I write from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, as one of over 4,000 NGO delegates from across the world attending this annual UN event, to deplore the systematic and widespread refusal of visas to many women from developing countries (‘Gender’ dispute, 19 March). US embassies and consulates appear to be mandated, under the present US administration, to bar applications from NGOs using quite unjustified demands for documents. These refusals are in breach of the 1947 agreement with the US, at the launch of the UN, that it should facilitate the participation of civil society in UN meetings in New York.
The UN CSW Bureau seems powerless to change the present US policy, which is appearing ever more racist, misogynist, and wishing to turn the clock back on women’s rights.
Margaret Owen
Director, Widows for Peace through Democracy
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