| General Conference Women's Ministries
Farewell
Reception Held for the Stenbakkens (GC)
GCWM Represented at United Nations Meetings (GCWM) There are times when I have felt that as a church we are so insulated and isolated from the outside world that we forget that the problems of the world are sadly the problems of the church. It is for this reason that I attended the 49th Conference of the Committee on the Status of Women (CSW). This conference was held at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York, February 27 – March 11, 2005. It is the first time in 10 years that our church has been represented at these meetings. The conference is held yearly and this one was of particular importance since it was held 10 years after the Beijing Conference on Women in Beijing China. Ardis Stenbakken, former Women’s Ministries director for the General Conference attended that meeting. In attendance at this conference were 10,000 women from around the world. Six thousand of these women represented 1,000 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) many of which submitted statements on behalf of their organizations. Our church also presented a statement in which we stated that “as a faith community…the Adventist Church wholeheartedly supports all efforts to improve the quality of life of women…and will continue to actively work through its congregations, institutions, and organizations to collaboratively achieve these objectives.” In this statement we presented a challenge to the United Nations and the represented NGO which asked that we “develop concrete action plans for empowering today’s women and girls and to work in partnerships with local governments and institutions.” (See GCWM web site for full statement) I was thrilled to have this opportunity to meet with some of these women, to network with them on issues we have in common, and to share with them what our church is doing to help women. The challenges of HIV/AIDS, poverty, abuse, lack of education and training, the need for mentoring young women, women’s workloads, and women’s health needs are some of the concerns that we share with the CSW. While at the conference I was able to attend different seminars and workshops during the week and attend three mornings of sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations which focused specifically on women and gender equality. It was interesting to learn of the many women’s groups all around this world that are striving to seek solutions for the issues listed above. On my last day at the conference I met a Seventh-day Adventist lady from Kenya. This dear sister has a ministry called Mothers’ Rural Care for AIDS Orphans (MORCAO), you will read more on this project in a future issue of MOSAIC. It was good to know that I was not the only Seventh-day Adventist woman in attendance at the conference. It is my prayer that in the future we will maintain our connection with the Committee on the Status of Women in order to stay informed about the needs of women in our communities. This in turn will help us to plan and implement more effective outreach programs. Heather-Dawn
Small
Submitted
by the Seventh-day Adventist Church “Women hold up half the sky” was an often quoted saying at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. This Chinese saying has a great deal of truth as women make up about half the world population. But as those who work with women know, getting support for these women who hold up the sky is not easy. It is something that we must work together on or all of us will soon be crying, “The sky is falling; the sky is falling!” Not only do women—and the girls who will soon be women—need support, but they need empowerment so that they can better solve their own challenges; and women can best solve most of those challenges themselves. To be able to do this they need the help of all organizations, such as the United Nations, NGO’s, churches and religious organizations, and governments. The rewards in improved quality of life for all people will make it well worth the effort. One of the challenges facing women is education. This ranges from the most basic abilities to read and write, the opportunity to stay in school, or to access advanced education, including education in the issues of life women face. It has been shown that:
It is for this reason that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, particularly through its Department of Women’s Ministries, and through other Church entities as well, have developed programs to benefit women and the girl child. Literacy
So what do we do about this? We can begin with the children. We must generate an environment for literacy, for education for girls and women. We must educate fathers and husbands to the benefits of allowing girls to gain the maximum education, and to help them realize the improved potential when the wife and mother is educated as well. We must then find ways to help women who seemingly have missed the opportunity for education to make up for lost time. For these reasons, the Adventist Church supports one of the largest education programs around the world, offering equal education to boys and girls. An atmosphere of education is promoted in the churches. And Women’s Ministries has a scholarship program specifically for women, most of whom live in what is referred to as developing nations. The Church also has literacy programs in many parts of the world: Cambodia, Philippines, India, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Togo, Rwanda, South Africa, the United States, to name a few. After receiving the benefit of these programs, women have said things such as “I feel like I was blind and now I can see.” “Now my grandchildren will not think I am ignorant.” “Now the businesses and bosses will not be able to cheat me any more. I can read and write.” Health Our challenge is to educate women in as many ways as possible on this subject. When we work together, this can be achieved. Abuse Packets have been created that educate women on various topics targeting the perpetrator, the victim, children, and support persons. Leadership
Training All of this leads to empowerment. A woman who has been educated is resourceful, is aware of her rights and how to maintain or gain these rights, thus realizing she has something to contribute to her family, her community, her church, and her government. As a faith-based organization, we also believe that empowerment includes a woman’s right to choose her own religion. She needs to be educated so that she can make an informed decision, and then given the right by her family, community and governmental laws to follow her own convictions. Challenge Our challenge to the United Nations, NGO’s, and other representatives present here today is to develop concrete action plans for empowering today’s women and girls and to work in partnerships with local governments and institutions. Our challenge to you, participant in this conference, is to work together to put aside our religious and racial differences and work towards the common goal of improving the lives of women and girls around the world.
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