This International Women’s Day, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek will set off for a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York as part of a delegation from the UK parliament.
The goal of the gathering is to advance gender equality with other parliamentarians from across the globe as a route to ending poverty.
Included in Bishop Rachel’s itinerary will be sessions around gender violence, particularly in conflict and post-conflict situations including Ukraine, Gaza and Afghanistan. Bishop Rachel will also chair an online session for the Mothers’ Union and Anglican Communion on reducing gender-based violence. As Anglican Bishop for HM Prisons in England and Wales, she will take part in two sessions about criminal justice and informal justice systems.
Across the world, women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty. One in every 10 women (10.3%) lives in extreme poverty and they are poorer than men. Poverty limits women’s access to food, health, education, training and opportunities for employment and other needs.
Bishop Rachel will be attending an all-day meeting on “Gender-sensitive Parliaments: Advancing gender equality to end poverty”. The delegates will consider how laws and policies can help to lift women out of poverty and give them fairer access to money, business opportunities and other resources.
The CSW is the “principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women”.[1] Governments, civil society organisations, experts and activists from across the world will come together to agree on actions and investments that can end women’s poverty and advance gender equality.
The UK delegation is with the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union and includes Bishop Rachel, the first female diocesan bishop and the first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords. Also attending are Alex Davies-Jones MP, Jess Philips MP and Baroness Hodgson, who all have an interest in gender and equality.
Representatives from other faith-based organisations such as the Anglican Communion Office’s UN Team, the Mother’s Union and Christian Aid will also be supporting the event.
Bishop Rachel said, “Rethinking the structures of our political and economic systems to allow a fairer world for women and girls can empower increasing numbers of females to achieve their potential and impact the world for good. I’m looking forward to hearing evidence and learning more about changes we can implement which enable more women to experience life in all its fullness and move more quickly towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.”
Anyone not attending the CSW in person can register on the NGO platform and attend any online session until capacity is reached. They can register at NGO CSW68 Forum (vfairs.com) and can watch the main sessions on UNTV.
[1] You can find the statistics and references in the meeting’s supporting documents here.
Notes to editors
The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is “the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women”. It was established in 1946. The priority theme of the CSW this year is “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. Commission on the Status of Women | UN Women – Headquarters
Bishop Rachel will be attending an all-day meeting on Tuesday 12 March with Parliamentarians from around the world focussing on “Gender-Sensitive Parliaments: Advancing gender equality to end poverty”. Gender-sensitive parliaments: Advancing gender equality to end poverty | Inter-Parliamentary Union (ipu.org) This link includes details of the meeting and agenda papers.
She will be hosting an online fringe event on Wednesday 13 March at 13.30 GMT called “What works? Anglican churches and organisations alleviating poverty and reducing gender-based violence.”
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