By ACNS staff

The Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations (ACOUN) has honored Beth Adamson with its Award for Global Service for her dedicated work to strengthen Anglican women's presence at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW).

The Award, created in 2003, honors volunteer service that furthers the work of the Anglican Communion through the vehicle of the UN Office.

 “There is a person among us who has faithfully committed her time and considerable talents over eleven years to be sure that the representative participation of Anglican women from across the world in each [UNCSW] was as contributive and meaningful … as possible,” said ACOUN treasurer Marnie Dawson Carr at the award presentation in March in New York during the 59th UNCSW.

Adamson had become the official Anglican Consultative Council representative to UNCSW and was a “constant source of updated knowledge, wisdom and counsel to the ACOUN and CSW,” said Dawson Carr.

For the past ten years, Adamson has served on the Planning Committee for the annual UNCSW sessions and as Advisor to the Executive Committee of NGO CSW which oversees preparations for the NGO forum at the annual sessions.

Since 2011 she has been the co-chair of the UN Working Group on Girls (WGG), which advocates for the rights and empowerment of girls.

Adamson worked closely with then Under-Secretary-General Michelle Bachelet as the latter initiated the new role of Executive Director of UN Women. In 2013 Bachelet’s successor Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka asked Adamson to serve as a New York area Observer to the UN Women's Global Advisory Board.

“Since 2004 Beth has been central to the growth and strengthening of the Anglican Communion delegation to the UNCSW,” said Rachel Elizabeth Chardon, ACOUN General Program and Administrative Officer. “She has a natural ability to listen to others and what they might bring to the overall picture.”

“I have always felt it is a gift and an honor to be given the opportunity to work on behalf of social justice for women and girls within the domain of the UN, and every day I am grateful to the Anglican Communion for the privilege to do the work I feel called to,” said Adamson.  

The ACOUN Award for Global Service has been conferred only once before, in 2004, to Angela King, former UN Under-Secretary-General, who gave particular support to ACOUN work focusing on women and children.

The Anglican Communion opened its UN office in New York in 1991. Its aim is to lift up Anglican voices in key areas of concern at the United Nations, and to communicate the experience, goals, and vision of the UN to the Communion. Current focal areas are human rights, especially the rights of women and indigenous peoples; refugee and migration concerns; sustainable development; and the environment. 

Notes

Read more about the Anglican Communion delegation to the 59^th UNCSW.