Maryknoll missioners’ work overseas with women is extensive and diverse, in areas including, but not limited to, refugees; HIV and AIDS victims and prevention; domestic violence; prostitution; sexual exploitation and trafficking; women in jail; income generation; agriculture; indigenous rights; nutrition; health and mental health; human rights; and formal and informal education.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (MOGC) follows issues affecting women because in most societies, in general, women endure a lower status than men. Since women comprise half of the world’s population, this gender inequality remains one of the major challenges for global justice and peace. Gender inequality and the lack of implementation of women’s rights is based mainly in cultural traditions, but is reinforced by poverty, lack of opportunities, armed conflict, and migration, among others. Full recognition of women’s rights and dignity brings positive effects to communities.
Our framework for this work are the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979, along with its Optional Protocol adopted in 1999; and the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted in 1995.
The CEDAW is legally binding, meaning that countries that ratify this treaty have to review their legislation to match CEDAW’s provisions. (The U.S. has not ratified CEDAW, despite being a major player in the drafting process of this treaty.) The Beijing Platform for Action is not a treaty, but is a major agreement on actions to which governments committed in order to advance the status of women worldwide.
The MOGC links Maryknoll work’s in the field with global issues and promotes the direct participation of Maryknoll members and their local coworkers in UN gatherings: global meetings and regular sessions, especially the annual session related with the UN Commission on the Advancement of Women. To reverse gender inequality, we give special attention to the girl child through the UNICEF/NGO Working Group on the Girl Child.
Learn more at UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
On November 20, 14 Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, sent a statement to members of Congress regarding the Syrian refugee crisis and the need to welcome Syrian refugees.
April 15 is the anniversary of an unusual and largely unnoticed "citizen uprising" in Cherán, a small indigenous town of 20,000 residents in the state of Michoacán, México.
Women held in a Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prison work for $3/day, their children's health is deteriorating, and many haven't been given the opportunity to post a reasonable bond for their release.
Resources on International Women's Day, World Water Day, Earth Day, the crisis at the border, and more ...
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns endorses the recently introduced End Modern Slavery Initiative Act, sponsored by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).
Lay missioner Liz Mach writes about her work in Tanzania, where the holiday time means the closing of schools and the return home of girls in order to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).
Pope Francis’ address for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2015 was a strong condemnation of the various systems of slavery that deny our shared humanity.
The Darfur Women Action Group held its third annual symposium in Washington, D.C. on October 25-26.
The following request for action and support was circulated by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, based on information from the Sisters of Loretto Nazareth.
The following article, published in the September-October 2014 NewsNotes, was prepared by Cathy Rowan, who is the Corporate Responsibility Coordinator for the Maryknoll Sisters.
The following article was written by Eben Levey, who worked with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns from September 2013 through August 2014.
Sr. Meg Gallagher, MM attended the 58th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held in March at UN headquarters in New York; its priority theme was "Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] for women and girls." Following are excerpts from her report.
Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International, contributed the following reflection which was published in the March-April 2014 NewsNotes.
The following article was written by Eben Levey, an intern who is working with the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns this year.
The following article, prepared by Dan Moriarty, Jason Obergfell and Sr. Leila Mattingly, MM, all of whom live and work in Cochabamba, Bolivia, appeared in the November-December 2013 issue of NewsNotes.
The following alert is circulated by the human rights, anti-trafficking group Equality Now.
Today's reflection is written by Sr. Janice McLaughlin, president of the Maryknoll Sisters.
This week's reflection on the readings is written by Sr. Rose Bernadette Gallagher, who, after decades of work in Asia, now serves as a Maryknoll representative to the UN's NGO community.
This Sunday's reflection is written by Fr. Jim Kroeger, who has served as a missioner in Asia for many years.
Lay missioner Liz Mach, who has lived and worked in Africa, writes today's reflection.
This week's reflection was written by Maryknoll lay missioner Heidi Cerneka, who works in prison ministry in Brazil.
Sr. Roni Schweyen writes this week's reflection, drawing on her years of mission work in Tanzania.
This week's reflection is written by Sr. Euphrasia Nyaki, who lives and works in João Pessoa, Brazil.
Booklet: What price a girl's life?
UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
UN Women
UNICEF/NGO Working Group on the Girl Child