Economics, war tied to violence against women

NEW YORK (UMNS) — How does the intersection of economics, war and violence impact women and girls?

A discussion about challenges presented by that intersection and possible innovative solutions is the focus of a March 5 panel discussion from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Church Center for the United Nations. Organized by United Methodist Women, the panel is a side event to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

Tatiana Dwyer, a UMW staff member and Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, international coordinator for the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, will be moderators for the panel discussion.

Two members of UMW’s international delegation to CSW-57, the Rev. Betty Kazadi Musau, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nelly Del Cid, program coordinator for Weaver of Dreams in Honduras, which trains members of grassroots organizations about alternatives to violence, are panel members.

In Congo, The United Methodist Church and United Methodist Committee on Relief have worked together with local and international partners over the past decade to improve Congolese lives and livelihoods after 20 years of conflict. Musau has served as assistant manager of the microfinance program established by UMCOR in Kamina.

Genevieve Inagosi, national minister of gender for the Democratic Republic of Congo, also will participate in the discussion, along with Rusudan Kalichava of Association ATINATI, which supports the formation of democratic and civil society in the Republic of Georgia; and Betty Reardon , United States, of the International Institute on Peace Education.

Co-sponsors of the event are the United Methodist Boards of Church and Society and Global Minstries, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders and the International Civil Society Action Network.

Another UMW-sponsored panel, “Faiths Response to Domestic Violence,” will follow from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her at http://twitter.com/umcscribe.

 News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or[email protected].


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