The petition
On March 6, 2007, Canadian Ambassador to the UN John McNee made the following statement during a UN informal thematic debate on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment:
“Canada supports initiatives throughout the world aimed at improving girls’ education, ending violence against women and supporting the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.”
As such, we ask Ambassador McNee – the Canadian Government’s Representative to the UN - to whole-heartedly throw his support behind the proposal for a dedicated UN Agency for Women currently being championed by Stephen Lewis, Former UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa and proposed to the High-Level Panel for UN Reform in Geneva in 2006.
We are all aware that although the UN’s goals are admirable, it’s achievements with regards to women’s rights, advocacy and protection are sorely lacking. Based on Mr. Lewis’ account, even the simple ideal of 50/50 gender parity in staffing for the UN itself is likely unreachable in most of our lifetimes. Above and beyond the glass ceiling of the UN organization in New York, so many women of the world – including here in Canada - remain in poverty; some eke out their existence on paltry earnings with no hope of a living wage, while others battle for equal pay. Women continue to be victimized by sexual violence and gender discrimination, shut out of positions of authority and unable to access vital healthcare services, to name just a few of our challenges.
And despite the struggles, women carry on, providing the backbone of almost every country’s economy through whatever jobs they are able to hold to care for themselves, their children, their parents and whoever in their extended family or circle of support is in need. Without the labour of women this global economy would come to a complete standstill. Isn’t it about time then, that the UN – which many global residents look to as an example of fairness and equity – produced an agency that will thoughtfully work on women’s issues, serve as a strong and purposeful advocate and provide meaningful and relevant directives to the UN and its agencies to assist women to overcome their challenges and lead healthier, safer and more fulfilled lives?
We strongly believe that ideologically and monetarily it should. On behalf of Canadians, we urge Ambassador McNee to support Mr. Lewis’ proposal for a dedicated UN Agency for Women, and to respond directly to this petition in the form of a letter to its sponsors.
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