[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Women and men from the Episcopal Church and 20 Anglican Communion Provinces will gather for the 56th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) in New York City Feb. 27 to March 9.

The 2012 theme of UNCSW is the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.

Participating will be two provincial delegates named by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to represent the Episcopal Church: Robin Denney, who previously served as missionary to Liberia and the Sudan; and France Vixamar of Haiti, the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church.

Twenty provincial delegates represent all parts of the world including Australia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Canada, Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Korea, New Zealand, North India, Pakistan, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.

In addition to the provincial delegates, nearly 90 delegates will attend.  While many of the 90 are from the United States, other countries represented will be Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zambia.

The Episcopal Church Indigenous women delegates represent the Dioceses of Hawaii, Oklahoma, Olympia, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Episcopal delegations
During the first week, 80 members of various Episcopal delegations will participate in parallel events focusing on the same themes: 60 from Anglican Women’s Empowerment (AWE); six of the Indigenous delegation; 14 young adults; as well as 10 women from the Anglican Church of Canada.

AWE, a non-profit organization dedicated to working for gender justice in the church, will sponsor 19 first-timers and 37 returning women from 12 Episcopal dioceses and four from Anglican dioceses.

Fourteen Episcopal young adult delegates, between 18 and 30 years old, will participate in the sessions and blog their experiences.  The young adults hail from the dioceses of Central Gulf Coast, Dallas, Delaware, Eastern North Carolina, Fort Worth, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, San Diego, Texas, and Western North Carolina.

For complete details and schedule
Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations www.aco.org/ministry/un/
United Nations: www.unwomen.org
UNCSW 56: www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/56sess.htm

For more info contact Lynnaia Main at lmain@episcopalchurch.org

Follow the 2012 event

On blogs:
AWE: www.episcoglobal.wordpress.com
Episcopal Church Young Adults: www.episcopalleadershipinstitute.wordpress.com
Episcopal Church Indigenous: www.anglicancouncilofindigenouswomen.wordpress.com/2011/02/
Anglican Communion Office at the UN: See Global Partnerships blog: www.episcoglobal.wordpress.com

On Twitter:
AWE: www.twitter.com/awe154
Episcopal Church Indigenous: www.twitter.com/indig_episcopal
Anglican Communion Office at the UN:  twitter.com/episcoglobal

On Facebook
AWE: www.facebook.com/awe154
Episcopal Church Young Adults:  www.facebook.com/pages/Episcopal-Young-Adult-and-Campus-Ministries/144339395595177
Episcopal Church Indigenous: www.facebook.com/pages/Native-AmericanIndigenous-Ministries-of-the-Episcopal-Church/121658134519767\
Anglican Communion Office at the UN: See Global Partnerships page at www.facebook.com/episcopalglobalmission
Canadian Anglican Women’s Group: www.facebook.com/IAWNinCanada