Loretto at the UN Turns 30, Celebrates at CSW66!
Posted on March 1, 2022, by Beth Blissman CoL
As we continue to recognize our 30th anniversary of Loretto at the United Nations, we’re also celebrating more than a decade of collaboration with the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the BVMs) of Dubuque, Iowa. We started our triple-decade celebration year with an important new collaboration. In September we secured approval from our President Barbara Nicholas and the Forum to join officially the Justice Coalition of Religious, or JCoR, a collaborative entity of 20 Catholic groups working together around the globe to bring a collective voice to our work at the U.N. JCoR grew directly out of the work of RUN (Religious at the UN). Former Loretto at the UN Rep Sally Dunne and former Loretto Volunteer Teresa Blumenstein played key roles JCoR’s formation and growth. Teresa currently serves as the New York coordinator of JCoR.
This past November we shared an overview of 30 years of U.N. presence and action at the Loretto Assembly 2021 (see https://youtu.be/BOw_tmhsEVA?t=44), and heading into 2022 we have a full plate of activity planned. We hosted a teach-in on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (https://youtu.be/9APhGVQzMXE) on Jan. 24, the UN International Day of Education.
March is the month of both Inter- national Women’s Day and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66). The CSW66 dates are March 14-25 with a priority theme of “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.” The review theme is “women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work.” For details about the official event, see the U.N. Women CSW66 site at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw66-2022
Along with recognizing the threat of nuclear war, we in Loretto see the climate crisis as an existential threat to the human species — and to all life on Earth. This priority theme invites Loretto to have a strong presence in the civil society space. We’re gearing up for cohosting two parallel events at the NGO CSW Forum (see https:// ngocsw.org/ngo-csw-66/); the titles will be “My Voice, Our Equal Future: Girls Speak to Climate Change” on March 17 and “Celebrating 30 Years of the Loretto Earth Network” on March 22. We’ll also be welcoming Loretto’s Latin America/Caribbean Committee and the Loretto Feminist Network to our co-sponsored virtual exhibit booth for programs. You can join the excitement by being part of our virtual delegation; or simply follow CSW66 on U.N. TV at webtv.un.org.
Finally, we will celebrate our 30th anniversary with several brief videos showcasing our collaborations and celebrating our successes. For the past 30 years, grounded in our faith tradition and guided by Providence, Loretto at the UN has focused on rights for migrants, gender justice, environmental sustainability, poverty eradication, nuclear disarmament and more. May the great work continue!
Beth Blissman has been the Community’s Representative to the United Nations since the end of 2016.
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