Anglican Women's Empowerment evaluates mission, reviews priorities
Episcopal News Service. October 15, 2007 [101507-01]
Anglican Women's Empowerment (AWE) has been busy during the summer evaluating its work and developing a planning process to establish its priorities for the next three years. In May 2007, AWE contracted with Fenton Communications, a New York City-based organization with a special practice focused on women and international issues, to review its mission and identity and recommend concrete steps to achieve greater consistency, focus, and impact, both internally and externally. The final report was discussed at AWE's September 19 meeting.
During the coming year, a transition team, headed by AWE founder Phoebe Griswold, will create a roadmap/time line to help move AWE to its next chapter. An interim administrator position has been created, reporting to the Episcopal Church's Office of Women's Ministries, to ensure the smooth operation of events at the 52nd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), set for February 25 to March 7, 2008. The theme is "Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women."
A delegation of about 25 international women from around the Anglican Communion is expected to participate as well as a smaller group of Episcopal Church delegates, including 2 or 3 from Province 9. In addition, a larger gathering of women is being planned to overlap with UNCSW to address the Beijing Platform for Action using Beijing Circles, the Episcopal Church's response to Millennium Development Goal #3 that focuses on promoting gender equality and empowering women.
AWE is an international grassroots movement founded in 2003 to promote gender equality and to use the power of women to pursue a humane agenda worldwide.