It has been our desire to be connected to the 75 million Anglicans in 164 countries to inform you of what your office does.

As you maybe aware this office was established in the late 1980s and was accredited to the United Nations as a partner in Development; Disarmament; Freedom of Faith and Religion; and, Environment. Over the years these were further broken down to cover many areas of the United Nations Work and since 2001, to focus on the UN Millennium Goals (MDGs). The first Observer was Archbishop Sir Paul Reeves (NZ) for 3 years. His successor Bishop James Ottley of Panama left in 1998 to be replaced by the late Bishop Paul Moore for a very brief period and later by Bishop Herbert Donovan for about 2 years. I now occupy the seat as an Archdeacon Emeritus from the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The ministry of the Anglican Observer is essentially to knock at the doors of the United Nations and of government missions on the concerns of the Anglican Communion. Essentially this requires working together in partnership with appropriate Non Government Organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies. On the other hand the office wishes to keep the Communion informed about United Nations initiatives and how they could benefit from, or be effective partners to UN programmes. Due to limited resources (financial & personnel), the office has chosen to concentrate on six main areas:

Women – to make sure that the policies of the UN states do include a strong gender perspective;

Children – as an integral part of the Christian Family and the United Nations Decade for a Culture of Peace and non-violence for children (2001 to 2010);

Sustainable Communities (development) especially on environment issues (but also trade, poverty and international debt). We are committed to educating and organizing leaders to advocate for Sustainable Values as this critical debate continues at the Untied Nations;

Human Rights – a cross-thematic area to ensure all policies adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for the protection of the dignity of the rights of every individual in the world;

The Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Issues especially those who are living as minorities in their own countries; and;

Economic & Social Security especially in Countries under Conflicts.
The office works very closely with many NGOs in several Working groups some of which include the ones for Israel/Palestine; Iraq; Indigenous Peoples; Racism; Disarmament; and, the NGO for UN Commission on the Status of Women.

We will appreciate receiving feedback from you.

Benefactors

The recent efforts of the Office would not be possible without the assistance from the Benefactors:

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