________________________________________________________________________________
UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
UNFRC Sponsored 2011 CSW Meetings and Presentations:
- “Cultural Imperialism: How Sexual ‘Rights’ are Destroying Our Religious and Cultural Values” Presented by Theresa Okafor, Director of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage
- “Exploiting the AIDS Pandemic: Donor Pressure/Failed UN Policies/Family Disintegration” presented by Sharon Slater, President of Family Watch International/Chair of the UN Family Rights Caucus
- Panel: “Saving Lives: Empowering Girls Through Education on Maternal Mortality and Abortion” moderated by UNFRC spokesperson Annie Franklin
- “The Myths Surrounding Maternal Mortality and Abortion” by Donna Harrison, president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Ms. Harrison presented on the misinformation regarding maternal mortality that is used to promote abortion, including the tactic of equating legal abortion as “safe” abortion and how statistics regarding maternal mortality are manipulated to promote abortion.
- “Parents Fighting Harmful Sexuality Education.” Suzanne Fernandes from the United Kingdom shared her experience as a parent at a Family Rights Caucus meeting on her success in organizing parents in the UK to fight the kind of inappropriate sexuality education that had traumatized and sexualized some of her 13-year-old son’s peers.
- “Maternal Mortality and Abortion: An African Perspective” presented by Theresa Okafor, Director of the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage
________________________________________________________________________________
UN High Level Meeting on Youth
Organized Youth for Life and Family Caucus to submit official Statement to the UN High Level Meeting on Youth. Click here to see this statement submitted by pro-life, pro-family youth organizations.
________________________________________________________________________________
UN Commission on Population and Development (CPD)
- UNFRC sponsored the speeches of AIDS orphans from Mozambique who delivered plenary session statements on the UN floor calling on States to account for promoting sexual rights, especially to children in Africa in the midst of an AIDS epidemic and spoke out against the harms of comprehensive sexuality education. Click here to see their statement to the UN.
- UNFRC lobbied successfully for the inclusion in the outcome document of positive references to abstinence and fidelity, references discouraging prenatal sex selection and the use of girls in prostitution and pornography, and a strong reference recognizing “the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents and other persons legally responsible for adolescents to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the adolescent, appropriate direction and guidance in sexual and reproductive matters.”
- UN Family Rights Caucus members briefed governments on the harms of “comprehensive sexuality education” and subsequently the Ambassador of Swaziland delivered this strong statement to the UN warning other Member States about this dangerous form of sexual rights-based education.
________________________________________________________________________________
UN High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS
- Lobbied successfully for the inclusion of two references to the family, including one paragraph emphasizing “the importance of cultural, ethical and religious values” and “the vital role of the family and the community” in dealing with the AIDS pandemic, and two references “encouraging responsible sexual behavior, including abstinence, fidelity.”
- Lobbied successfully for the deletion of references promoting “sexual rights,” “reproductive rights” (terms used to promote abortion), “same-sex marriage,” “men who have sex with men,” and multiple references to “comprehensive sexuality education.” Although one reference to “men having sex with men” and “sex workers” remained in the final document, the context was not in the promotion of these activities.
- Lobbied successfully for the inclusion of this important paragraph:
“Reaffirm the sovereign rights of Member States, as enshrined in the United Nations Charter, and the need for all countries to implement the commitments and pledges in this declaration consistent with national laws, national development priorities and international human rights”
