In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International’s representative to the United Nations (UN) attended the 49th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-49), also known as Beijing +10.

The ministerial-level review meetings, held February 28 – March 4 in New York City, occurred on the tenth anniversary of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and five years after the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly titled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century.”

This year’s high-level session culminated in the consensus adoption of a Declaration by which the participating governments renewed their commitment to gender equality and the advancement of women. Moreover, there was widespread recognition that internationally agreed development goals cannot be achieved absent the full implementation of the Beijing agenda for women.

“ADRA representatives participated in the 1995 conference that resulted in the Beijing Declaration, and we have worked tirelessly to help governments and other actors across civil society implement the commitment to achieve gender equality and empower women,” said Anne Woodworth, ADRA’s representative to the United Nations. “It is important that ADRA participate in this review of progress 10 years later to ensure that issues important to women in the communities with which ADRA works are addressed and to hold member states accountable for results,” continued Woodworth.

The member governments recognized that over the past decade progress has been made in meeting commitments toward gender equality and women’s empowerment, particularly in regard to reducing blatant legalized discrimination and violence against women. Much remains to be done in the economic, political, and social arenas. Participants also discussed ways to ensure linkages between the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Millennium Declaration established in 2000, and the Millennium Development Goals.
Woodworth also participated in the pre-session Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Consultation, “From Mexico City to Beijing and Beyond: Realizing the Vision,” held February 27 at Barnard College also in New York City. At this event, civil society participants discussed issues arising in the past decade that were not addressed in the original declaration. Such issues include the mass migration of women, including trafficking of women and children for sexual and labor exploitation, broader access to the Internet and other communication modalities, escalation of conflict and war, the HIV and AIDS pandemic, advances in biotechnology affecting women, and aging populations in many countries.

ADRA believes the full utilization of women’s capabilities is a vital component of the development process and of a successful society. Women’s involvement in the social and economic development of a country is frequently overlooked, even impeded at times. But ADRA recognizes the importance of women and engages in partnerships with women in all its development and relief work. In ADRA’s micro-lending interventions at least 75% of clientele are women. ADRA also works with mothers’ groups to educate caregivers on how to improve the health of their families and themselves.

ADRA understands that the situation of many women in development settings demands special attention. Furthermore, the agency sees that a focus on women will result in a broader project impact in communities, representing an effective method of facilitating development in general. For those reasons, ADRA is committed to including women as partners in the development process and advocating on their behalf with international bodies such as UN agencies and national governments.

The Commission meeting is one of several upcoming conferences in preparation for the Millennium +5 Summit, which will assess intermediate progress by member states in meeting the Millennium Development Goals toward cutting poverty in half by 2015.

More consultations between NGOs such as ADRA and high-level government representatives will take place in April at the Commission for Sustainable Development, which will focus on policy decisions to expedite implementation of practical measures related to water, sanitation, and human settlements.

International Women’s Day is officially observed each year on March 8.