July 15, 2009
 |
Front row L-R: Anna Taleysnik-Mehta, Center Program Associate; The Honorable Chantal Ruvakubusa, Member of Parliament, Republic of Burundi; The Honorable Alix Boyd Knights, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Commonwealth of Dominica; The Honorable Dora Christine Kanabahita Byamukama, Member of the East Afrian Legislative Assembly (EALA), representing the Republic of Uganda; The Honorable Bahiya Aljishi, Member of the Shura Council, Kingdom of Bahrain; Amy Bain, Center Consultant.
Second row L-R: The Honorable Eileen Mbuywana Imbwae, Member of Parliament, National Assembly of Zambia, Republic of Zambia; The Honorable Margaret Mensah-Williams, Vice-Chairperson of the National Council (Parliament), Republic of Namibia; The Honorable Donya Aziz, Member of the National Assembly, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Third row L-R: The Honorable Jennifer Seelig, State Representative, Utah USA; Stacii Stegall Bryson, Center Director of Finance and Administration; Dr. Leslie R. Wolfe, Center’s President; Jennifer Tucker, Center’s Vice President; Catie Torri, Center Intern; The Honorable Arthenia Joyner, State Senator, Florida USA.
© Sylvia Johnson Photography 2009 |
At the Center's third GlobalPOWER® (Partnership Of Women Elected/Appointed Representatives) program in June 2009, women Members of Parliament and US state legislators issued a Statement calling upon Governments, international aid agencies, and civil society leaders "to immediately allocate resources to address and eliminate the scourge of international trafficking in persons and the denial and abuse of women's rights."
The signed Statement, which follows, reflects the mission of GlobalPOWER® - to build sustainable partnerships - across borders and over time - to confront global women's human rights crises. The 2009 participants are Members of Parliament from Bahrain, Burundi, Dominica, Namibia, Pakistan and Zambia, a Member of the East African Legislative Assembly (representing Uganda), and US state legislators from Florida and Utah. Click here to learn more about GlobalPOWER®.
To endorse the Statement click here. To support the Center'swork, DONATE NOW
Statement of GlobalPOWER® 2009
WHEREAS nine elected and appointed women representatives from eight countries across three continents met under the auspices of GlobalPOWER®, a project of the Center for Women Policy Studies, from May 31 through June 5, 2009 in Washington DC, and
WHEREAS the theme of this convening was the international trafficking of women and girls as a global women's human rights crisis, the need to confront the root causes of this crisis and to form sustainable partnerships in order to most effectively do so, and
WHEREAS the participants deliberated on the causes of trafficking in persons, including poverty, discriminatory property rights policies and practices, limited access to education, restrictive reproductive rights and health policies, environmental degradation and violence against women.
WE RECALL AND ACKNOWLEDGE international conventions dealing with women's human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and specifically, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
We, the Undersigned, RESOLVE:
1) To pursue vigorously the realization of the rights of women and girls to lives free from poverty, violence, discrimination in access to housing and education, and vulnerability to trafficking.
2) To raise awareness of trafficking in persons and its causes; to enact legislation that prevents trafficking in persons, prosecutes the traffickers, and protects the rights of trafficked persons and those vulnerable to trafficking; to ensure enforcement and implementation of these laws through parliamentary oversight and provision of resources.
3) To hold accountable donors and our States on aid effectiveness and, in particular, to call for alignment of aid with our States' priorities, systems and procedures, so that they can strengthen capacities.
WE CALL UPON Heads of State, Parliaments, the Judiciary, international organizations, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and non-governmental organizations to immediately allocate resources to address and eliminate the scourge of international trafficking in persons and the denial and abuse of women's rights.
Approved and Signed, June 5, 2009, in Washington, DC:
The Honorable Bahiya Aljishi
Member of the Shura Council
KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN
The Honorable Donya Aziz
Member of the National Assembly
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN
The Honorable Alix Boyd Knights
Speaker of the House of Assembly
COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA
The Honorable Dora Christine KanabahitaByamukama
Member of the EAST AFRICAN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (EALA), representing the Republic of Uganda
The Honorable Eileen Mbuywana Imbwae
Member of Parliament
National Assembly of Zambia
REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA
The Honorable Arthenia Joyner
State Senator
Florida USA
The Honorable Margaret Mensah -Williams
Vice-Chairperson of the National Council (Parliament)
REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
The Honorable Chantal Ruvakubusa
Member of Parliament
REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI
The Honorable Jennifer Seelig
State Representative
Utah USA
Endorsed by:
The Honorable Chong Eng
Member of Parliament
MALAYSIA
The Honorable Haja Afsatu O E Kabba
Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources
REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE
The Honorable Linda Lopez
State Senator
Arizona USA
GlobalPOWER® Class of 2007
The Honorable Donna Boe
State Representative
Idaho USA
The Honorable Adriana González Carrillo
Member of Parliament
MEXICO
The Honorable Marilyn Lee
State Representative
Hawaii USA
GlobalPOWER® Class of 2006
The Honorable Kathy Hawken
State Representative
North Dakota USA
Elizabeth Warner
