UN Status of Women Conference “an outright declaration of war on traditional family values”: African Catholic Activists

Nairobi, 18 March, 2024 / 9:26 PM

The ongoing 68th edition of the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) conference is deviating from its role of advancing issues impacting women to promoting abortion and gender ideologies, officials of the African branch of the International Catholic activist organization, CitizenGo, have said. 

Described as “the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment”, the ongoing March 11-22 CSW68 conference has been organized under the theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”.

“At CSW68, governments, civil society organizations, experts and activists from across the world will come together to agree on actions and investments that can end women’s poverty and advance gender equality,” organizers of the conference say on the entity’s homepage.

In a petition that the Campaigns Director for Africa and the United Nations of CitizenGo, Ann Kioko, started to Delegates at the UN – CSW68, CitizenGo Africa officials say this year's CSW “aims to undermine the biological essence of gender and aggressively promote universal abortion access and transgender ideology.”

“The proposed draft for the CSW, influenced by radical feminists and pro-abortion lobbyists, is an outright declaration of war on traditional family values, human life, and biological facts,” they say in the Monday, March 18 petition addressed to diplomats and government delegates of Africa, and negotiators at the UN CSW68.

The Catholic activists say that in the CSW68 zero-draft for negotiations, “the push for universal abortion access is relentless in the draft.”

“The document repeatedly advocates corrupting young girls with pro-abortion indoctrination,” they say, adding the CSW68 zero-draft for negotiations “fervently promotes transgender ideology, advocating for the use of puberty blockers and gender-change surgeries for young people.”

Officials of CitizenGo Africa lament, “It is deeply troubling to witness the commission's deviation from these vital concerns, opting instead to champion an agenda that fundamentally undermines the biological realities of gender, promotes universal abortion access, and aggressively pushes transgender ideology.” 

They call on delegates at the March 11-22 CSW68 conference “to prioritize discussions and resources towards tangible improvements in women's lives, such as healthcare, education, economic empowerment, and protection against violence.”

“I encourage you. I appeal to your sense of duty and compassion to ensure that the CSW 68 becomes a platform for genuine advancement, not regression,” CitizenGo Africa officials say in the petition that Ms. Kioko started.