Subject: [fem-women2000 157] Can Your Organization Endorse The "See Change" Campaign?
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 10:15:53 +0900
Seq: 157
アンチ女性の権利ロビーとして知られるバチカンが、北京＋５で積極的キャンペー ンを準備している中で、Holy See (バチカン) の国連参加資格を強化する方向で 進められている見なおしに対する反対キャンペーンの紹介です。 詳細は、下記英文およびwebを参照してください。 --lalamaziwa ---------------- Original message follows ---------------- Can Your Organization Endorse The "See Change" Campaign? Join The "See Change" Campaign-Change The Holy See's Status At The United Nations We are very nearly overwhelmed with the support we have received for The "See Change" Campaign - the international effort to change the Vatican's status at the United Nations. However, as we prepare for our first delivery of postcards to the UN, we want to give organizations another chance to endorse the campaign. As I write, the Vatican, conservative Catholic groups, and their anti-women's rights supporters are making preparations to disrupt the upcoming five-year review of government implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing +5). As you know, the Platform was adopted in 1995 by 189 countries at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and reflects an international commitment to equality, development and peace for women all over the world. The Vatican and its allies, however, refer to the Platform as "one of the most radical and dangerous documents you can imagine." Five years ago at Beijing, the Vatican used its status at the UN to water down proposals that favored women's equality and autonomy. And Vatican supporters today are actively recruiting like-minded people to lobby delegates at the review meetings to help further the Vatican's anti-woman agenda. Help us ensure that the Vatican and the UN hierarchy hear loud and clear that the Vatican's special UN status is not acceptable. To see a full list of current endorsers, go to <http://www.seechange.org/endorsers.htm> and to sample a selection of the formidable amount of press coverage the campaign has generated so far, go to <http://www.seechange.org/press.htm>. I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to call us at (+1 202) 986-6093 or email us at info@seechange.org for further information on how you can support us in the coming days. Best wishes, David Nolan Campaign Manager What is The "See Change" Campaign? Hundreds of organizations and thousands of people worldwide have initiated a campaign to change the status of the Roman Catholic church at the United Nations. Concerned that the church has flown in under UN radar by calling itself the Holy See, we have called on the Secretary-General to review the church's current status as a Non-Member State Permanent Observer. We believe that the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic church, should participate in the UN in the same way as the world's other religions do-as a non-governmental organization. Why Is This Campaign Important? Religious freedom is endangered Every other religion with representation at the UN, like the World Council of Churches, is rightly restricted to an affiliation based on that of other non-governmental organizations. In a time when religious fundamentalism threatens pluralism, tolerance, and women's human rights, the UN must maintain a clear separation between religious beliefs and international public policy. Successfully challenging the Holy See's status will ensure that only countries decide policy. Each year 600,000 women die needlessly during pregnancy and childbirth The UN increasingly makes the decisions that will prevent these deaths. The Holy See, as a recognized country in the UN, has a powerful voice in these decisions. It uses this voice to limit access to family planning, safe abortion even in countries where abortion is legal, and emergency contraception-even for women who have been raped as an act of war. Successfully challenging the Holy See's status will save women's lives. Each year 5.8 million become HIV positive and 2.5 million die from AIDS Within the UN, the Roman Catholic church attempts to block international policy decisions that would make condom education and use a major tool in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Successfully challenging the Holy See's status will assist in reversing the hiv/aids pandemic. How Can You Support The "See Change" Campaign? There are many ways to support the campaign. A few ideas are outlined below. 1) Your organization can endorse this campaign and be listed among those endorsing it by contacting us through http://www.seechange.net/form1.htm. A list of some of those organizations endorsing the campaign is available at http://www.seechange.net/endorsers.htm 2) You can personally sign a postcard via the Internet at http://www.seechange.net/form3.htm. Or we would be happy to complete a postcard for you if you email us your name, address, phone, and email. 3) You can distribute postcards by contacting David Nolan at info@seechange.org. The "See Change" postcards (see text below) are available in English, Spanish, and French-how many could you or your organization distribute? 100? 500? 1000? If you can support the campaign please contact either David Nolan by e-mail at info@seechange.org, by phone +1 (202) 986-6093, or by fax +1 (202) 332-7995. **************************************************************************** ** Text of postcard (See also The "See Change" Campaign's Website http://www.seechange.org) Dear Secretary-General Annan, As a UN Non-Member State Permanent Observer, the Holy See enjoys unique status, often as a voting partner, with countries at UN conferences. Granting governmental privileges to what is in reality a religious body is questionable statecraft. While the Holy See-the government of the Roman Catholic church-has made positive contributions through the United Nations to peace and justice, this should not be used to justify granting the status of a state to a religious institution. Governmental participation in the UN should be reserved to actual states. The world's religions have been well represented through non-governmental organization status. With NGO status, the Roman Catholic church would be able to continue its participation in the UN-like the World Council of Churches-without ambiguity or privilege. We call on you to open an official review of the Holy See's status at the UN. Name Organization Address City/State Country Postal/Zip Code Phone Fax E-mail *********************************************************************** Join the "See Change" Campaign - www.seechange.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ David Nolan, Senior Associate, Communications and Education Catholics for a Free Choice, 1436 U Street, NW #301 Washington, DC 20009-3997, USA T: (202) 986 6093; F: (202) 332 7995; E: djnolan@catholicsforchoice.org U: http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/ ***********************************************************************