We have not inherited the world from our
forefathers.
We have borrowed it from our children.
Kashmiri
proverb
Theme
for Triennium :
Women - Environment and Development
Begin
with ourselves
Protect nature
Work for development!
 When
Yvette Swan was reelected as the president
of the International Federation at the Twentieth
International Congress (1991) in Nairobi,
Kenya, she said, "I am honored that
you [the members] have elected me to serve
another term." She promised to focus
on the aims and philosophy of IFBPW and
to uphold them during her second term. Emphasizing
the importance of the theme for the biennium,
President Swan quoted Carl R. Rogers, "Unless
man can make new and original adaptation
to his environment as rapidly as his science
can change the environment, our culture
will perish."
BADGE
OF HONOR
The
Badge of Honor, IFBPW's highest award, recognized
members for their outstanding service. During
the 1991-1993 biennium, two members were
chosen to receive the award. They were Isabelle
Claridge Taylor (USA) and Margaret Lessing
(South Africa).
At
the opening ceremony of the Congress in
1993, the International Treasurer Willy
van Iersel-Jones presented the Badge of
Honor posthumously to Isabelle Claridge
Taylor for her outstanding service as International
Treasurer for fifteen years (1938-1953)
and as acting International President on
several occasions when Dr. Lena Madesin
Phillips was ill. After the Marjory Lacey-Baker
Trust/Madesin Phillips Fund was established
in 1971, Isabelle Taylor was one of its
trustees and served as IFBPW's liaison with
the bank coordinating all requests for grants
for many years. She was presented with a
Certificate of Appreciation at Congress
in 1987 for serving as a trustee for sixteen
years. When she died in April 1993 at the
age of 88, she was paid up as a "Friend
of IFBPW" through 1995. Her keen interest
in the International Federation, spanning
over fifty years, continued until her death.
She left a bequest to IFBPW to fund educational
activities.
Margaret
Lessing was presented with the Badge of
Honor at the Thirty-First National Congress
of BPW South Africa in 1992. She was a Member
of the IFBPW Board of Directors for several
years in the late 1960s representing South
Africa. In 1968 she was elected as Chairperson
of the International Publications Committee
and served in that position for two terms.
Her goal was to have the cost of the international
magazine Widening Horizons included in the
membership fee to ensure that every member
received a copy. Margaret Lessing encouraged
regional cooperation and helped organize
the first All Africa Regional Seminar in
1969.
INTERNATIONAL
HEADQUARTERS NEWS
Marianne
Haslegrave stepped down as General Secretary
at International Headquarters in November
1991 after serving more than three years
in the position. Olga Finnegan was the only
full-time staff member at International
Headquarters for most of the biennium and
carried on the day-to-day operations under
the often long distance direction of the
International President and Treasurer. When
it became financially feasible to hire a
replacement for Marianne Haslegrave in 1993,
the name of the position was changed from
General Secretary to Administrator and later
to Director. In a President's Message to
the membership, Yvette Swan said, "I
am very pleased to announce that, as of
January 1993, IFBPW welcomes the return
of Tamara Martinez as our Administrator.
She was a former General Secretary at International
Headquarters, is multilingual and has many
other skills which will be an asset to the
organization." The International President
personally thanked alga Finnegan for ''bravely
taking on the operations of the International
Headquarters" and Jeanne Owen (UK)
who "contributed so many hours of volunteer
service at Headquarters during the biennium."
IFBPW
REGIONS
AFRICA:
Erne Nwakamma-Okoro (Nigeria), Regional
Coordinator
The
Regional Coordinator reported that membership
in the African Region had risen during the
biennium. IFBPW joined forces with the Commonwealth
Medical Associations in Africa to hold a
workshop on "Women and AIDS" in
Malawi in 1991. Attending the workshop were
BPW members and members of National Medical
Associations from ten African countries.
Projects were formulated for implementation
by joint task forces in these countries.
The International Labor Organization organized
a workshop on "Entry into the Export
Market" in cooperation with BPW Nigeria
in 1992.
Three
Young Career Women (two from BPW Nigeria
and one from BPW South Africa) received
scholarships from the Management Symposium
for Women (Switzerland) whose president
was Rosmarie Michel (Switzerland), former
IFBPW President. The Young Career Women
attended a course on "Global Action."
The
Battipaglia Club of BPW Italy paid the expenses
of two members from Kenya and Nigeria to
attend a course in cheese making and fruit
preservation.
 ASIA
and the PACIFIC:
Patricia Harrison (Australia), Regional
Coordinator
Cooperation
among affiliates in the Asia and Pacific
Region took place between Thailand and Vietnam,
Singapore and China, and New Zealand and
Nepal according to Patricia Harrison, Regional
Coordinator.
Twenty
women factory workers with no prior schooling
were enrolled in the Nepal BPW Literacy
Programme launched during the last biennium
by the Nepal BPW Club. Although the Programme
was funded primarily by BPW New Zealand,
other affiliates such as Belgium and Canada
also contributed. The literacy rate for
women in Nepal was eight per cent, the lowest
in the world. The women completed the Programme's
first literacy course in reading, writing
and simple arithmetic and were awarded certificates
by Nepal's Minister of Education and Culture
at a graduation ceremony (March 1993) attended
by International President Yvette Swan;
Audrey Harris (New Zealand), Chairperson
of IFBPW's Projects Committee; and Anne
Knowles, President of BPW New Zealand.
BPW
Pakistan hosted a three day regional seminar
in Karachi (1991) on "Women and Development."
Coordinated by Salima Ahmed, the Federation's
President, women were invited from the developing
countries of Bahrain, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq,
Qatar, Senegal, Somalia and Syria. President
Swan attended the seminar. Topics of the
seminar were drug control, health and family
planning, industry, trade and entrepreneurship.
 A
four day IFBPW /UNIDO Workshop was held
in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1993 with the theme
"Women's Participation in Industrial
Policy and Decision Making in the Asia and
Pacific Region." Delegates from twelve
countries attended. It was followed by a
two day Regional Meeting. This was the second
Regional Workshop (the first was in Argentina
in 1991) on this topic arranged for IFBPW
by Barbel Chambalu, the UNIDO Coordinator.
She was also a keynote speaker at the workshop.
Three members of the IFBPW Executive Committee
including Yvette Swan (President), Livia
Ricci (First Vice President), Jane Sheridan
(Secretary); and Audrey Harris (International
Projects Chairperson) attended. Funding
and resource persons were provided by UNIDO
with the Australian International Development
Assistance Bureau providing assistance for
administrative and other related costs.
The Regional Coordinator, Patricia Harrison,
developed the program for the Regional Meeting
and coordinated arrangements with members
of the Associate Club in Nepal and their
President, Ambica Shrestha. Anne Knowles
(New Zealand) said that "the outcome
of the Workshop will be measured not only
by the personal and professional growth
of the participants, but also by future
programs developed by members in their own
countries and regions." The International
Executive Committee members extended their
deep appreciation to the UNIDO Coordinator,
Barbel Chambalu, for her role in organizing
the Workshop.
A grant
from the Marjory Lacey-Baker Trust/Madesin
Phillips Fund (set up for the promotion
of IFBPW in the Middle East) made possible
a three day regional conference for Arab
women. Held in Amman, Jordan, it was hosted
by the President of the Jordanian Federation,
In'am Mufti, and the President of the Amman
Club, Hind Abdel Jaber, under the patronage
of Her Royal Highness Queen Noor AI-Hussein
of Jordan. The dual purpose of the conference
was membership recruitment and exploration
of the theme "Women and Sustainable
Development." The International President,
First and Second Vice Presidents, Secretary
and Treasurer all attended the conference
and offered expert help with the membership
recruitment drive as well as chairing workshop
sessions.
 Invitations
and financial assistance to cover travel
expenses were extended to women from the
eight Middle Eastern countries of Bahrain,
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, United
Arab Emirates, and Yemen. President Swan
reported that "many of the women present
were interested in forming BPW organizations
in their own countries and women from Oman
and Yemen became Individual Associate Members
on the spot." She continued, "A
highlight of the conference was the honor
the Executive Committee conferred on Her
Majesty Queen Noor by making her an Honorary
Friend of IFBPW; the Queen was a long-time
Honorary Member and supporter of BPW Jordan.
The Queen promised to speak to the other
First Ladies of the Arab countries in order
to encourage them to support formation of
Business and Professional Women's organizations
in their own countries."
The
Queen officially opened the Regional Conference
and in her keynote address said, "The
discussions taking place at this conference
constitute part of a broader, long-term
drive to enhance women's contributions to
national development that is equitable,
balanced and sustainable. Our particular
challenge is to retain the fundamental positive
elements of the Middle East's family and
communal structures while expanding women's
opportunities to strike a balance between
the sheltering environment of the home and
the liberating environment of the community."
The
Jennifer Cox Memorial Trophy was won by
the Asia and Pacific Region for the best
visual display of regional projects at Congress
in 1993. The trophy was donated in memory
of Jennifer Cox (Jamaica), former Regional
Coordinator of North America and the non
Spanish-speaking countries of the West Indies
(1989-1993) and presented for the first
time in 1993.
EUROPE:
Mette Sundby-Brandt, (Denmark), Regional
Coordinator
The
Seventh European (EFBPW) Regional Congress
took place in Southampton, England, in May
1992 with the theme "Women - A New
Beginning." More than five hundred
delegates from twenty-four countries attended
including delegates from five Eastern European
countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Poland, Romania and Russia. These delegates
each described working conditions for women
in their countries. A delegate from the
Czech Republic said that women were in a
"no win situation" in her country
when trying to start a business because
"under the small business law, they
were required to have three years of work
experience which made it difficult for newly
trained women or those returning to the
workplace after some years. Legislation
raised another barrier for women by setting
a fixed quota of thirteen per cent of parliamentary
seats for women."
During
the biennium, Patricia Weijer (Netherlands)
worked very hard to produce the European
BPW Directory. Sylvia Perry (UK), International
Public Relations Committee Chairperson,
stated that "the Directory presented
a vital opportunity to strengthen communication
and the work we [BPW members] do together
towards the achievement of our BPW aims."
Mara Mosca (Italy) edited and distributed
a regional (European) newsletter.
Support
of the pioneering BPW Clubs in Eastern Europe
continued and strengthened during the biennium
with exchange visits, financial aid, and
workshops offering practical help.
Following
the European Congress in 1992, the Poole
Club (UK) had twinned with Poland's Poznan
East-West Club and the Warsaw Club. Five
members from BPW UK subsequently attended
the inauguration of Poland as a Federation.
Six members of BPW UK traveled to the Czech
Republic in 1993 to meet with BPW members
there to share ideas on professional development
and networking. Opportunities for exporting
and importing were identified as well as
areas in which BPW UK members could help
with training women in business and health
care.
BPW
Finland and BPW Sweden founded "The
Baltic Project" in 1991. After a period
of fund raising to support the project followed
by several exchange visits, a BPW Associate
Club was founded in Tallinn, Estonia. The
Tallinn Club (founded in 1992) held its
first official annual meeting in May 1993
with members from BPW Finland and BPW Sweden
present to celebrate the event. The Stockholm
(Sweden) Club twinned with the Tallinn Club
and paid the Club's International dues for
the first year. The Swedish and Finnish
Federations planned to continue the Baltic
Project and were already helping form additional
BPW Clubs in Estonia and the other Baltic
States.
While
visiting Romania, members of the Verona
East Club (Italy) were so impressed by the
determination of two Romanian BPW members
to set up a dressmaking business despite
having only one old sewing machine that
they decided to give them a new one. Livia
Ricci, a member of the Verona East Club
and IFBPW First Vice President, said that
their good intentions were rewarded when
PFAFF, manufacturer of sewing machines,
agreed to donate not one but two new machines
to the Romanian entrepreneurs.
LATIN
AMERICA and the Spanish-speaking countries
of the WEST INDIES:
Olga Margarita Ramirez de Rodriquez (Mexico),
Regional Coordinator
The
Regional Coordinator reported that she had
represented the International President
in March 1992 when CONALEP took over the
administration and operation of the IFBPW
Project Five-O School of Nursing in La Paz,
Mexico.
IFBPW
was represented at the Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 by three affiliates
from the Latin American region including
Argentina, Brazil, and Chile with display
material sent by Mexico and Panama. Amalia
Ruth Borges-Schmidt (Brazil) served as coordinator.
Olga Margarita Ramirez de Rodriquez, the
Regional Coordinator also attended.
Concluding
her four year term as Regional Coordinator,
Olga Margarita Ramirez de Rodriquez described
her region as "very strong" and
said that "women have entered the world
of work in unprecedented numbers."
NORTH
AMERICA and the non Spanish-speaking countries
of the WEST INDIES:
Jennifer Cox (Jamaica), Regional Coordinator
Shirley White (Canada), Acting Regional
Coordinator
 President
Swan wrote in the International magazine
Widening Horizons, "It is with great
sorrow that I must inform you of the death
of our Regional Coordinator, Jennifer Cox.
Jenny, as she was fondly known, was murdered
in her home along with her aunt and housekeeper
on April 6, 1993. She worked diligently
with affiliates in Jamaica, the Caribbean
and North America for four years."
Shirley White was appointed as Acting Regional
Coordinator for the last three months of
the biennium.
Jennifer
COX wrote her region's report for Congress
before her death. Shirley White presented
the report to Congress. It stated that the
highlight of the biennium had been the first
Regional Conference which was held in Jamaica
from February 25-27, 1993, hosted by BPW
Jamaica and attended by the International
President. There were four main topics:
IFBPW – The Way Forward; Activating
Membership in Local Clubs; Women, Environment
and Development; and AIDS – A Threat
to the Caribbean Woman. It was agreed that
regional conferences would be held every
three years and the next regional conference
was scheduled to be held in St. Maarten
in 1995. The final words of the report written
by Jennifer Cox were, "It has truly
been an honor and a privilege to be the
Regional Coordinator for the last four years."
MEMBERSHIP
COMMITTEE
The
Membership Committee Chairperson and International
First Vice President, Livia Ricci (Italy),
reported that there were, as of 1993, Federations
and Associate Clubs in 83 countries, a gain
of 6 countries since 1991. Including Individual
Associate Members, IFBPW now had representatives
in 98 countries. There were 46 Federations,
50 Associate Clubs and 20 Individual Associate
Members (IAMs). Six affiliates had increased
their membership during the bienmum.
The
Chairperson reported that the "One
to One" membership campaign initiated
in 1989 had continued. Each member was encouraged
to introduce a new member to the BPW organization.
Results of a membership questionnaire showed
that eighty-two per cent of the members
responding had been introduced to BPW by
a friend. Ninety-nine per cent considered
the international representation of the
organization as its most important aspect.
The Chairperson thanked individual members,
Clubs and Federations for contributing to
the sponsorship fund established during
the previous biennium which was used to
pay the dues of Individual Associate Members
(IAMs), Associate Clubs and Federations
in areas with currency problems and/or financial
need. At Congress in 1993, yellow ribbons
were sold for two dollars each to raise
additional money for the sponsorship fund.
A new
membership category called "State Federation"
was created by amending the constitution
at the 1993 Congress. The amendment reads
"where there is no affiliated [National]
Federation in countries that have a federal
system which comprises a secondary, semiautonomous
level of government called states, provinces
or other such terms, then such a state,
province or entity may become a State Federation.
A State Federation shall comprise a minimum
of three individual clubs with an aggregate
membership of not less than one hundred
members."
President
Swan said that "this amendment was
not geared to dismantle National Federations,
but to help our members from the United
States who choose to continue their affiliation
with the International Federation following
the abrogation of the National Federation
of Business and Professional Women of the
United States (BPW/USA) in 1992." Immediately
following the approval of this amendment
on July 6, 1993, representatives from the
states of California and Oregon applied
and were approved as IFBPW affiliates under
this new category of membership. President
Swan personally presented the Charter to
representatives of the California State
Federation of California - USA at Congress
in 1993. At the Fifty-Fifth Board Meeting
preceding the 1993 Congress, the state of
Kentucky -USA was approved as an Associate
Club in affiliation with IFBPW.
TREASURER/FINANCE
COMMITTEE
The
Finance Committee Chairperson and International
Treasurer, Willy van Iersel-Jones (Netherlands),
reported to Congress in 1993 that, "The
period since the last Congress has been
extremely difficult financially. The International
Federation's largest and oldest affiliate,
BPW /USA, was abrogated in November 1992
because of nonpayment of dues dating back
to the 1989/90 fiscal year. Although other
affiliates had been abrogated over the years
for this reason, the immediate financial
effect had been minimal; because BPW /USA
was IFBPW's largest affiliate, revenues
dropped by approximately fifty per cent
per year. Drastic measures had been taken
during the previous biennium to reduce expenses
and further reductions were necessary during
the 1991-1993 biennium, notably, doing without
a General Secretary/Administrator at International
Headquarters for most of the biennium. According
to the Treasurer, IFBPW was able to survive
economically over the past four years only
by withdrawing money from its Accumulated
Fund, through donations to the President's
Appeal Fund, and the generous financial
support of members who were "Friends
of IFBPW."
The
deficit for the fiscal year ending on March
31, 1993, was $22,000. Therefore, the Treasurer
proposed raising dues from the current rate
of £2.25 to £3.00 for 1994/95,
£3.25 for 1995/96 and £3.50
for 1996/97. Congress delegates approved
the increase.
The
Cochairpersons of the Friends of IFBPW Committee
(Ad Hoc), Willy van Iersel Jones and President
Swan, instituted a campaign during the biennium
to recruit new Friends (members who pledged
£100 per year) for IFBPW. The campaign
was quite successful and culminated in a
ceremony at Congress in 1993 recognizing
the organization's first Diamond Friend
(£700 per year), Katuo Hattori (Japan),
a member for many years. When presented
with a special pin by President Swan, she
said, "I will continue to increase
the membership of BPW!"
President
Swan expressed her personal thanks to the
Treasurer, Willy van Iersel-Jones, for fulfilling
her duties admirably over the period from
1989 through 1993. She told Congress that,
"We [IFBPW] have had the services of
the Treasurer's husband, Terry Jones, a
certified accountant, free of charge during
the biennium. There is no way that we can
express our gratitude for this valuable
service." She presented him with a
Certificate of Appreciation for volunteering
his time and expertise.
FUNDRAISING
COMMITTEE (AD HOC)
Margaret
Ling-Vannerus (Sweden), Chairperson of the
Fundraising Committee, reported that two
new methods of fundraising had been suggested
and were both successfully implemented at
Congress in 1993. The first new method suggested
was a raffle. Each affiliate was invited
to bring a gift from their country to be
used as a prize during a series of raffles
to be held during Congress. These raffles
were in lieu of the International Gift Shop
which had been operated at Congress since
1980 but had experienced limited financial
success recently.
The
second method of fund raising suggested
by the Committee was to hold an "IFBPW
Fundraising Hour" during Congress.
Fundraising Committee Chairperson Margaret
Ling-Vannerus organized the "Swedish
Business Initiative" at Congress which
included four speakers on subjects relating
to Swedish business and professional women.
During the fund raising hour, the Swedish
government, represented by His Excellency,
the Ambassador of Sweden in Japan, Magnus
Vahlquist, presented a symbolic check for
£10,000 to IFBPW representing money
raised during the biennium by Margaret Ling-Vannerus
through donations from Swedish businesses.
PUBLIC
RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Public
Relations Chairperson Sylvia Perry (UK)
described the emphasis of the Public Relations
Team as publicizing IFBPW within their own
regions and, in particular, promoting the
activities of prominent IFBPW members. The
Chairperson praised Committee member Jane
Pinto (Kenya) for regularly publicizing
in the Kenyan press the work of the International
Federation's Second Vice President, Beth
Mugo. She said that the Action Plan of the
Public Relations Committee to build a strong
communication network among affiliates would
take more than one term to implement. As
a start, all affiliates were urged to initiate
an "Awareness Campaign" making
known the International Federation's efforts
to reach the goals as stated in the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies in relation to
equality, development and peace. Sylvia
Perry's PR Team submitted press releases
to eleven newspapers during Congress and
published a daily summary of each day's
events called Congress News.
Widening
Horizons, the International magazine, was
published twice a year during the biennium.
Judith Marsh, a longtime BPW UK member and
a professional journalist with over thirty
years experience, took over as editor in
1992. She stated in her report to Congress
that it was her opinion that "money
was being wasted on the production of Widening
Horizons."
As
a result of the Public Relations Workshop
on communication held at Congress in 1993,
it was agreed to publish a monthly newsletter
(replacing the IFBPW Circular), to update
the computer system at International Headquarters,
and to establish an Ad Hoc Magazine Committee
to consider a new format and possibly a
new name for Widening Horizons. The last
issue of Widening Horizons in its current
format was edited by Judith Marsh and published
in November 1993.
AGRICULTURE
COMMITTEE
Agriculture
Committee Chairperson Jess Sanders (Zimbabwe)
reported that affiliates had studied and
participated in projects during the biennium
stressing the preservation of the environment.
Members of BPW Finland organized agricultural
workshops throughout the country focusing
on the relationship between agriculture
and the environment. BPW Pakistan observed
Earth Day and Tree Planting Day. The Pakistani
Minister of the Environment was a keynote
speaker at a program on sustainable development
hosted by the Islamabad Club. BPW Zimbabwe
participated in a project called "Environment
2000" by planting wood lots as part
of a reforestation campaign.
Members
of BPW Uganda launched a project during
the biennium teaching methods of food processing,
storage, preservation and preparation. Although
the country is endowed with good agricultural
conditions, crops were sold to raise cash
while families went hungry and millions
of Ugandan children suffered from malnutrition.
The Federation received 200,000 Ugandan
schillings from the Italian Embassy in support
of the project.
BUSINESS,
TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
This
Committee (formerly called the Business,
Trade and Marketing Committee) was upgraded
from an Ad Hoc to a Standing Committee as
of 1991. Amalia Ruth Borges Schmidt (Brazil),
the Chairperson, said that the key to IFBPW's
success in encouraging women in the fields
of business, trade and technology was providing
training programs and seminar/workshops
for women entrepreneurs and executives in
collaboration with outside agencies that
could provide technical and financial support.
She listed some examples of trade fairs,
programs and workshops held by affiliates
during the biennium. Affiliates in Brazil,
Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina cooperated
in holding a Trade Fair. The Associate Club
of Mozambique hosted an Industrial Trade
Presentation. BPW Panama sponsored an International
Trade Fair.
The
Programme for Development Cooperation at
the Helsinki School of Economics (PRODEC)
of Finland offered, in cooperation with
IFBPW, a third regional seminar in 1993
on "Business Management for Women Entrepreneurs."
The first was in Nairobi, Kenya before the
1991 Congress with a follow-up seminar in
Harare, Zimbabwe in 1992. PRODEC's Representative,
Saara Kehusmaa-Pekonen, attended Congress
in 1993 and reported on the seminar. Held
in Santiago, Chile (March 1993), twenty-one
businesswomen from fifteen Latin American
countries had been selected to participate
and were provided with financial assistance
from PRODEC. Elena Torres Seguel, President
of BPW Chile, and Amalia Ruth Borges-Schmidt
of BPW Brazil contributed to the seminar
program and invited a variety of regional
experts to take part. The goal was to improve
the skills of participants in business management
with the long-term objective of strengthening
the participation of women in the economy
of their countries.
Other
agencies, in addition to PRODEC, offering
programs relating to business, trade and
technology to members during the biennium
were CBI (Netherlands), ILO, UNDP, UNICEF,
UNIDO and UNIFEM.
DEVELOPMENT,
TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
Dorothy
Bain (Bahamas), Chairperson of the Development,
Training and Employment Committee, explained
that the terms of reference of this newly
formed committee included those of the former
Educational and Cultural Committee, in addition
to those areas denoted in its name. The
Committee's Action Plan for the biennium
called for affiliates to lobby their governments,
where necessary, to legislate mandatory
secondary education for girls and to provide
them with opportunities to participate in
science courses and technical programs.
A second part of the Committee's Action
Plan was to encourage promotion of the concept
of women's cooperatives to enable them to
pool resources and entrepreneurial skills.
Lucia
Quachey (Ghana), a member of the 1991-1993
IFBPW Projects Committee, as the Coordinator
of the Association for Women and Development,
applied for a grant from the Trickle Up
Program based in New York City, NY, USA,
and founded in 1979 for the purpose of reducing
poverty and unemployment among the low income
populations of the world. As part of the
"Enterprise Zone Initiative" -
a Trickle Up Program - she launched a business
enterprise zone which she named the "Rural
Industrial Village" in Otsew-Jukwa,
a village of 3,500 people, two-thirds of
whom were women and children. With grants
from Trickle Up, twenty owners of businesses
(including cassava processers, pottery and
bread makers) sold their products in the
"Rural Industrial Village." Lucia
Quachey reported that "women make up
seventy-two per cent of the entrepreneurs
participating in the Trickle Up project
and have demonstrated that they are a force
to be reckoned with in her community (Widening
Horizons, 1992,62:2, p.4)."
During
the biennium, the Hellenic Federation (BPW
Greece) held a seminar for the training
of twenty-one young women on "European
Community Issues and Trade Competition."
The
Chairperson thanked committee member Mara
Mosca (Italy) for her outstanding work in
sharing information on training and employment
opportunities for women. Mara Mosca also
held the complementary position of IFBPW's
Representative to the International Centre
for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training
(ILO Training Centre, Italy). She reported
that IFBPW had been introduced to women
participants in courses at the ILO Training
Centre from the African Region, Latin America,
Asia and most recently from Vietnam. Assisting
her at all seminars and special events was
Livia Ricci (Italy), International's First
Vice President and Membership Chairperson.
HEALTH
COMMITTEE
Doris
Channer-Watson (Jamaica) reported that her
committee's Plan of Action for the biennium
included three themes: health and the environment,
health and development, and a global strategy
on AIDS. Information received from the World
Health Organization and UNICEF was distributed
to affiliates on the subjects of prenatal
care and the safe motherhood initiative,
nutrition, population control and primary
health care.
A joint
IFBPW /National Medical Associations Regional
Meeting on AIDS was held in Blantyre, Malawi,
in December 1991 with affiliates representing
nine African countries. Funded by the World
Health Organization's Global Programme on
AIDS, it was particularly appropriate that
the first joint workshop involving the BPW
organization and national medical associations
was held in Malawi since six and a half
million of those currently infected with
AIDS lived in sub-Saharan Africa. The two
groups agreed to "join together to
combat the spread of the AIDS infection
and to promote measures to deal with the
consequences." According to the World
Health Organization, one in ten of those
infected with the AIDS virus are children
born to infected mothers.
An
interregional and multicultural cooperative
project to improve the health of women and
children was initiated in Malindi, Kenya,
by Franca Balsamo, a member of the Turin
Club in Italy. She had lived for five months
in the Malindi area carrying out research
there on maternity and childbirth conditions.
With the assistance of Mara Mosca (Italy),
IFBPW Representative to the ILO Training
Centre, and the Municipal Health Chief of
Malindi, a direct information health campaign
on dehydration caused by diarrhea was directed
to rural health workers and to mothers living
in Malindi. Dehydration caused by diarrhea
was the leading cause of death in infants
in Kenya and many parts of Africa. Members
of the Turin Club who were medical doctors
collaborated on an instruction booklet on
treating patients suffering from dehydration/
diarrhea. These were translated into Kiswahili,
the language of the recipients in Malindi.
Five hundred instruction packets on oral
rehydration therapy were published and Franca
Balsamo returned to Kenya to lead seminars
introducing the lifesaving instruction booklets
(Widening Horizons, 1993,63:1, p. 13).
The
Representative to UNICEF in Geneva, Rosa
Thea Creton (Switzerland), described a joint
initiative founded in 1990 by WHO and UNICEF
to encourage breast-feeding, now considered
to be an endangered practice around the
world in both developed and developing countries.
By encouraging hospitals to join in a "baby-friendly"
initiative, the two organizations hoped
to lessen the number of babies, estimated
in the millions, who die or are impaired
because they are not adequately breast-fed.
LEGISLATION
COMMITTEE
Jessie
Stegmann Bustos (Chile), Legislation Committee
Chairperson, listed two legal reforms relating
to married women that had been proposed
since 1989 when her country had ratified
the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW): the right of a woman
to enter into independent contracts, and
her right to administer and dispose of her
own property. Elena Torres Seguel, President
of BPW Chile, expanded on the Chairperson's
report by telling Congress participants
that although the ratification of CEDAW
had contributed to improvements in legislation,
these had not been fully translated into
reality; women were still paid less than
men for equal work, violence against women
took place inside as well as outside the
home, and a major consequence of the increase
in the divorce rate was that women shouldered
the burden of maintaining and educating
the children.
BPW
Chile chose to take action during the biennium
on the resolution adopted at Congress in
1991 on the Girl Child by encouraging legislation
to protect minors. The Federation was actively
involved in assessing a legislative bill
aimed at providing protection and support
for minors against all forms of abuse.
Delegates
of BPW Australia had passed a resolution
at their 1990 National Conference reaffirming
the Federation's commitment to pay equity
by agreeing to appear before the Australian
Industrial Relations Committee at all future
National Wage Cases to argue for equal pay.
In 1990 and 1991 the Federation made interventions
which cost approximately $A30,000. Although
unsuccessful, BPW Australia gained in many
ways - good publicity, respect of other
women's organizations, and a Pay Equity
Officer appointed by the Federal Government
(Widening Horizons, 1992, 62:1 p.14).
PROJECTS
COMMITTEE
Projects
Committee Chairperson, Audrey Harris (New
Zealand), reported that affiliates during
the biennium were very active and had carried
out projects relating to health, marketing
products, education, and influencing legislation.
The
decision had been made to raise funds for
the International Aid Fund and the Young
BPW Fund (for Young Career Women) through
a series of raffles at Congress. Each affiliate
was requested to contribute one item of
substantial value to be sold in a raffle.
Members participated in daily raffles culminating
with a grand raffle at the Farewell Banquet.
The money raised was earmarked to assist
members with monetary constraints and Young
Career Women in attending Congress. The
Projects Chairperson announced at the end
of Congress that the total raised by the
raffle amounted to $4,099. She thanked Congress
participants for their generous support.
PROJECT
FIVE-O MEXICO
The
Project Five-O Mexico Coordinator, Silvia
Salazar Salazar (Mexico) attended Congress
in 1993 and reminded members that she had
first outlined the project at Congress in
1985. Now she was pleased to report that
the School of Nursing had officially opened
in March 1992 with an enrollment of 158
students after representatives of CONALEP
(Colegio Nacional Profesional Tecnico -
the Technical Institute of Mexico) and IFBPW
signed a thirty year agreement giving CONALEP
responsibility for the administration of
the School of Nursing. CONALEP agreed to
provide and pay teachers, coordinate curriculum,
equip the buildings, workshops and laboratories
and pay the operating costs of the School
of Nursing. President Swan explained that
CONALEP had the option in the year 2022
of extending the thirty-year commitment,
but the buildings and land remained the
property of IFBPW (1993 Congress Proceedings,
p.25).
The
Coordinator told Congress that the main
requirement at the school at present was
construction of a new classroom because
enrollment had exceeded original projections.
The Projects Committee Chairperson, Audrey
Harris, made a motion at Congress that $33,000
be withdrawn from IFBPW's Project Five-O
Fund to cover the cost of a new classroom.
The motion was approved. President Swan
then thanked Silvia Salazar Salazar for
her eight year commitment to the project
saying, "It is good to know that our
own Project Five-O Mexico is operating successfully.
With almost two hundred students, the school
has become an asset to the city of La Paz
and will, in the future, provide urgently
needed health care to residents of the entire
region of Baja California Sur."
President
Swan urged members to contribute to the
general International Project Five-O account
which has underwritten projects in countries
on every continent. She hoped that members
would continue their generous support.
UNITED
NATIONS - STATUS OF WOMEN COMMITTEE/UNITED
NATIONS LIAISON OFFICER
Pam
Radge (UK), Chairperson of the United Nations
- Status of Women Committee, reported that
her committee had decided to concentrate
on three topics during the biennium: the
resolution on the Girl Child adopted at
Congress in 1991, Violence Against Women,
and the United Nations World Conference
on Women scheduled for 1995 in Beijing.
The Chairperson said that during the biennium,
the Thirty-Sixth (1992) and Thirty-Seventh
(1993) Sessions of the Committee on the
Status of Women (CSW) had taken place as
well as a special CSW sponsored seminar
on "Women in Extreme Poverty."
Strong IFBPW delegations, led by the International
President, had attended the Sessions of
the Committee on the Status of Women. IFBPW
statements on the effects of poverty and
violence on women were presented as well
as support given for the draft Declaration
on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence
Against Women to be considered by the United
Nations General Assembly in 1993. At its
Twelfth Session (1993), the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women reported that 119 countries had ratified
the Convention on the Discrimination Against
Women.
The
United Nations Liaison Officer and Second
Vice President, Beth Mugo (Kenya), said
that "collaboration with the UN agencies
and bodies had accelerated over the past
biennium with various regional seminars
and workshops jointly organized by IFBPW
in conjunction with the relevant UN bodies
including the ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNIDO,
and WHO.
The
UN World Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED), commonly called "Earth Summit"
and its accompanying "Global Forum"
for nongovernmental organizations was held
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. BPW Brazil,
led by Amalia Ruth Borges Schmidt, coordinated
an IFBPW workshop on "Business, Environment
and Development" with recommendations
of workshop participants forwarded to the
Secretary-General of the Conference, Maurice
Strong. BPW Brazil developed a project in
line with the biennium's theme, "Women
- Environment and Development," called
"Plant a Seed, Pick Up a Diamond."
At the opening of the Botanical Museum in
Curitaba, members of the local BPW Clubs
there distributed 100,000 tree seedlings
as a contribution to the Federation project.
Claire
Fulcher (USA), IFBPW Representative to the
UN in New York, was also UNIFEM's NGO Committee
Convenor. She reported that there had been
an explosion of activity during the biennium.
She observed that the United Nations (Fourth)
World Conference on Women: Action for Equality,
Development and Peace planned for 1995 was
serving as a catalyst for much of what IFBPW
Representatives were doing at the UN. Regional
Preparatory Meetings for the NGO Forum to
be held in conjunction with the Fourth World
Conference were scheduled to begin in 1994
and IFBPW members in Chile, Kenya and Thailand
were already on Regional NGO Planning Committees.
Esther Hymer (USA), the IFBPW Alternate
Representative to the UN in New York, was
the rapporteur for the NGO Planning Committee's
working group on "Employment and Entrepreneurship,"
an important subject for consideration at
the regional preparatory conferences in
1994. Representing IFBPW, President Swan
had made a statement to the Thirty-Sixth
Session (1992) of the Committee on the Status
of Women for consideration by the 1995 Forum
Planning Committee saying that "the
advancement of women had become a serious
economic issue and that it was no longer
primarily a social problem."
The
International President expressed her gratitude
for all the work Pam Radge, Chairperson
of the UN Status of Women Committee and
Beth Mugo, UN Liaison Officer had done over
the past four years on behalf of IFBPW.
"She also thanked all the UN Representatives
for the hard work they had done to ensure
that the voice of business and professional
women was heard at the UN.
YOUNG
CAREER WOMEN COMMITTEE (AD HOC)
The
Young Career Women (YCW) Task Force (appointed
in 1987) was upgraded to an Ad Hoc Committee
in 1991 with a Young Career Woman, Susanna
Engberg (Sweden), as its Chairperson. The
Committee's main tasks during its first
biennium were to establish a YCW Newsletter
and to plan a program for Young Career Women
attending Congress in 1993. The first issue
of the YCW Newsletter, edited by Fabiola
Kun (Mexico) was published in March 1992.
Three issues each year were circulated to
approximately one hundred Young Career Women
in thirty countries. The Chairperson described
it as a very important link between YCW
all over the world.
For
the first time in IFBPW history, a private
corporation sponsored members attending
Congress in 1993. The International Secretary,
Jane Sheridan (USA), had arranged the sponsorship
by Caltex Petroleum Corporation of three
Young Career Women. All Young Career Women
were eligible to compete for the "Caltex
Award." The three winners came from
Australia, South Africa and Thailand. There
were 35 Young Career Women at Congress in
1993 representing 19 countries. Kate Kent
(Australia), a recipient of one of the Caltex
Awards, described how she had answered a
reporter's question, "Is it possible
for one woman to attempt to tackle problems
of poverty, violence and environmental degradation?"
She answered, "Membership in a truly
international organization like IFBPW enables
one woman to work with other women to make
a difference."
21st
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS
NAGOYA, JAPAN, July 5-10, 1993
The
President of the hosting Japanese Federation,
Hatsue Ando, extended a warm welcome to
800 Congress participants representing fifty-two
countries and noted that this was the first
International Congress to be held in Asia.
International President, Yvette Swan, began
her welcome address with special acknowledgment
of two membership groups within IFBPW: the
"Friends of IFBPW" who had helped
the organization survive a period of great
financial hardship and the Young Career
Women who represented the future of the
organization. She told Congress participants
that, "We are here to regroup, review
and refuel so that we can go into the future
as a strong and powerful organization of
business and professional women - one which
will continue to train, stimulate and encourage
women from all walks of life to reach for
the highest pinnacles. We are here to work
on 'Taking IFBPW Forward,' the theme for
this Congress."
As
a participant in the panel discussion on
"IFBPW - The Way Forward," Daniela
Zappa-Molteni (Switzerland) suggested that
affiliates should adopt a universally recognized
designation in order to consolidate the
International Federation's image internationally
as the world's largest nonpartisan grouping
of women. To achieve this, she suggested
that each affiliate use the English translation
of their name, e.g., Swiss Federation of
Business and Professional Women and/ or
BPW Switzerland. She noted that many affiliates
had used this format for years. Another
participant, Anne Knowles (New Zealand),
encouraged development of partnerships through
"twinning" between affiliates
as the way forward and said that partnerships
already existed between many affiliates
including New Zealand and Nepal, Australia
and Bangladesh, and Singapore and India.
 The
coordinator of the Congress Workshop Day
was Sylvia Perry (UK) who worked with all
the IFBPW Committees to develop workshops
with the common goal of "Taking IFBPW
Forward" and linking the work that
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