February 26 through March 9, 2007, Anglican and Episcopal delegates to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) meeting, at UN headquarters in New York City and nearby locations.

Anglican and Episcopal delegates have attended this annual event for the past four years, under the auspices of the Office of the Anglican Observer to the UN and Women's Ministries of the Episcopal Church. The 2007 event included 10 girls and 50 women representing 34 Provinces of the Anglican Communion.

Women's Statement

In the name of God, Saviour, Redeemer, and Giver of Life.

We, the women of the Anglican Communion gathered in New York as the Anglican Consultative Council delegation to the 51st Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and as members of the International Anglicans Womens Network representing the diversity of women drawn from across the world wide Anglican Communion, wish to reiterate our previously stated unequivocal commitment to remaining always in "communion" with and for one another.

We remain resolute in our solidarity with one another in our commitment, above all else, to pursue and fulfil God's mission in all we say and do.

Given the global tensions so evident in our Church today, we do not accept that there is any one issue of difference or contention which can, or indeed would ever cause us to break our unity as represented by our common baptism. Neither would we ever consider severing the deep abiding bonds of affection which characterize our relationships as Anglican women.

We have been challenged in our time together be the desperately urgent issues of life and death faced by countless numbers of women and children in our communities. As a diverse delegation, we prayerfully reflected on these needs.

We thus reaffirm the conclusion of the statement presented by our delegation to this year's session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women:

This sisterhood of suffering is at the heart of our theology and our commitment to transforming the whole world through peace with justice. Rebuilding and reconciling the world is central to our faith. Amen

Girls Statement

Introduction

We are a group of girl delegates aged 13 to 18 from around the world, including the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, India and Kenya who have been invited to participate in UNCSW51. It is a pity that we did not get the chance to meet our sister from Burundi due to her visa problem. We have been exposed to a lot of issues that concern the girl child and have been introduced to many of our fellow girl delegates. This is the first time ever in history that people under the age of 18 participated in any of the United Nations meetings. It is also the first time ever that the ECOSOC Chambers was opened for the discussion of women's issues.

Issues that concern the Girl Child

In studying "all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child", we learnt about:

• child trafficking which is often connected to sexual exploitation, prostitution and pornography;

• gender inequality in education and job opportunity;

• that more than 60% of 15 to 25 year-olds living with HIV/Aids are female;

• that girls suffer from violence in regions of armed conflict; and

• that the media portrays a gender bias that undermines girls' and womens' empowerment.

Key-learning and Enlightenment

Apart from making new friends from different countries, the participation has very much widened our perspectives. Our key-learning throughout these two weeks include (1) that education liberates women for them to understand their rights in regard to their bodies (dispending Female Genital Mutilation), their voices (the right to speak out and be heard) and their opportunities (in education and career and decision-making) and (2) that poverty and lack of knowledge go hand in hand with each other and often they form a vicious cycle. We also see that together, we can make a difference and build a better world together.

Suggestions on the Church's response from the girls' perspective

We thank the Church and our chaperones for bringing us here together and their hospitality throughout. We are aware that the church lives in the community even at the village level. We believe that the church has the power to raise every community's awareness to the women's status by (i) providing networking and mentoring to girls, (ii) advocating and promoting the 13/31 Resolution, (iii) educating girls as well as boys on equal gender rights, and (iv) continuing to work with deprived women and children. While being touched ourselves, we wish that the Church may continue to touch the lives of the unfortunate ones in the world. We pray that with God's own pastoral love and His own healing hands, people everywhere will be filled with the strength, peace and joy in their life and have the power and courage to face whatever challenges that are encountered in fighting for equality, peace and justice, without doubt or fear.