UN Commission Adopts Financing for Gender Ideology, Barely

By | March 28, 2024

NEW YORK, March 29 (C-Fam) The UN Commission on the Status of Women concluded in dramatic fashion last week as Nigeria came close to blocking the adoption of the commission’s annual agreement.

With eight minutes left before the scheduled end of the conference, Nigeria protested covert language related to abortion and homosexual/transgender issues. At this point, everyone thought the agreement was doomed. Feminist activists at UN headquarters held their breath.

“We have some reservations on the text, and it will be difficult at this point to adopt this document as it is,” the delegate from Nigeria said. “I don’t have instructions to proceed with adoption,” she said in a very deliberate way. There was a loud groan in the conference room. A moment of expected jubilation turned suddenly into a moment of dread.

Feminists were already disappointed because of the lack of progress on their sexual agenda. For the most part, this year’s agreement preserved the longstanding UN stalemate on social issues. While the agreement does not create or recognize rights to abortion or homosexual/trans issues, it allows UN agencies to surreptitiously promote abortion and gender ideology under the guise of “sexual and reproductive health.”

Many additions to this year’s agreement about anti-poverty policies and funding for a “gender perspective” were even hostile to the feminist agenda. For instance, language about “demand reduction”, widely understood to be against legal prostitution and pornography, was added for the first time. Language about “intimate partner violence”, understood to legitimize extramarital and homosexual relations, was removed from the agreement. Just to get an agreement, feminists gave up on controversial language related to sexual rights, abortion, and comprehensive sexuality education.

These concessions were not accidental. Feminists had a lot riding on this agreement. They needed it to be adopted. Taxpayers are the most important source of funding for gender ideology. It is the lifeblood of the cause.

Now, in the closing minutes of the two week conference, Nigeria stood in the way of a generational commitment from governments to keep funding a “gender perspective.” This includes funding for organizations that promote controversial issues like abortion, homosexual/transgender issues, as well as sexual autonomy for children.

Then Nigeria blinked. “I have instructions that Nigeria may support the adoption,” she said, as the room erupted into applause.

After adoption, Nigeria said it was “distasteful” and “unacceptable” that controversial language was being spread in all UN agreements. She called on the UN system to respect national laws and religious and cultural values.

A single delegation can block the adoption of the Agreed Conclusions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The commission’s rules require for the annual agreement to be adopted unanimously, without opposition of a single member of the forty-five strong commission.

Negotiations over the past four weeks were carried out under unprecedented strictures because of a shortage in funding for UN conferences. Diplomats accustomed to explaining their positions at length had their microphone cut off after only one minute and activists were whisked out of UN headquarters promptly at 6:00pm because of a shortage of security personnel.

Nigeria was not alone in opposing what many delegations called the “imposition” of controversial Western social policies over their objections. Nigeria’s position was echoed in statements from Qatar on behalf of Gulf states, the Russian Federation, Yemen, Iran, Indonesia, Mauritania, Tanzania, Djibouti, Libya, Cameroon, Pakistan, Belarus, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mali, Senegal, Nicaragua, Egypt, Argentina, Iraq, Burkina Faso, Burundi, and the Holy See.

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