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5-November-1998 
98348 
 
    Women's Concerns Committee Meets at The U.N. 
    to Learn More about Global Issues 
 
    by Jennifer Butler 
 
NEW YORK-To learn more about issues affecting women around the world and 
the role the United Nations has played in advancing the human rights of 
women, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Advocacy Committee on Women's 
Concerns (ACWC) held its Oct. 15-18 meeting in New York City, with one full 
day of the meeting hosted by the U.N. Office of the Presbyterian 
Peacemaking Program. 
 
    Twenty New York-area Presbyterians who are active in working for 
justice for women joined the ACWC for the Oct. 16 gathering at the U.N. 
 
    During its meeting the advocacy committee also established issue 
priorities for its future work and developed a "covenant of accountability" 
to guide its work and deliberations. 
 
    The ACWC has been studying and reporting to the church on several 
global concerns, including the sexual exploitation of women around U.S. 
overseas military bases, violence against women during wartime, and 
discrimination against girls. 
 
    The committee also wrote a report on the U.N. Fourth World Conference 
on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995.  The report and its recommendations 
were adopted by the 1996 General Assembly and provide the current 
foundation and direction for the ACWC's work. 
 
    At the Oct. 16 gathering the group heard from a number of speakers and 
panels: 
 
    *  Carol Smolenski of ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution, Pornography 
and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes) spoke about the millions 
of children worldwide, mainly girls, who are forced to serve as 
prostitutes. 
    *  Elmira Nzombe of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers 
University discussed the impact of the globalization of the economy on 
women. 
    *  Christina Brautigam, the Social Affairs Officer for the United 
Nations' Division on the Advancement of Women, urged the group to "look at 
women's human rights not as women's issues but as issues for all of 
society."  Brautigam was active in the planning for the Beijing Conference. 
 
    With the discussion of these global issues as background, the ACWC 
heard from a panel about women's historic and present struggle for equal 
rights in the church. 
 
    The Rev. Dean Foose, director of senior placement and alumni/ae affairs 
at Princeton Theological Seminary, expressed concern for the lack of 
opportunities for advancement for women clergy.  He spoke of there being an 
"opaque ceiling" rather than a "glass ceiling" for women in ministry. 
 
    Mieke Vandersall, a former coordinator of the National Network of 
Presbyterian College Women (NNPCW) shared her testimony of how NNPCW had 
helped her as a young woman remain in the church.  "NNPCW taught me how to 
pray," she said. 
 
    Annette Chapman Adisho, author of "Years of Strong Effort" - a book 
about the history of the role of women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 
- said it is time again to assess the status of women in the church as was 
done in the late sixties and seventies when she wrote her book. 
 
    Other panelists included Anne Beran Jones of the Presbyterian Women 
staff; Delores Vidal-Roy, formerly with the denomination's now dismantled 
Third World Women's Coordinating Committee; and Janet McGregor-Williams, 
formerly of the also defunct Justice for Women committee. 
 
    Issues selected as priorities for study and advocacy in the next few 
years include the "glass ceiling" in the church (barriers to the 
advancement of women church professionals), the role of women of color in 
the church, immigration, child labor in sweatshops, women's health 
concerns, women and aging, and women and the media. 
 
    The "covenant of accountability" commits ACWC members to keep an open 
mind and spirit, to focus on being a voice for the voiceless, to honor 
different perspectives as opportunities to learn, and to love Jesus Christ 
and the church. 
 
(Jennifer Butler serves on the staff of the Presbyterian United Nations 
Office.) 

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