Beverly: United Families Report Success at CSW 2009!!!

We were successful!!!  Two weeks of concentrated negotiating, conjoling, writing, lobbying, and supporting have come to an end.  At the conclusion of the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), many in the pro-family coalition had slept less than four hours during the final 48 hours.  But, it was worth it!  We were able to remove the six references to "reproductive health services" (abortion) and insert six references to "family"!!  This was a significant success!  At one point there were no references to the family at all!  

The final three days were blurred into one long day as the delegates worked until 2 a.m. on Wednesday and until 7:30 a.m. on Thursday.  The delegates, and those of us who had stayed up all night with them, had only two hours to prepare for the final round of negotiations on Friday.  Negotiations became so intense on Thursday night that delegates from pro-family nations would need to leave the room to get rejuvenated by the support and nourishment brought by our small coalition of pro-family organizations.  The large International Planned Parenthood Federation had employed a large, imposing man to represent them.  Several times United Families International representatives had to block the door to the negotiating room so he would not enter to influence the proceedings.

It was amazing to watch the intimidation tactics that were used in an attempt to force small countries, who want to protect families and the unborn child, to change their votes.  It was apparent that the European Union and the United States were attempting to use various persuasive means to convince smaller, pro-family countries to join them in supporting abortion language.  One delegate from a small country told us that he finally yelled at the other delegates, "I cannot join you!  It would go against the instructions from my capital!  It would go against ideals of the people in my country!  And, it would go against my own personal beliefs!  I will not change my vote!"  This brave delegate continued to stand strong despite the agonizing, tortuous attacks he was getting.  At times, he came out of the room to talk to us and to vent his feelings before going back in to face the opposition again.

During the two weeks of CSW, we saw many delegates abandon the principles of their country and their citizens.  We saw delegates fawning over the EU and the US in an attempt to gain favor and money from them by supporting their ideas.  We also saw delegates who came from small countries stand up against the tidal wave of pressure that was exerted against them.  

The Commission on the Status of Women lasts for two weeks.  It is hard to believe that in two weeks so much can happen that affects families.  There were many tears shed at the conclusion. It is wonderful to know that because a small group of pro-family organizations teamed up with a small group of pro-family delegates, the family was protected one more time.

Now it is time for you to do as did these brave delegates.  Now is the time for families to stand strong just as the delegates did this week.  Now is the time for you to commit to the importance of families.  Please show your commitment and support for what was accomplished by making a donation of $25, $35, $50, $100 or $200.  We will continue to fight for your family with your help.  Show us that the work we are doing is important to you.  

Thank you for your support.  It was for your family that we worked so hard and slept so little.

At UN Obama Reps Push for “Sexual and Reproductive Health”

By Samantha Singson
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) The annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting continues at the United Nations (UN) this week and delegates have begun the arduous task of negotiating the “outcome document” – a non-binding agreement on HIV/AIDS and care-giving that is the focus of this year’s session. While the meetings have been closed to non-government organizations (NGOs), the United States (US) delegation has openly stated that “sexual and reproductive health and rights” would be a priority issue for the Obama administration.

At a briefing hosted by the United States, a member of the US delegation, Ellen Chesler, stated that it was a specific priority of the US delegation to ensure that “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights” are included in the document. She added that they are a “fundamental part” of the Beijing Platform for Action of the 1995 UN women’s meeting held in Beijing, China, where countries ultimately rejected attempts to make abortion an international “right.” The idea of sexual rights was rejected at the Beijing conference. Additionally, the term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” has been interpreted by radical feminist NGOs and some governments to include abortion.

Chesler, who authored a biography praising the work of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, also included “comprehensive sexual education, rights and services,” promotion of a new UN gender office, as well as US commitment to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)” as priority issues for the Obama administration at this CSW.

At the end of the briefing, an audience member questioned the Obama administration’s support for abortion despite the myriad scientific evidence which shows how detrimental it is to the lives and health of women. Chesler dismissed the woman’s question stating that the evidence is “unreliable because it has ideological elements.”

Another contentious provision in the draft CSW document calls on states to support the CEDAW committee’s non-binding “concluding comments.” 185 countries have ratified the convention, but language supporting the CEDAW committee’s concluding recommendations remains controversial. The CEDAW committee has questioned more than 70 nations on their abortion laws even going so far as creating their own "general recommendation" that reads abortion into the document even though the nations that negotiated the treaty made sure that controversial issue was never mentioned.

Delegations are expected to battle it out over the CEDAW paragraph in negotiations this week over concerns that the committee is pressuring countries on abortion. Some feminist NGOs at the CSW, however, already consider abortion an accepted part of CEDAW and have now set their sights on using the CEDAW committee to protect “lesbian rights” and same-sex “marriage.”
At an event commemorating 30 years of CEDAW, the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership claimed that CEDAW successfully established a “right to abortion” by linking it to “reproductive health.” Organizers argued that now the CEDAW committee should focus on protecting a “woman’s right to choose their partners,” which is not limited to members of the opposite sex.
The CSW will conclude in New York on Friday.

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BREAKING NEWS FROM COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

The United States representative to the U.N. is making a move that goes against national law and President Obama's position on gay marriage. Please call your Congressman or U.S. Senator and protest the U.S. delegation’s position.

U.N. Delegations are planning on adopting the CSW Resolution on HIV/AIDS. This document references "The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS" as adopted by the Second International Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, and as amended and endorsed at the Third International supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UNAIDS.

The HIV/AIDS and Human Rights International Guidelines have the following language included as referenced below:

30. (f) “Laws should also be enacted to ensure women’s reproductive and sexual rights, including the right of independent access to reproductive and STD health information and services and means of contraception, including safe and legal abortion and the freedom to choose among these, the right to determine number and spacing of children . . .”

30. (h) “Anti-discrimination and protective laws should be enacted to reduce human rights violations against men having sex with men . . . ”

30. (h) “. . . These measures should include providing penalties for vilification of people who engage in same-sex relationships, giving legal recognition to same sex marriages . . .”

Developing….

Link to document:

http://data.unaids.org/publications/irc-pub02/jc520-humanrights_en.pdf

Jennifer: Thursday, March 12, 2009

We got some much needed sleep and headed to the UN a little later this morning. We soaked in the beautiful sunshine and brisk NY weather as we walked the blocks from the hotel to the UN building. I truly love the hustle and bustle and all the sights and sounds of the city. Today was our designated “picture day” so we spent some time taking pictures outside and capturing some images to go with the incredible memories that we will take from this experience.   

One of our Coalition members hosted a wonderful meeting today discussing orphans, HIV/AIDS and international adoption.  Luis Belchoir spoke with his mother Sharon Slater and told their remarkable story. Luis lost both his parents and his older brother to HIV/AIDS and struggled for survival with his younger siblings. Sharon and her family met these incredible children and began a very, very long struggle to adopt them. Sharon and Luis shared the important message that the orphans of Africa (and orphans everywhere) need the love of a family. The room was filled with many delegates and other NGO representatives from Africa and they were very moved by the message.  

I then attended a Coordination Caucus meeting where people reported in on what they knew about the negotiations and how they were going. There are many points of contention in the document and now it is a matter of who is going to stick with certain language, and who is going to be willing to compromise.  

We grabbed some dinner and then headed to the waiting area in the basement outside of Conference Room 4 where the delegates are going to be negotiating. Tonight the Coalition has provided some food for the delegates and has it set out on a table in the lounge area. As the delegates come out they can grab a bite to eat and we can chat with them.   

It is now 2:40 am and the delegates just emerged for a break. We have been told that they are going to stay in session until 5:00 am with hopes of finalizing the document by then. We shall see . . .

Jennifer: Wednesday, March 11

Bev and I began our day trying to find a meeting with the U.S. CSW delegation. We went to the building and to the floor where the U.S. delegation has offices and after some very confused discussion with guards who hardly spoke English, we were led into a press conference for foreign journalists. We still are not sure who was speaking, but it must have been one of members of the United Stated mission to the UN. We politely listened  for an hour and learned that the Obama administration is going to address everyone’s concerns in due time. It is going to be amazing to watch this administration solve every problem and address every issue in the world.

Later in the day we attended a panel discussion hosted by Al Hakim Foundation, our friends from Iraq. The speakers discussed how to lobby governments for funding for women’s programs. What I absolutely love about the women who spoke is their firm belief in expanding and supporting women’s programs and women’s rights – but they don’t cross the line into areas that are extreme and destroy families. They fight for women’s education, equal pay, governmental positions, financial support for widows, etc. They believe women should be respected and included at every level of society and are a powerful force for good in their society. BUT, they also believe firmly in their religion and the absolute necessity of strengthening the family and the critical role women play as mothers.

As the day wore on, we found ourselves in the basement outside Conference Room 7, lending various means of support to the delegates inside the room negotiating. When the delegates came out a few members of the coalition would talk to them and encourage them. There were quite a few coalition members here and most of us were just offering moral support (and passing the time as creatively as possible), but there is strength in numbers and one delegate came out to ask for our prayers as he fought for critical language. Day turned into night as we watched and waited. Night then turned into morning as the hours ticked away. Finally, at 1:00 am the delegates adjourned and we headed back to the hotel with very red eyes, kind of crazy hair, and tired brains.  

Jamie: Day 3

Laura and I had the all too rare pleasure of sleeping in this morning, and arrived at the UN just in time for me to head to a lecture about the Billings method of "natural family planning." The event was hosted by a Catholic women's organization based in Australia. I went to the seminar under the pretense that it would be promoting similar values to ones that we promote at united families, and in a a very basic, almost skeletal sense, it did (I think) "The Billings method" is a system used to help couples either avoid or achieve pregnancy based on body cycles. While the positive side of this method is that it doesn't promote the use of contraceptives, it had nothing to say about the value that there is in abstinence, and nothing to say about a pro-life stance if the method should fail. I had to leave early to get to a discussion hosted by the Alhakim foundation, but overall I left feeling slightly deceived.

The Alhakim foundation meeting was the absolute highlight of my day (and possibly my week thus far.) The foundation is an Iraqi based humanitarian group dedicated to empowering Iraqi women and helping all the victims of poverty or post-war struggle. One of the panelists was an Iraqi woman who was arrested for graduating college, and was imprisoned for 10 years before being released when the regime fell, and has now dedicated her life to empowering and helping others in her country. Upon asking her what would be the most important thing we can do here to help her cause is, she said it was simply to spread the word that the future if Iraq is bright. My favorite quote of the meeting, given by Jane Durgom- Powers, who said that "without happy families, we cannot have happy communities, without happy communities, we cannot have good governments, and without good government, there cannot be lasting regional peace." So here we sit, in the UN basement at 11:35 pm, fighting for happy, healthy families. It is our hope that Dr. Powers' mantra will be brought to fruition, and happy families can lead to lasting peace.

Brenda: Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I had a small hope as I walked up to the United Nations building to attend the Commission on the Status of Women (53rd Session). I hoped to somehow make a small difference. I hoped to be able to make a positive stand for womanhood, motherhood and family.

During CSW, I attended a few women's forums and caucuses and heard repeatedly about the rights of women, some justified and others conjured from anger, resentment and fear. Now, I have an increase in love for my sisters of the world, even though I do not agree with all of their issues.

The forums are filled with language of "reproductive rights and justice", "advancing gender equality and economic empowerment", and "comprehensive sexual and reproductive rights" (abortion). The meetings are full of powerful women who are not afraid to speak boldly and push their agenda at the UN.

Why does United Families come to the UN? We are hoping to have a positive influence on the language of the Agreed Conclusions Document that will be voted on at the end of the session. This document will then be added to previous documents that define the status of women worldwide. We also try to strengthen and maintain relationships with representatives of other nations.

I have always been a proud American. I cry when I sing the Star Spangled Banner. I have deep respect for our founding fathers and for the Constitution of the U.S. But, as I listened to the desired changes made by our US Delegate, (just appointed by Barack Obama), I became deeply ashamed of what the United States represents on social issues. Nations who would look to us as the beacon of light, feel shut out and alone and are persecuted for their strong belief in marriage, life and family.

Here is an example of language that was submitted by the US Delegate.
"Implement measures to increase capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from risk of HIV infection, through the provision of health care and health services, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, and through prevention and education and that promotes gender equality within a gender sensitive framework and provides, whenever possible, age-appropriate sex education based on full and accurate information."

You may recognize some of the language that would take away parental rights and push an agenda on the children of all ages.

Ashma, a Muslim woman, gave testimony in one forum of her belief in family and marriage. She talked about how the role of woman is viewed as the up most vital part of a family. She expressed great concern for the CEDAW Treaty, (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women). In the first paragraph of the the treaty it uses language about the equal rights of men and women. Ashma explained that they believe in equality between men and women but not that they are equal. Equality means fairness, but not the same. She said that they cannot accept this treaty because of language such as that.

The room became somewhat hostile at her remarks. The USA is among an handful of nations that have not ratified CEDAW. Even though President Carter signed it 30 years ago, the Senate must ratify. With the current political change in Washington there is great anticipation that it will be ratified.

The young woman who had stood boldly for family and marriage was verbally attacked and put down. Women from the audience asked her to address the lesbian and transgender rights in the Islamic countries. As she attempted to address their concerns, things got a little more out of control and the meeting was closed. I praised her for her address and asked her to continue to stand her ground. I said that even though I was from the U.S., I had the same beliefs about family and marriage. She was grateful to have a friend.