#CSW63 Queen Mother Mission to Congress & State Dept. #CSW63QMM

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Friends of the African Union (FAU) is a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) in joint venture with New Future Foundation (NFF), a United Nations NGO in Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC and accredited with the 63rd Session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC, we ask for your attention and assistance in an important matter.

In the U.N. Headquarters Agreement signed on June 26, 1947 by United States and the United Nations;   Section 11 of the Headquarters Agreement prohibits the U.S. from imposing any restrictions on NGOs’ travel to or attendance at the U.N. #CSW63 #CSW63QMM

We, FAU and NFF, ask that the U.S. State Dept. create a uniform process at all embassies and consulates in order to streamline and standardize procedures and handling of these visas to ensure that our NGO colleagues who are registered through the extensive U.N. NGO process, are able to attend U.N. Commissions, meetings and conferences that take place here at the U.N. headquarters in New York City. It is crucial that Civil Society be allowed to participate at these important meetings and not be left behind in this process.

To that end a bus with over 2,000 signed petitions from CSW63 attendees will leave New York Thursday Morning to Washington DC with a Delegation led by the Chairwoman of New Future Foundation and the Senior FAU Queen Mother in our NFF CSO JV Queen Mother Dr. Deloris Blakely to petition the State Department and Congress on this issue. We call this Bus Trip the CSW63 Queen Mother Mission use #CSW53QMM

Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely champions the aspirations of women, youth, education, economic-social development and community relations. Queen Mother is a graduate of the Franciscan Handmaids of Mary College in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Religious Studies.
Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely is a Community Fellow {1981-82} at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology {MIT}, an Education Policy Fellow {1982-83} of the International Education Leadership {IEL}, a Fulbright Scholar in Tanzania and Nigeria {1984-85}; holds Master of Education Degrees from Harvard University {1982}, Teachers College and Columbia University {1983} and a Doctorate of Education Degree from Teachers College {1990}. She has published scholarly and popular books; and articles on self-reliance, education, recreation and culture.

Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely who carries the legacy of Queen Mother Audley Moore representing African Descendents of the Trans Atlantic Ocean of the Middle Passage and is an Ashanti Queen Mother. Queen Mother Moore was a leader and life member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League founded in 1914 by Marcus Mosiah Garvey. She lived to be almost 100 years old and fought for reparations at the United Nations as the founder of the Committee for Reparations for Descendants of U.S. Slaves.

In 1995, Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely was appointed “The Community Mayor of Harlem” and sworn in by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Her duties as the Community Mayor of Harlem is supporting the needs of youth, family and the community-at-large. In 2009, Queen Mother was appointed Goodwill Ambassador to Africa for her extensive travels and relationships with the African Union (and its respective countries within the African region) to the United Nations. She is tasked with dealing with women, children and human rights issues of the African Diaspora and serves to share these findings with the United Nations.

Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely was mentored by notables, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Former President of Tanzania and Dr. Angie Elizabeth Brooks, First Woman President of the General Assembly at the United Nations. She is a life-long student and practitioner of the visual arts, music, dance, modeling, law, business, and social work. Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely serves the World as a Humanitarian Trailblazer for Human Rights, Women, Children and Eliminating Poverty worldwide.

We, FAU and NFF, are seeing an unprecedented number of denials of visas for women who are registered as U.N.NGO representatives for the CSW63 sessions, and who are residing outside the U.S.

We have discovered that the U.S. State Department in some consulates and embassies have been requiring such documents as marriage certificates, proof of property ownership, letters stating employment status, proof of finances and even proof of birth certificates or proof showing that they have children as part of the requirements needed for a visa to be issued in order attend these U.N. CSW63 Sessions.

We ask that the U.S. State Dept. create a uniform process at all embassies and consulates in order to streamline and standardize procedures and handling of these visas to ensure that our NGO colleagues who are registered through the extensive U.N. NGO process, are able to attend U.N. Commissions, meetings and conferences that take place here at the U.N. headquarters in New York City.

It is crucial that Civil Society be allowed to participate at these important meetings and not be left behind in this process.

To that end a bus with over 2,000 signed petitions from CSW63 attendees will leave New York Thursday Morning to Washington DC with a Delegation led by the Chairwoman of New Future Foundation and the Senior FAU Queen Mother in our NFF CSO JV Queen Mother Dr. Deloris Blakely to petition the State Department and Congress on this issue.

We call this trip the Queen Mother Mission or #CSW53QMM

Background: We are seeing an unprecedented number of denials of visas for women who are registered as U.N.NGO representatives for the CSW63 sessions, and who are residing outside the U.S.

In the U.N. Headquarters Agreement signed on June 26, 1947 by United States and the United Nations; Section 11 of the Headquarters Agreement prohibits the U.S. from imposing any restrictions on NGOs’ travel to or attendance at the U.N. #CSW63#CSW63QMM

The sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women (#CSW63) is taking place right now at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 22 March 2019. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world (over 9,000) are expected to attend the session.

Themes

Priority theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

Review theme: Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development based on agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session.

We have discovered that the U.S. State Department in some consulates and embassies have been requiring such documents as marriage certificates, proof of property ownership, letters stating employment status, proof of finances and even proof of birth certificates or proof showing that they have children as part of the requirements needed for a visa to be issued in order attend these U.N. CSW63 Sessions.

The U.S. obligation to admit foreign nationals, including NGO’s, to the United States in order to participate at the U.N. is set forth in the U.N. Headquarters Agreement signed on June 26, 1947 by US Secretary of State George Marshall and U.N. Secretary General Trygve Lie. Section 11 of the Headquarters Agreement prohibits the U.S. from imposing any restrictions on NGOs’ travel to or attendance at the U.N.

volume-11-I-147-English-UN-HQ-Agreement

The above noted requirements as conditions needed to be met in order for a NGO’s visa approval to attend UN sessions are not set forth in the Agreement.