Greetings, Members and Friends,
Whether the result of war, climate change, restrictive reproductive health and rights, or gender-based violence, women’s basic human rights are being violated around the world at an alarming rate.
As the annual UN climate summit (COP27) approaches, the complexity of climate change is brought to the front: “Climate change is the most consequential threat multiplier for women and girls, with far-reaching impacts on new and existing forms of gendered inequities” (Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls).
What is COP27? Many of you might be unfamiliar with the acronym. COP stands for Conference of Parties; the parties of the COP are the governments which have signed the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), the Kyoto Protocol, or the Paris Agreement. The 27th conference (COP27) will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. We are so proud to have one of our board members, Deb Pritchard, representing IWC at COP27. She has a passion for the environment that is so inspirational to all of us! She shares her story on what brought her to this point.
We have other exciting news to impart: a crowdfunding effort to support marginalized young Kenyan women, our Annual Virtual Gathering, and the inspiring work by the Providence Organization of the Hungarian Unitarian Church for Ukrainians who have fled the war.
We are a small but mighty grassroots organization. All we need is a little help from each of our members and friends to grow and thrive. If you are not yet an IWC member, please consider becoming one; together, with every one of you, we support one another - and work toward making the world a better place for women and girls.
I look forward to seeing most of you on November 22nd for our Annual Virtual Gathering. Until then, stay well and love each other.
Faithfully and Appreciatively,
Karen Kortsch