Does AAUW work on global equity issues?
Yes. AAUW has long been committed to promoting equity for women and girls around the world. AAUW awarded its first International Fellowship in 1917 and in 1919 co-founded the International Federation of University Women, which promotes equity worldwide.  To further advance its international commitment, AAUW has also put forth the following actions:

• At the 2003 AAUW Convention, members created the International Affairs Committee to lead and inform the membership.
• A representative to the United Nations supports — according to AAUW's public policy priorities — U.N. programs that address human rights and women's and girls' concerns.
• The AAUW Educational Foundation awards International Fellowships.

AAUW INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

• Sample Job Description for State/Branch International Affairs Liaisons
• 2007-2009 International Affairs Committee Members
  • Carolyn Donovan, AAUW representative to the United Nations
  • Bonnie Lincoln - Chair
  • Phyllis Drive, TN
  • Jan Lisa Huttner, IL
  • Eileen Mednton, MD
  • Esther Scher, AZ

AAUW REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS

Why does AAUW have a representative to the United Nations?
AAUW members have a deep interest in women's issues, locally, nationally, and internationally. AAUW is one of more than 2,500 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in consultative status with various U.N. bodies, and the representative serves as AAUW's direct liaison. 

What exactly does the representative do?
AAUW's representative attends selected U.N. and nongovernmental organization (NGO) committee meetings and briefings in New York at least once a week to monitor issues about women and girls. The U.N. representative then brings information to AAUW leaders and members, advocating AAUW's support of the U.N. agenda in areas affecting women and girls and stronger U.S. support for the United Nations. The representative often makes arrangements for AAUW members to visit the United Nations for briefings and conferences.

What role do NGOs (nongovernmental organization) play?
Nongovernmental organizations (such as AAUW) provide U.N. member countries with information and advocate specific issues. NGOs have been influential, for instance, in the development of the Land Mine Treaty and the International Criminal Court. NGOs work in committees to

• Set goals for having governments recognize priority issues
• Lobby to influence the wording of U.N. treaties, conventions, and reports
• Work to improve communications between U.N. bodies and the NGO community to strengthen NGOs' role in decision-making

What issues does AAUW follow at the United Nations?

• Women's/girls' rights
• Poverty and development
• Education, lifelong learning, and higher education
• Women in peacekeeping
• Women and globalization
• Women and the environment, including natural disasters
• HIV/AIDS and health issues
• Trafficking/sexual exploitation
• Early marriage
• Female genital cutting
• Older women
• Impact of national budgets on women's lives
• Gender imbalance in U.N. agencies and on government delegations

AAUW is most concerned with the following documents:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (United States has not ratified)
• Beijing Platform for Action
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (United States has not signed)
• Women, Peace, and Security-Security Council Resolution 1325

What NGO committees does AAUW's U.N. representative support?

• Working Group on Girls, part of the NGO Committee of UNICEF: Co-founded in 1993 by AAUW's U.N. representative Mary Purcell, the working group brings attention to the specific problems of girls' rights and works in coalition to support Section L of the Beijing Platform for Action, the first U.N. outcome document to deal specifically with girls.
• NGO Committee on the Status of Women: This committee coordinates advocacy activities on behalf of women and girls and builds ties with women who are serving as ambassadors and in the U.N. secretariat.
• NGO Education Committee: This committee brings together education NGOs to focus on formal and informal education to advance the U.N. goal of education for all.

Who serves as AAUW's representative to the United Nations?
AAUW's president appointed Carolyn Donovan of New York in 2000. 

I thought Mary Purcell worked at the United Nations.
Prior to Donovan, Mary Purcell served as AAUW's U.N. representative during most of the 1990s. Purcell, former IFUW and AAUW president, continues as the head of IFUW's representatives and serves as the co-chair of the steering committee of the NGO Committee on UNICEF. She co-founded the committee's Working Group on Girls and the International Network for Girls and helped draft Section L of the Beijing Platform for Action that addresses the unique problems girls face.

IFUW REPRESENTATIVES TO THE UNITED NATIONS

Does IFUW have representatives at the United Nations, too?
As an international organization, the United Nations is central to the IFUW mission. Mary Purcell heads the group of representatives who monitor activities in Paris, Geneva, and New York. Because IFUW has consultative status with the U.N. Economic and Social Council, IFUW takes a more active role than AAUW does in the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women. AAUW's U.N. representative and the IFUW representatives work together and share leads and needs. They also work on some of the same NGO committees and advocate with the same coalitions.

NEXT STEPS

How can I get more involved with the United Nations?
AAUW members and others concerned with advancing U.N. issues can join the United Nations Association of the United States as individuals. (AAUW is a member of the group's Council of Organizations.) U.N.A-USA, part of a network of associations supporting the United Nations around the world, lobbies and serves as a leading center of policy research on the United Nations and global issues. It has 23,000 members nationwide.

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