faith-based organisations is extremely significant, especially in situations where religion is used to discriminate against women or to violate their rights, or to harm their rights,” Maria Cristina Rendón, assistant of the LWF gender equality and women’s empowerment programme.
This publication highlights the themes that were raised in the trainings, in order to increase the capacity to advocate for women’s human rights from a faith perspective, especially by using UN human rights instruments such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). It shows the connection between religion, fundamentalism and discrimination and develops themes such as transformative masculinity, the connection of gender stereotypes with sexual and gender-based violence, and the connection between “Sustainable Development Goal 5” (SDG5) on gender equality and the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Rendón said that “the contribution of faith-based organisations is extremely significant, especially in situations where religion is used to discriminate against women or to violate their rights, or to harm their rights.” She noted that the five ecumenical organisations “maintain a long-standing commitment to implementing human rights, and we share the values of inclusion, non-discrimination, a rights-based approach and the implementation of gender justice.”
Skills are needed for peacebuilding and combating discrimination
During the event, opportunities were created to highlight the particular line of work of each participating partner.
“Mission 21” has helped support several development programme leaders in Africa, Asia and Latin America in using methodologies that are distinctly connected with contextual theology, in order to resist the alarming rise of fundamentalism. The Basel-based organisation is deeply involved in capacity building, for example by responding to HIV and gender-based violence and developing skills for women as peacebuilders.
Finn Church Aid’s support includes work with representatives from Nepal and the CEDAW Committee in order to gather information on gender-related and caste-based discrimination and human trafficking.
In several countries, the Church of Sweden has fostered the involvement of local partners in the UPR process and has cooperated closely with theological institutes in order to promote theological education on gender issues.
Johanna Lilja of the Church of Sweden led discussions on an alarming trend in which governments and influential lobby groups roll back the achievements of UN mechanisms in advancing women’s rights at the national and global level.
The prophetic challenge
Addressing the participants, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr. Martin Junge affirmed the fundamental insight that emerged in the discussions: “the international human rights mechanisms that were established are being called into question.”
He likewise acknowledged that such obstacles must not become a reason to feel hopeless, but on the contrary – let them be “prophetically challenging” in connection with faith-based values. He affirmed that “faith in the Triune God is not in contradiction with standing up for gender equality. Quite the opposite – they share a theological commitment that we want to develop further and affirm.”
The LWF General Secretary thanked the UN partner organisations for their support of the FBOs and said that future tasks would include even greater cooperation in promoting familiarity with the language and terminology of human rights. He noted that the links between local and international advocacy do not in themselves significantly help, unless they are cultivated as a process that influences the local reality. During the discussion, recommendations were also raised calling for greater involvement of young people in advocating for gender equality.
Speaking about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Junge said that “the involvement of FBOs has the aim of ensuring flourishing for all, and that is why the goal of ‘Agenda 2030’ to ‘leave no one behind’ is so significant to us.”
Geneva
7/05/2019.
Photo caption: Maria Cristina Rendón, assistant of the LWF gender equality and women’s empowerment programme, addresses the participants of the event. Photo: LWF/S. Gallay
Source: Lutheran World Federation