wfn.org | LWI 2009-060 Women Challenged to Insist on Gender Justice for a Sustainable Community

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  LWI News online: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html

Women Challenged to Insist on Gender Justice for a Sustainable Community 
First LWF Pre-Assembly in Anticipation of Stuttgart in 2010

GENEVA, 28 October 2009 (LWI) - An international gathering of women from  across the Lutheran communion today kicked off the first Pre-Assembly in a  series of seven that will precede the July 2010 LWF Eleventh Assembly, to  be held in Stuttgart, Germany.

Referring to the Eleventh Assembly theme, "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,"  which will guide deliberations at the Women's Pre Assembly (WPA), Mr Jaap  Schep, acting director of the LWF Department for Mission and Development  (DMD) called upon women to prepare a strong contribution on gender  perspectives to issues that are on the assembly's agenda.

Schep expressed his hope that the pre-assembly participants "will not be  overwhelmed by the many negative trends in global food production." He  urged them "to create a strong call for this world to become a sustainable  community that must" include gender justice.

"Is it not for the same reason that some 2 billion women around the world  wake up much earlier than anyone else to prepare for the necessities of  the day?" Schep asked participants, linking women's role in providing  bread and the WPA as the first pre-assembly.

Participants in the 27- 31 October pre-assembly include 34 women representa tives from LWF member churches in the Federation's seven regions. The  event takes place at Bogis-Bossey, near Geneva, Switzerland.

The acting DMD director urged the WPA participants to use the opportunity  of coming together "to make a strong contribution to the process of  preparing yourselves for the Assembly of our communion."

"The prevailing gender inequality is also clearly present in the context  of our daily bread," said Schep, citing what he had witnessed during  DMD-related visits to projects of LWF member churches. "I see in many  regions women working on preparation of the daily food ... and men usually  talking with other men ... . I have seen food being distributed unequally.   And I have seen women, especially mothers, taking the least [portions],"  he said.

During the opening worship, women were invited to speak out their names,  and to share bread and bowls from their regions, as well as words and  ideas that were inscribed on a patch work cloth. The women also remembered  fellow delegates from Cameroon, India and Nigeria who had been invited to  take part in the meeting, but did not receive visas.

Deliberations at the four-day international meeting include issues of  women and power, women's participation in decision making and women and  justice. The participants will also have the opportunity to get acquainted  with the LWF Assembly rules and procedures.

The DMD desk for Women in Church and Society has organized the WPA. Five  regional pre-assemblies will take place in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin  America and the Caribbean and North America, as well as an international  Youth conference, organized by the respective DMD desks. (482 words)

More information on the Pre-Assemblies is available under the "Journey"  section of the LWF Assembly Web site at: www.lwf-assembly.org

>*      *      *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran  tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140  member churches in 79 countries all over the world, with a total membership  of 68.94 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas  of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology,  humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various  aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in  Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless  specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or  opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an  article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced  with acknowledgment.]