Ellie Dieringer at the Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Training. Photo: LWF
A U.S. participant at the recent Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Training reflects on her next steps
Our sessions began with a morning gathering and devotion, taking time to reflect on the importance of advocacy for people of faith. We were reminded that God is at the gate, in the streets, and in our communities, calling us to be public, prophetic manifestations of faith. With intelligence, wisdom, and contextually informed prudence, we must speak from our lips what is true and right.
Throughout the training, we bore witness to stories of persistent hope, passion, and pursuit of divine justice for women and girls around the world. We learned that actionable hope is more accessible when we strengthen our communities and utilize our networks, especially the global ecumenical organizations that hosted the training.
Through demystifying some of the United Nations’ processes for holding governments accountable to their commitments to women’s rights, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), we were empowered to find our entry points to advocacy and encourage other young people to join us. In sharing meals, conversations, and stories, we grew a sense of kinship and solidarity amongst our cohort, stoking the holy fires of justice within us to compel us to move forward.
Responsibility and accountability
In my home context of the United States of America, we have been encouraging one another to exercise our civic responsibility and vote in a highly divisive election that will determine our government’s leaders and lawmakers for the next four years. Their policies and programs will directly affect women’s human rights– whether they be reinforced, delegitimized, or permissibly violated by the state. Many church communities, including my home congregation, encourage civic engagement and political advocacy while accompanying this work with prayers for stillness, discernment, and peace for our communities.
Regardless of the outcome of these elections, my home country will be reviewed under the UN’s Universal Periodic Review in November 2025. As we learned in Geneva, each member country’s review includes reports from the state and civil society. Faith-based organizations participate in this review process by compiling data into reports that track the state’s progress and shortcomings since the previous review, providing clear recommendations that urge governments to fulfill their responsibilities to their constituents. Equipped with the effective advocacy tools we gained at this training, I hope to join other faith-based organizations in contributing to the Universal Periodic Review process for my home country, in addition to casting my ballot.
Legacy of Reformation
I feel called to empower my community with actionable hope in the midst of political uncertainty, remembering that we have a responsibility to advocate for our rights, the rights of our national and global siblings, and to protect all of God’s holy creation. As we celebrate the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, we remember the ways courageous disruptors and advocates of the past responded to a divine calling to challenge and reform the church and state. In this season, we are also reminded of the good news that we are set free by the truth. This gospel is a gift that carries a responsibility to speak truth to power for the liberation of all God’s beloveds, especially for the elimination of gender-based violence and the promotion of gender justice. How will we continue the legacy of holy disruption and reform that we celebrate each year?
If you feel called to learn more about gender justice and women’s human rights advocacy, meet other young people who are passionate about this work, and amplify the voices of your community by sharing a gender justice issue in your context, we encourage you to join our forthcoming campaign. LWF Youth will be joining the UN Women’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence with a social media campaign, launching Saturday, 9 November at 2pm Geneva time. To register for the Zoom launch and learn more, click here!
In mid-October, a group of LWF Youth participated in the annual Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Training in Geneva, Switzerland. Jointly hosted by the Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, Unity Women’s Desk, World Renew, and Norwegian Church Aid, it is an important opportunity to learn from the leaders and advocacy practitioners of global faith-based organizations, share experiences from diverse contexts, and develop skills, tools, and strategies for effective gender justice advocacy.
