Minhaj-ul-Quran International attended and actively participated in the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women organized by the UN Women at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA. MQI has special consultative status within the UN since 2011 and is continuously invited to UN meetings and conferences around the world, including North America and Europe. MQI North America representatives, Sister Safyah A. Malik, member of the Social Media Coordination Council of MQI and President of MYL Sisters in Canada, and Sister Aisha Ahmed, executive member of MYL Sisters Canada attended the UN conference on behalf of Minhaj-ul-Quran International from Monday 12th March to Friday 16th March 2018. The opening ceremony of the conference was held at the UN General Assembly Hall.
The representatives of Minhaj-ul-Quran International attended the following 11 official UN conference events throughout the week. They networked and spoke about the work of MQI and Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri with a variety of diverse change makers and dignitaries from around the world at:
Various sessions attended by MQI representatives were:
1. Session by dignitaries of Malawi
PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS AND CSOS IN HARNESSING DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDENDS THROUGH EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN AND GIRLS: "YOUNG WOMEN STAND-UP BE COUNTED"
2. Session by Government of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Title: CELEBRATING AND ADVANCING WOMEN'S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
3. Session by NGO CSW, hosted by Director of Civil Society, UN Women
Title: INFORMAL NGO MORNING BRIEFING
4. Session by Inter-Parliamentary Union
Title: PARLIAMENTARY MEETING AT THE 62ND SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: PARLIAMENTS DELIVER FOR RURAL WOMEN AND GIRLS
5. Session by UN WOMEN
Title: TOWN HALL MEETING WITH THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND CIVIL SOCIETY ON THE MARGINS OF THE CSW
6. Session by NGO CSW, hosted by Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason (Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations, New York)
Title: INFORMAL NGO MORNING BRIEFING
7. Session by Inter-Parliamentary Union
Title: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN POLITICS
8. Session by The Government of Japan
Title: PREVENTING VIOLENT EXTREMISM THROUGH WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL: LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH PEACE AND SECURITY PROGRAMMING
9. Session by NGO CSW hosted by Executive Director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-ngcuka
Title: INFORMAL NGO MORNING BRIEFING
10. Session by UN Women, The UN Global Compact and UN Office of Partnership
Title: 2018 WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT PRINCIPLES FORUM
11. Session by The Government of Finland, UN Women, United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)
Title: INCLUSIVE PEACEBUILDING: GENDER PERSPECTIVES FROM AND ON LIBYA
During the above events, different dignitaries were personally introduced to the extensive work of Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Huzoor Sayyidi Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. They were also gifted books written by Shaykh-ul-Islam and engaged with the MQI representatives with growing interest regarding the ongoing projects and work of MQI:
MQI Representative, Safyah A. Malik speaking in the informal NGO briefing with Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Under-Secretary-General for the UN. (Pictured above)
In the Informal NGO Briefing hosted by the Executive Director of UN Women, Under-Secretary-General at the UN Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, all the participating NGOs were asked to present questions relating to each NGOs field of work, the discussion was based on how the UN can help in terms of women around the world who are being abused. Minhaj-ul-Quran was the only NGO at the UN who was representing Muslim women living in the West. The issue of young women in the West who are abused, oppressed and brainwashed into becoming "Jihadi Brides" was discussed and how the terrorist organizations around the world wrongfully used international policies to influence and try to justify their views to the vulnerable Muslims in the West. The question was posed on how the UN were working on improving policies around the world that are reinforcing violence against women and children around the world. The extensive peace-building projects of Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri were explained on the floor of the UN meeting, including the 600-page Fatwa by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. Sister Safyah explained MQI's ongoing work, both in the West and the Muslim countries, to provide strong evidences against the terrorist organizations, and the importance of presenting the counter-narrative of the terrorist ideology.
Below is a list of dignitaries who also spoke to the MQI representatives and were interested in the work, vision and ongoing projects of Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri:
- Guadalupe Marengo, Deputy Director - Head of Global Human Rights Defenders Team, Amnesty International (LONDON, UK)
- Aaron Holz, Senior Policy Adviser: Human Rights and Gender Equality, United Kingdom Mission to the UN, New York. (USA
- Jannicke Graatrud, Chief of Staff, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Norway (NORWAY)
- Lynn Maher, Programme Action Chair, Scotland South Region, Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland (SCOTLAND)
- Gerry Kelly, First Secretary Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN (USA)
- Clara Cheptoo, Chief Officer, Gender, Culture & Social Services, County Government of Bomet, Kenya (KENYA)
- Sara Ahmad, National Council of Women of Great Britain (NOTTINGHAM, UK)
- Adrienne J. Sumler, EPIC Network headed by the Bishop of France (FRANCE)