The Anglican Communion and its Faith Perspective

The Anglican Communion is comprised of 75 million Christians from 164 countries, reaching from England to Southern Africa, from Australia to the Southern Cone, from the United States to the Philippines.  All of us are grieved by the harsh consequences on women and children of conflict, poverty and the resultant poor health.  As Christians we believe that all of humanity is made in the image of God; as Anglicans we try to live in the creative tension of differing experiences and viewpoints; as women we are called to respond to the brokenness of the world.  This is the heart of our theology, of our faith perspective.

Participation in Beijing and Beyond

More than 50 Anglican women were present in Huairou in 1995 for the NGO workshops and meetings during the Fourth World Conference on Women.  We rejoiced in the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action.   We saw that historic document and its preamble as a blueprint for women’s rights in and for the 21st century.  In addition to their daily prayers in the Peace Tent, one significant impact of these women of faith on the Beijing Conference was the acceptance of spirituality in the platform as an integral part of human nature

Anglican women were also participants in Beijing +5. Our presence and programs demonstrated the liberating force religion can provide in women’s lives, negating the use of religion as a tool for women’s oppression, especially as it is manifested in domestic violence and patriarchal control.  Starting in 2002, the Anglican Consultative Council has had representation during the annual Commission on the Status of Women meetings.

The Beijing Platform for Action
         
What is the status of women ten years later?  How has the Beijing Platform been an instrument for change?  What has been its effect within the Anglican Communion?  The twelve sections of the Beijing Platform for Action are so connected that it is impossible to talk about one section without branching into the others; thus, there will be inter- relatedness throughout this statement.        

Poverty:    Women are the poor – no member state in the global community is exempt from the responsibility to address the feminization of poverty.  Women have few economic resources; their education, training and support services are limited; they have virtually no influence on decision-making; their rigid socially proscribed roles increase their burden of poverty.

Education:     Education is a human right, an essential tool for achieving equality, development and peace.  Investing in formal and non-formal education and training for girls and women should be the means of achieving sustainable development and economic growth. 

Health:      Access to adequate and comprehensive health care information and services by governments and by civil society are imperative to assure release from poverty and entrance into economic stability.  The high percentage of women with HIV/AIDS in increasing areas of the world, especially among the 15-24 age group and the high number of orphans is of deep concern.    

Violence:    Violence against women is pandemic in our world culture.  Enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms is impaired by the lack of preventative and protective laws and the non-enforcement by public authorities of the laws which do exist.   

Armed Conflict:     Peace is a prerequisite for the attainment of equality between women and men. Though women rarely have a role in the decisions leading to armed conflict, they work to preserve the social order in the midst of conflict and can be important participants in peace education.  

Economy:     To what extent have women been excluded from profiting from the economics of their countries.  Do they have the right to own property, to work outside the home?  Is there day care for their children?  To what extent does religious doctrine prohibit women’s economic viability? 

Power and Decision-making:      Participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple social justice or democracy, it is essential for achieving transparent and accountable government and for providing a balance that reflects the composition of society.     

Institutional Mechanisms:     Women’s advancement takes place when govern-mental structures provide a clear mandate, adequate staff, access to resources, support from political leadership and well-developed methodologies for gender-based policy analysis.

Human Rights:    All human rights are universal, interdependent and interrelated.  Their full and equal enjoyment by women and girls should be a priority for governments and is essential for the advancement of women.  

Media:     Media have the potential for a great contribution to the advancement of women, with self-regulatory mechanisms that could eliminate gender-based pro- gramming and prevent gender-biased advertising.  With greater skills, knowledge and access to information technology women will be empowered. 

Environment:    Through the management and use of natural resources, women provide sustenance to their families and their communities.  As consumers and producers, caretakers of their families and as educators, they play an important role in promoting sustainable development of the quality of life for present and future generations.  

The Girl-child:      Because of harmful attitudes and practices such as female genital mutilation, sexual exploitation, boy-child preference, discrimination in accessing education and practices related to health and food allocation, fewer girls than boys survive into adulthood in many areas of the world

The Millennium Development Goals and Resolution 1325

The Millennium Development Goals are the culmination of a series of conferences which have had an impact on women’s rights – the world conferences on women in Mexico City, Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing; on environment and development; on human rights; on population and development; on social development; on racism – and are a road map for implementing the Millennium Declaration which was signed by 191 governments in 2000.  The Anglican Consultative Council endorsed the MDGs in 2001.

While they specifically speak to women’s condition in goal 3: “promote gender equality and empower women” and in goal 5:  “improve maternal health,” they do not represent the full vision of gender equality contained in the Platform because there are gaps:  the omission of reproductive rights,  peace,  human rights.  There is no specific mention of  women and girls in eradicating poverty and hunger, in achieving universal primary education, in reducing child mortality, in reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, in ensuring environmental sustainability, in developing global partnerships.

However, the MDGs do have goals for government reporting and accountability which could be used as the means to ensure implementation of the Beijing Platform, to combat all forms of violence against women and to carry out goals of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).  

Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was a landmark decision.  It affirmed the  importance of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.  In addition, 1325 calls for special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse in situations of armed conflict. 

Both the Millennium Development Goals and Resolution 1325 enhance major portions of the Beijing Platform for Action.

The Anglican Faith Community

While Anglican women have not achieved full inclusion and representation in the life of the Communion, significant strides have been made in the last 30 years:  of the 38 provinces, 21 have endorsed the ordination of women as priests and 3 ordain women as bishops.  Within the Anglican Communion, ordination is seen as a sign of gender equality and generally leads to better acceptance of laywomen in roles of responsibility.  As in the secular society, pay equity between women and men does not exist.

Since the majority of Anglicans in leadership are men, the issues of power and control remain pre-eminent.  It has been noted that “the four instruments of unity” for the Anglican Communion are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 38 Primates (heads of provinces), the Lambeth Conference (some 700 bishops of which 16 are women – 12 in active service and 4 who have retired) and the Anglican Consultative Council (each province has representation, and of the 76 members only 16 are women).    These numbers – 815 leaders, but just 28 women – make it clear that Anglican women have a long way to go before achieving parity, and they demonstrate the importance of bringing women from the Anglican provinces as participants in the UNCSW.   We believe they will bring a different voice to the conversation; they are clear that the issues of peace and justice, of relief from poverty, of an end to the AIDS pandemic are at the heart of their ministry and the major expression of their faith commitment and their theology of concern for all of God’s people in every aspect of God’s world. 

The Anglican Communion Marks of Mission and Our Prayer for Global Women

The five Marks of Mission of the Worldwide Anglican Communion are:  To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom; to teach, baptize and nurture new believers; to respond to human need by loving service; to seek to transform unjust structures of society; to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.  It is our commitment to these Marks of Mission as sisters in Christ that draws us to the UNCSW and its efforts on behalf of women and girls the world over.  We believe that our voices, the voices of Anglican women, can make a positive and lasting contribution to the conversation – in the church, in our civil governments and at the United Nations – because we seek above all else to raise up the lowly, feed the hungry, heal the sick, protect the innocent, free the oppressed and show forth God’s mercy, justice and loving kindness in the world.

O God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, we pray for all who gather at the United Nations.  Bless them.  Help them and us to see one another through eyes enlightened by understanding and compassion.  Release us from prejudice so we can receive the stories of our sisters with respect and attention; Open our ears to the cries of a suffering world and the healing melodies of peace.  Empower us to be instruments in bringing about Your justice and equality everywhere.   Amen