United Methodist Women

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

February 2011

United Methodist Women is a U.S.-based faith organization for women with approximately 800,000 members whose mission is fostering spiritual growth, developing leaders and advocating for justice around the world. Members support programs and projects related to women, children and youth in the United States and globally.

United Methodist Women is committed to:

·     Equipping women and girls around the world to be leaders in communities, agencies, workplaces, governments and churches.

·     Equipping women and girls to work for justice through compassionate service and advocacy to change unfair policies and systems.

United Methodist Women has worked for education for women and girls since the founding of the organization more than 140 years ago. United Methodist Women:

·     Advocates and organizes against violence against women and girls.

·     Advocates for economic justice, including access to decent work.

·     Advocates and organizes against the trafficking of women and girls.

·     Advocates for climate justice as it impacts women’s and girls’ livelihoods and educational opportunities.

·     Has had a historic role supporting women’s leadership through training in science and technology and other fields.

·     Has created and maintained educational institutions, including higher educational institutions, around the world.

·     Works with women in the United States and globally through both informal and formal education that leads to living wage jobs and leadership roles.

We live in a world that continues to reinforce systems and structures that impose barriers to women’s and girls’ equal access to education, health care and decent work. These involve major global trends, including climate change, economic crisis, militarism and conflict, violence against women and global migration. United Methodist Women advocacy at the national (U.S.) and global level seeks to address systemic causes of these global trends, from financial regulation and climate justice to ending U.S. wars and bringing human rights to global migration policy.

United Methodist Women has a delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women of 20 women from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to bring this experience and these concerns to the international community.