October 13, 2015

On October 13, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, gave an intervention before the Third Committee of the Seventieth Session of the General Assembly on Agenda Item 27, dedicated to the Advancement of Women.

In his statement, Archbishop Auza praised the progress made in the last 15 years to lift hundreds of millions of women out of poverty, decrease maternal mortality rates and provide greater access to education for girls. He noted, however, that women are still disproportionately among the world’s disadvantaged with regard to access to basic needs, education, health care and decent jobs and suffer disproportionately from the conflicts raging in different parts of the world.

He noted the work of the Catholic Church in fostering women’s economic, social and physical development, providing health care, and supporting the dignity and life of women from the first moment of life to their natural death. He also called on public authorities and civil society to place women’s health at the forefront of their development agendas and to recruit more women in diplomatic and peacebuilding efforts.

His full statement can be read here.