The Ecumenical Women Coalition is made up of churches and ecumenical organizations at the United Nations, who focus on religion and human rights from a gender perspective.

We Set Out To:

  • Work within our faith traditions to raise the status of women and human rights
  • Promote dialogue between the UN and our faith communities
  • Bring a perspective of liberation and justice for women to the United Nations
  • Collaborate with other NGOs and organizations in the international community

What We Do

The EW coalition primarily functions at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which meets annually in New York during the first two weeks of March. We bring women of faith from around the world to the CSW to tell their stories and address government delegates. We advocate for governments to fully implement the Beijing Platform for Action, agreed upon at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in China. Our coalition trains religious women on UN procedures and effective advocacy techniques. We also provide time for fellowship, prayer, and discussion during the Commission.

History

EW members were key players in the preparatory meetings of the 2000 Five-Year Review of the Fourth World Conference on Women, known as Beijing +5.  At that meeting, EW members were effective in persuading government delegates to include specific language about religion in the outcome document. After the UN Decade for Women (1976-1985), the World Council of Churches organized its own ecumenical decade on the theme of “Churches in Solidarity with Women” from 1988 to 1998. The ecumenical decade was one of the many ways churches and organizations responded to growing worldwide concern about the status of women in societies and churches. The decade has helped to build awareness about the church’s need to address women’s rights, but much remains to be done.

Who We Are

The Ecumenical Women coalition consists of representatives from within the following organizations:

- Anglican Communion Observer
- Episcopal Church (USA)
- The Lutheran World Federation
- National Council of Churches
- Presbyterian Church (USA)
- United Methodist Church
- United Church of Christ
-World Conference on Religions for Peace (collaborator)
- World Council of Churches
-World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women
- World Student Christian Federation; and
- World YWCA