A release from The Episcopal Church:
An invitation to join “Beijing +25: Celebrating the Blessing, Realizing the Dream” online study group
[June 30, 2020] The Presiding Bishop’s delegation to the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW 64) invites all to join the online study group Beijing +25: Celebrating the Blessing, Realizing the Dream, which will offer a series of webinars, blogs and conversations facilitated by the delegates from July through November 2020.
In 2020, the world celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 and the founding of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPfA). Episcopalians were present for this event in 1995 and have since been active participants in implementing the BDPfA in their churches and communities.
The 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW 64) was meant to celebrate this anniversary at UN headquarters in March 2020, but the celebration has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While waiting for the celebration, the Presiding Bishop’s UNCSW 64 delegation is offering an online study group series during July through November 2020, Beijing+25: Celebrating the Blessing, Realizing the Dream, to examine the ways in which The Episcopal Church has engaged with Beijing since 1995, invite Episcopalians to take part in ongoing research on their engagement and to study the document together. The delegation will lead Episcopalians in a conversation to: share stories and “celebrate the blessing” of all they have achieved; recall the importance of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, understand the ways in which the Church has and has not engaged with it and participate in an online study of this critical document; think critically about what still needs to be done to “realize the dream” of Beijing and how to make that happen within the UN, within the Church, and through local, national and global advocacy and action.
For more information and to register for the first webinar on July 9, 2020 at 5 – 6:30 pm Eastern time, please visit: https://episcopalchurch.org/united-nations-commission-status-women-uncsw
Image from the UN Women Instagram page.
More on the Commission on the Status of Women:
A message from the chair of the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, H.E. Ambassador Mher Margaryan (Armenia), from UN Women: