Adopted May 6, 2006

Support for the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Resolution 2006-13

Submitted by:
The Rev.'s Gina Arents, Mary Pat Ashby, Rosemary Beales,
Mary Becker, Bee Billups, Ann Boyd, Ann Burts,
Annette Chappell, Saundra Cordingley, Mary Davisson,
Adrien Dawson, Linda Fernandez, Mary Glasspool,
Columba Gillis, Janice Gordon-Barnes, Katrina Grussell,
Rebekah Hatch, Portia Hirschman, Eleanor Holland,
Eileen House, Mary Jayne Ledgerwood, Florence Ledyard,
Sarah Lewis, Martha MacGill, Cindy Tipton Mainolfi,
Jane Mayrer, Beth McNamera, Phebe McPherson,
Jane O’Leary, Jenni Ovenstone, Barbara Seras,
Angela Shepherd, Thelma Smullen, Fran Stanford,
Sarah Standiford, Melissa Timmerman, Kathryn Wajda,
Lauren Welch, Joanna White, Nancy White,
Julie Wizorek, and Tammy Wooliver.

RESOLVED, that the that the 222nd Convention of the Diocese of Maryland, meeting May 5-6, 2006, supports the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, (CEDAW) adopted by the U.N. in 1979, which calls on all member states to condemn all discrimination against women and to implement policies that help women achieve equality with men in access to education, employment, health care, suffrage, property ownership, and other basic human rights; and

BE IF FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese shall appoint a CEDAW Task Force that shall make a report to the 223rd Annual Diocesan Convention in 2007 with specific suggestions for diocesan and congregational policies that are designed to implement the spirit and purpose of CEDAW as a matter of our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of Convention shall write on behalf of the Convention to the President of the United States, and each of the members of the U.S. Congress representing the districts of Maryland, to inform them that the Diocese of Maryland, meeting in Convention, calls for the United States of America to become a party to CEDAW; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of Convention is directed to submit this Resolution to the appropriate committee of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church for its consideration and action.

Explanation

The goal of the Convention in supporting the United Nations resolution on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is simple: to have women acknowledged and treated throughout the world as fully equal human beings.

Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan has supported the goals of CEDAW as follows:

  1. Strengthening girls’ access to secondary as well as primary education;
  2. Guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health rights;
  3. Investing in infrastructure to reduce women’s and girls’ time burdens;
  4. Guaranteeing women’s and girls’ property and inheritance rights;
  5. Eliminating gender inequality in employment;
  6. Increasing woman’s share of seats in national parliaments and local governments;
  7. Redoubling efforts to combat violence against girls and women.

However, calling on our government to become a party to and implement CEDAW is a mere affectation if the Diocese and its congregations are not willing to take a hard look at local policies, attitudes and practices that perpetuate discrimination against women. Therefore, the resolution also requires the Convention to consider the terms of CEDAW and to find ways of implementing them at the local level, both in the congregations and their communities.

Consideration of CEDAW in the United States has often become sidetracked because of the emotional aspects of this nation's debate over reproductive rights. By focusing on this issue to the exclusion of the CEDAW’s other initiatives to ensure equality, the United States has refused to become a party to CEDAW, and is in the same company with the Islamic theocratic nations of Brunei, Iran, Oman, and Qatar, and with countries that have no effective government, including Somalia, the Sudan, and Tonga. Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.

Additional information may be obtained at www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/