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- Written by: Beth O’Connell, ICUUW Vice President, France
Two billion beverage bottles are used and discarded around the world every day, flooding the land and choking the waterways with plastic pollution. With dire messages from ecologists, it’s time to “turn off the tap” of this constant polluted flow of plastic, Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) told delegates at a meeting to develop a legally-binding instrument to end plastic pollution.
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- Written by: Karen Kortsch, ICUUW President
Dear Members and Friends,
As I prepare to go to the UUA General Assembly in Pittsburgh, PA this month, I hold in awe our accomplishments around the world. We had our first post-pandemic in-person gathering at the UN for the 67th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March, filed our first quadrennial report to the UN Economic and Social Council, and we are planning our first in-person Convocation since 2017. We have so much to celebrate, and yet the struggle for gender equality continues, complicated by many setbacks during the pandemic.
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- Written by: Debra Pritchard, ICUUW Board Member, USA
The meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP) is held yearly for two weeks. It is a multi-level event and the culmination of a year’s work by hundreds of thousands of people; about 30,000 representatives attended the 27th meeting in November 2022 (COP 27).COP 27 was held in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
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- Written by: Karen Kortsch, ICUUW President
Beloved Members and Friends,
We at IWC are working in many different ways to bring us closer to a more gender-equal world. Gender inequality is a multifaceted issue; finding solutions requires an intersectional approach so that no one is left behind.
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- Written by: Karen Kortsch, ICUUW President
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.
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- Written by: Rev. Carol Huston, Chair, IWC's UN Advocacy Team, USA
As an organization in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, IWC has been involved with the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) since 2017. CSW meets for two weeks in March, with a vibrant schedule of sessions, pre-COVID times in person, now in virtual space. This year we have been exploring ways to expand our interest in UN meetings at other times of the year. Carmen Capriles – an active UN civil society advocate from Bolivia and part of IWC’s Advocacy Team – is encouraging us to do this, first through sessions at the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in July and then through UN General Assembly in September 2022.
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- Written by: Debra Pritchard, ICUUW Board Member, USA
Climate change never affected my daily life until I lived for a decade on a Philippine island ...
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- Written by: Karen Kortsch, ICUUW President
Greetings, Members and Friends,
As we prepare to hold our Annual Meeting of Members on June 14, there is a lot of buzz about our membership program. It became apparent, through brief discussions at our Tuesday Gatherings, that not all of our friends understood how the membership program works. We encourage you to read our membership policy and fill out a simple membership form. We would like to have each of you a member of the ICUUW family! If you are not yet a member, please complete the online form and commit to supporting us in all the ways that you are able.
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- Written by: Karen Kortsch, ICUUW President
Greetings, Members and Friends,
March 11th marks the second anniversary of the day that Covid-19 was declared a pandemic. Since then, our lives have changed significantly; we have had to learn to adapt. As an organization in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, ICUUW earned the right to send delegates to the annual meetings of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March.
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- Written by: Karen Kortsch, ICUUW President
Beloved Members and Friends,
As more and more people are being vaccinated and hospitalization numbers decline, the U.S. seems to be emerging from the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, other parts of the world are dealing with surges in infections and deaths. We hold in our hearts the people of India especially, as the virus resurges and vaccines are in short supply.
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- Written by: ICUUW Staff
Join us on June 15 at 10 am EDT for our Annual Gathering, where we will create a space to connect our members and supporters in a dialogue to explore pathways to gender equality!
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- Written by: ICUUW Staff
Elected to the Board of Directors:
Roby Jean Cortez-Ponsica, the Philippines, for a first 3-year term
A fourth generation UU, Roby Jean has been a member of the Caican Congregation since 2019. Majoring in science at Negros Oriental State University, she has been a UU youth delegate since 2013 and a member of the Southern District Council since 2020. She served as the treasurer of the Kalumboyan Congregation and participated in numerous extracurricular activities during high school (journalism, broadcasting, and various task forces).