 Each
woman, as a citizen, must bring to the national
policy
of her own country the contribution of forward-looking
and
constructive thought followed by determined
action. Each
woman must dedicate herself to protect and
promote the
interests of all other women in business
and the professions.
We invite the women of every nation to participate
in this
effort and every man who is in sympathy
with it to lend us
his moral support.
Dr.
Lena Madesin Phillips
Theme
for Triennium:
Taking Business and Professional
Women Forward
| In Politics |
.......................1993-1994 |
| In Business |
.......................1994-1995 |
| In the Professions |
.......................1995-1996 |
 Livia
Ricci was elected the sixteenth president
of the International Federation at the Twenty-First
International Congress (1993) in Nagoya,
Japan. A member of the Verona BPW Club (Italy)
since 1960, she has held positions of leadership
in BPW at the local, national, regional
and international levels since 1962. Preceding
her election as International President,
she was the International First Vice President
(1989-1993).
Livia
Ricci was introduced to BPW soon after her
marriage to Dr. Cesare Ricci, a surgeon.
She was not employed at the time but had
previously worked as a pharmacist in a "private"
pharmacy. The wife of one of her husband's
colleagues invited her to her first BPW
meeting. Following the meeting, she decided
to return to work only to discover that
women were not eligible for the position
of pharmacist in "public" pharmacies
in her province. Despite holding a Doctor
of Pharmacy degree from the University of
Modena and previous experience as a pharmacist,
she was not permitted to apply for the job
in her local "public" pharmacy.
This career obstacle reinforced her interest
in BPW and was a catalyst in her decision
to dedicate herself to a lifetime of encouraging
and promoting the advancement of women.
After returning to school at the University
of Padova and earning a degree as a Specialist
in Public Hygiene, she became the Public
Relations Director of an international pharmaceutical
company.
As
International President, Livia Ricci defined
her most important goals for the triennium
as the development of a clear identity for
IFBPW in coordination with action as an
effective opinion-making organization.
IFBPW
PRESIDENT - LADY LITTLEWOOD
1965-1968 United Kingdom
IN
MEMORIAM
It
is with great sadness that we inform you
of the death of Lady (Barbara) Littlewood
on October 17, 1995. With her passing, we
have lost a willing smile, a good listener,
an uncritical friend. There are many who
benefited from her wisdom. Lady (affectionately
known as "Bill") Littlewood, a
solicitor, served as International President
from 1965 to 1968 as well as National President
of BPW United Kingdom from 1956 to 1960.
With an enduring positive attitude toward
improving the status of women everywhere,
she attended thirteen Congresses and eight
midterm Board Meetings over a period of
thirty-two years and was looking forward
to going to the XXII International Congress
in Venice in 1996.
INTERNATIONAL
HEADQUARTERS NEWS
A number
of improvements at International Headquarters
enabled Tamara Martinez, Director of IFBPW,
and her staff to work more efficiently during
the triennium. Through the efforts of International
Secretary Jane Sheridan, the Caltex Petroleum
Corporation donated two computers and software
to International Headquarters. Katherine
Peden, President of BPW Kentucky/USA, served
as Chairperson of the Computer Upgrade Task
Force for the 1993-1996 triennium. With
extensive volunteer advice and help from
Doug Hawkinson of the USA, a computer systems
expert, a new computer system was installed
at International Headquarters in 1994.
IFBPW
REGIONS
AFRICA:
Elvina Mutua (Kenya), Regional Coordinator
Circulars
were distributed by the Regional Coordinator
to affiliates encouraging them to "twin"
and use the "Platform for Action"
adopted at the Fourth World Conference on
Women as a springboard for plans of action
in their own countries.
The
Associate Club of Lesotho held a three-day
workshop during the triennium for businesswomen
from countries in southern Africa on the
theme "Women in Business, Southern
African Scenario 2000." An International
Forum on "Career and Family - Ode to
Womanhood" was sponsored by the Associate
Club of Mauritius in 1994 and focused on
gender issues in career development and
problems facing working women as the pillar
of the "smallest democracy - the family."
ASIA
and the PACIFIC:
Patricia Harrison (Australia), Regional
Coordinator
The
first of two Asia and Pacific Regional Meetings
was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 1994
with the theme "Women in Power."
The Meeting was hosted by Jarnsamorn Vatanavekin,
President of BPW Thailand and Bhasna Suwansathien,
President of the Bangkok Club. Delegates
from twelve countries as well as International
President Livia Ricci and Second Vice President
Yunsook Hong attended.
The
second Regional Meeting was held in Beijing
in September 1995. Nine countries were represented.
The Associate Club of Hong Kong reported
that their "Send a Sister to Beijing"
fundraising effort had netted HK$10,000
enabling five women to attend the Fourth
World Conference on Women and parallel NGO
Forum '95.
Although
China was one of the sixteen countries represented
at the Inaugural Meeting of IFBPW in 1930,
it wasn't until 1994 that the first BPW
Club in China became affiliated. The official
Chartering Ceremony of the newly formed
Beijing BPW Club took place in Beijing on
September 24, 1994. Presenting the Charter
were Yunsook Hong, International Second
Vice President, and Pat Harrison, Regional
Coordinator of the Asia and Pacific Region.
Patricia
Harrison reported that IFBPW was the first
international women's organization with
an affiliate in Vietnam; the Hanoi BPW Club
was chartered in May 1995.
EUROPE:
Sylvia Perry (UK), Regional Coordinator
The
Eighth Regional Congress of BPW Europe took
place in Vienna, Austria, in October 1994
under the coordination of Sylvia Perry,
Regional Coordinator for Europe, and Ilse
Spritzendorfer, President of BPW Austria.
More than five hundred European members
gathered to discuss the political, financial,
economic and social progress of women. IFBPW
President Livia Ricci, First Vice President
alga Margarita Ramirez de Rodriquez (USA)
and International Projects Chairperson Audrey
Harris (New Zealand) also attended the Congress.
Renata Blodow (Germany), IFBPW Representative
to the European Women's Lobby, reported
that 25 per cent of the Members in the European
Parliament were women in 1994, an increase
of 6 per cent since 1989. The Swedish Parliament
was composed of 40 per cent women in 1994,
the highest percentage in the world.
When
BPW members from Poland made a plea for
assistance in marketing and self-development
techniques, Norma Huddy, President of BPW
UK responded. She secured funding for a
six-member delegation from BPW UK to travel
to Poland in 1994 for "a programme
of meetings with people in the fields of
business, professions and public service
and to provide a marketing seminar."
The delegation was chosen for their specific
skills in the fields of marketing, law,
finance and management skills. More than
fifty women from BPW Poland and other women's
organizations attended the marketing seminar
held in Warsaw. Edwina Bicker, Norma Huddy,
Sylvia Perry, Jean Skinner, and Pat Zadora,
all members of BPW UK, led the seminar.
Members
of the Poznan East-West Club (Poland) and
Sylwia Zapalska, their President, traveled
to Russia and introduced Teresa Konopelko
of St. Petersburg to the history and aims
of IFBPW. She decided to found a BPW Club
in St. Petersburg. In the May 1994 issue
of BPW News International, Teresa Konopelko
said, "We have established a strong
bond ['twinned'] with our sisters [of the
Poznan E-W BPW Club] and often exchange
visits and reports on activities and meetings."
LATIN
AMERICA and the Spanish-speaking countries
of the WEST INDIES:
Amalia Ruth Borges Schmidt (Brazil), Regional
Coordinator
The
first Latin American and West Indies Regional
Congress was hosted by BPW Panama under
the leadership of President Rosa San Martin
de Munos in Panama City from August 13 to
17, 1995. It coincided with the fiftieth
anniversary of the first BPW club in Latin
America (Mexico 1945) and the tenth anniversary
of the establishment of IFBPW Regions. Over
150 delegates representing 14 countries
were present. Amalia Ruth Borges Schmidt
said, "The Congress was a symbol of
the will of the affiliated countries to
organize themselves and grow as a region."
The Regional Coordinator initiated the publication
of a Regional newsletter during the triennium.
To
mark the UN International Year of the Family
(IYF) 1994, the Santiago BPW Club (Chile)
hosted a regional seminar on "Realities
of Families in Latin America and the Caribbean"
from April 14 to April 16, 1994. Members
from nine countries attended as well as
International President Livia Ricci. Elena
Torres Seguel, President of BPW Chile, welcomed
participants to the seminar which focused
on the major theme of IYF - how to strengthen
and improve family life and make the family
"the smallest democracy in the heart
of society."
BPW
Argentina, under the leadership of President
Cristina Goytia, held four workshops during
the regional preparatory meeting (Mar del
Plata, Argentina 1994) for the Fourth World
Conference on Women.
NORTH
AMERICA and the non Spanish-speaking countries
of the WEST INDIES:
Shirley White (Canada), Regional Coordinator
A Regional
Meeting was hosted by the Associate Club
of St. Maarten under the leadership of President
Jacynth Bryan-Labega from March 24 to March
26, 1995. Shirley White described it as
a "truly international meeting with
President Livia Ricci (Italy) in attendance
as well as Patricia Harrison (Australia),
Olga Margarita Ramirez de Rodriquez (USA),
Dagmar de Alvarez (Panama), and two BPW
UK members." The theme of the Meeting
was "Taking Business and Professional
Women Forward in Business." Enid Cox
(Pacific Rim/USA) presented a workshop on
"Starting a Home-Based Business."
Joan Browne (Jamaica) spoke on the topic
of "Time Management" and Gail
Jones (Canada) discussed the "Behavior
of a Successful Manager."
Radhica
Saith, a member of the South Trinidad BPW
Club for twenty-four years, published a
book in 1994 called Why Not A Woman? It
contained biographical sketches of successful
working women in Trinidad and is being used
in the schools as a vehicle for teaching
race/ gender relations.
MEMBERSHIP
COMMITTEE
Olga
Margarita Ramirez de Rodriquez (USA), Membership
Chairperson and International First Vice
President, reported growth in membership
in all IFBPW Regions during the triennium.
As of October 1995 there were affiliates
in 105 countries, a gain of 7 countries
since 1993.
Mara
Mosca (Italy), IFBPW Representative at the
ILO Training Centre in Turin, Italy, assisted
in the founding of the first BPW Club in
Mauritania. Irabiha Abdel Wedoud, a participant
in a five-week course at the ILO Centre
in 1994, listened to an introductory speech
about IFBPW presented by Mara Mosca and
became so interested that she decided to
found a BPW Club. Armed with an IFBPW affiliation
form and copies of "Assistance for
Women Entrepreneurs by Women Entrepreneurs,"
compiled by Past IFBPW Treasurer Willy van
Iersel-Jones (Netherlands), she returned
to her country and introduced BPW to the
women of her hometown. Irabiha Abdel Wedoud
was elected as the Founding President of
the Nouakchott BPW Club (Mauritania) in
1995. Tamara Martinez, Director of IFBPW,
paid this tribute to Mara Mosca, "As
well as being a catalyst for new membership,
Mara Mosca has been an invaluable and indefatigable
link between the ILO Training Centre and
IFBPW by ensuring the participation of many
BPW members from developing countries and
from Eastern Europe in the excellent workshops
and seminars run by the Centre."
"FRIENDS
of IFBPW" COMMITTEE (AD HOC)
Yvette
Swan (Bermuda), Chairperson of the "Friends
of IFBPW" Committee, reported that
"Friends of IFBPW" had celebrated
its tenth anniversary in October 1995. There
were six categories of "Friends"
who pledged yearly financial support to
IFBPW as follows: Diamond Friend - £700
or more; Diamond Club - £700 or more;
Individual Friend - £100; Friendship
Club - £100; Sustaining Member - £17;
and Sustaining Club - £35. The Chairperson
paid tribute to all members who supported
IFBPW by becoming "Friends" thus
ensuring a source of supplementary income
that had helped the organization survive
and grow. Ursula Schulthess (Switzerland),
as Finance Committee Chairperson in 1985,
initiated the founding of the "Friends
of IFBPW." She appealed to members
to join the tenth anniversary celebration
by becoming a "Friend of IFBPW."
A Friends of IFBPW newsletter was inaugurated
during the triennium.
TREASURER/FINANCE
COMMITTEE
Mary
Callaway (Australia), Treasurer and Finance
Committee Chairperson, reported that currency
restrictions and financial hardship continued
to plague some countries. Seventeen affiliates
responded during the triennium to the Treasurer's
appeal for contributions to help pay the
dues of those in need of financial assistance.
MAGAZINE
COMMITTEE (AD HOC)
Following
a Congress recommendation in 1993, an Ad
Hoc Magazine Committee was formed with IFBPW
Secretary Jane Sheridan (USA) as Chairperson.
The major responsibility of the committee
was to suggest a new name and redesigned
format for Widening Horizons, the IFBPW
magazine. The last issue of Widening Horizons
was published in November 1993. A study
was undertaken during the triennium to determine
the feasibility of having the magazine professionally
produced with inclusion of advertisements.
A questionnaire was sent to affiliates for
suggestions for a new name for the magazine.
As of 1995, no decision had been made about
publication of a redesigned magazine. The
Magazine Committee worked to develop a useful
and informative format for BPW News International,
a new monthly newsletter first published
in September 1993, that replaced the IFBPW
Circular.
AGRICULTURE
COMMITTEE
Noor
Mazhar (Pakistan), Chairperson of the Agriculture
Committee, listed her committee's recommendations
for action during the triennium: work towards
the representation of women agriculturalists
in legislative bodies; help pass laws relating
to agricultural reforms; promote the involvement
of women in agribusiness, forestry, fish
farming, beekeeping, cattle breeding and
raising poultry; and identify sources of
financial incentives for women in agriculture.
Noor
Mahzar and Salima Ahmed, President of BPW
Pakistan, organized two workshops on "Women
in Agriculture" during the triennium
in Pakistan. The first one (December 1994)
was held in the rural village of Kathore
with the goals of: creating awareness among
women of their rights as agricultural workers,
promoting local products and introducing
agricultural methods relating to increased
production. President Salima Ahmed concluded
the workshop by making a strong appeal to
increase the access of girls and women to
education in the backward, rural areas of
Pakistan. She said, "At a time when
many have reached the moon, our women are
still frogs in the well." The second
workshop was held at the BPW Pakistan Working
Women's Hostel in July 1995 during "Plantation
Week." It featured a demonstration
of how to grow a "Kitchen Garden"
to produce vegetables in a limited space.
Fiorella
Turco Milan (Italy), Agriculture Committee
member from the European Region, reported
that the projects of BPW Italy relating
to women in agriculture were in two categories:
projects to increase the importance of the
women's role in family agricultural enterprises
and projects to assist women owners of agricultural
enterprises.
BUSINESS,
TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
Dagmar
de Alvarez (Panama), Chairperson of the
IFBPW Business, Trade and Technology Committee,
was in charge of promoting the regional
Trade Fair (EXPOMUJER) held in Panama City
after the Latin America and West Indies
Regional Congress from August 17 to August
20, 1995. Products manufactured by companies
run by women from all the countries of the
Region were displayed at the Trade Fair.
Dagmar de Alvarez also arranged for PRODEC
(Finland) and CBI (Netherlands) to organize
seminars on foreign trade to run concurrently
with the Trade Fair. Amalia Ruth Borges
Schmidt (Brazil), Regional Coordinator of
Latin America and the West Indies, complimented
Dagmar de Alvarez for her entrepreneurial
spirit and said that she was "truly
an inspiration for all BPW members around
the world."
Under
the leadership of the European Coordinator
of the Business, Trade and Technology Committee,
Saara Kehusmaa-Pekonen (Finland), IFBPW
and PRODEC (Programme for Development Cooperation
at the Helsinki School of Economics) collaborated
on a "Workshop on Cross-Cultural Business
Negotiations" held August 23-28, 1995,
in Beijing. Women entrepreneurs and managers
from the Asia and Pacific Region were invited
to apply for full scholarships; the twenty
women selected as Workshop participants
came from nine countries in the region and
included many BPW members. Giles Blanchi,
a lawyer from the International Development
Law Institute in Rome, was the main lecturer.
Past IFBPW President Tuulikki Juusela (Finland);
Saara Kehusmaa Pekonen (Finland), Executive
Director of PRODEC and IFBPW's European
Coordinator for the Business, Trade and
Technology Committee; and Akiko Sasamoto
(Japan), Asian Coordinator of the IFBPW
Theme Committee, led discussions and negotiation
exercises during the Workshop. President
Livia Ricci and Pat Harrison (Australia),
Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific,
described the history and aims of IFBPW
to participants of the Workshop. This was
the third time IFBPW and PRODEC had collaborated
on programs for women entrepreneurs and
managers. The first and second joint programs
were four-week seminars held in Nairobi,
Kenya (1991) and in Santiago, Chile (1993).
Motivated
by the triennium theme "Taking Women
Forward in Business," the Finnish Federation
compiled a national directory of businesswomen.
The New Zealand Federation established an
award (NZ$2,500) during the triennium to
recognize a woman who provided a service
or product to women or created employment
opportunities for women. Following participation
in a women's trade fair in Sweden, members
of BPW Estonia sponsored their own trade
fair in Talinn.
DEVELOPMENT,
TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE/ILO
The
International Labor Organization celebrated
its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1994. IFBPW
has worked closely with the International
Labor Organization since 1930 and was granted
consultative status (special list) in 1957.
IFBPW Representatives to the ILO, Angela
Butler and Irene Robady from Switzerland,
attended the Eighty-First (1994) Session
of the International Labor Conference and
reported that the Committee on Part-time
Work was developing recommendations to ensure
that part-time workers enjoy similar rights
and work conditions as those of full-time
workers. The ILO Committee on Salaried Employees
and Professional Workers adopted a resolution
at its Tenth Session (1994) on "Promoting
of Equality and Treatment of Women in Commerce
and Offices." An International Forum
in Geneva in 1994 on "Equality for
Women in the World of Work: Challenges for
the Future" was sponsored by the International
Labor Organization.
ENVIRONMENT
COMMITTEE
The
Environment Committee was established in
1993 in recognition of IFBPW's history of
interest and participation in environmental
issues. Representatives attended the United
Nations International Conference on the
Human Environment in 1972, the first global
meeting on the subject. Representatives
also attended the UN World Conference on
Environment and Development in 1992. IFBPW
members participated in projects relating
to the protection of the environment and
the sustainable use of resources such as
the "Green Belt Reforestation Movement"
and "Water for Health" projects
in Kenya. Debra Dorrington (New Zealand),
the Environment Committee's first Chairperson,
worked during the triennium to develop guidelines
for the new committee.
BPW
New Zealand introduced an annual "Environment
Award" (NZ$2,000) in 1993 to be given
to a woman involved in research or study
relating to the environment.
Gwendoline
Burnley, Founding President of the Limbe
BPW Club (Cameroon), reported that grants
for" Africa 2000" from the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) financed
her club's "Fuel Wood Tree Planting
Project." The first phase was completed
in 1994-1995 with the establishment of a
Tree Nursery of 30,000 seedlings in the
Fako Division of the South West Province
of Cameroon. Twenty members were trained
as "Tree Planting Coordinators"
before planting the seedlings. Gwendoline
Burnley also secured grants from the Trickle
Up Program (an organization, based in New
York City, dedicated to creating new opportunities
among low-income populations of the world)
for women to build "Chorkor Ovens,"
a fuel-saving device for fish, meat and
vegetable drying.
IFBPW
was represented at a conference sponsored
by UNESCO on "Environment and Development"
in June of 1994 and at the UNIDO-sponsored
NGO Forum on "Cleaner Industrial Production"
in Vienna, Austria, in 1995.
HEALTH
COMMITTEE/WHO
Women's
health was a major focus of the Fourth World
Conference on Women (FWCW) in Beijing in
1995. Cristina Goytia (Argentina), Chairperson
of the Health Committee, and her committee
prepared a magazine spotlighting women's
health for distribution at the FWCW.
 Michelle
Gerber (Switzerland), IFBPW Representative
to WHO, reported that IFBPW's consultative
status with the World Health Organization
was renewed in 1995. Cristina Goytia made
extensive use of information sent to her
by WHO during the triennium and wrote an
article on women's health which was published
in nine Argentine newspapers.
IFBPW
HISTORY TASK FORCE
The
IFBPW History Task Force was created in
1993 with the encouragement of International
Presidents, Yvette Swan and Livia Ricci.
Katherine G. Peden, President of BPW Kentucky,
a Past President of BPW /USA and former
IFBPW Membership Chairperson, was appointed
Chairperson of the Task Force and served
as the Director of the "IFBPW History
Project." The main goal of the Task
Force was to update IFBPW's history. The
first volume of IFBPW history was published
in 1970 with the title In Pride and With
Promise. Written by Phyllis Deakin (UK),
it covered the years from the founding of
the organization in 1930 through 1968. Margaret
and John Taylor were invited by the 1993-1996
Executive Committee to write The History
of the International Federation of Business
and Professional Women Volume II 1968-1995,
and to oversee the publication of a second
edition of In Pride and With Promise, renamed
The History of the International Federation
of Business and Professional Women, Volume
I, 1930-1968. Kate Lawrance (UK),
a member of the Task Force, assisted with
Volume I by word processing In Pride and
With Promise. The proceeds from the sale
of the two volumes will be used to establish
and endow the "Isabelle Claridge Taylor
Resource Center" at International Headquarters.
 LEGISLATION
COMMITTEE
The
Legislation Committee, led by Chairperson
Anne Godfrey (Hong Kong), circulated a questionnaire
on "Women in Politics" to affiliates.
The majority of responses to the questionnaire
indicated that the percentage of women in
parliament or the highest level of government
was less than 10 per cent with the exception
of three countries: South Africa (26), Finland
(38.5) and Sweden (40). The Chairperson
said, "We [IFBPW members] need to remind
ourselves that the people who govern us
have the ultimate power, and while we can
lobby for legislative reform, ultimately
the decisions are made by those who have
been elected." She strongly encouraged
members and BPW Clubs to work to increase
the number of women in politics.
The
Legislation Chairperson asked affiliates
to monitor the effect of the 1993 UN Declaration
on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
NETWORKING
TASK FORCE
The
goal of the Networking Task Force, newly
established in 1993, was to build a networking
system among members at the local, regional,
and international level of IFBPW. Chairperson
Tuulikki Juusela (Finland) defined networks
as "one-to-one connections between
people with common interests." Ten
members had joined the Networking Task Force
as of August 1994.
PROJECTS
COMMITTEE
Audrey
Harris (New Zealand), Chairperson of the
Projects Committee, reported that affiliates
participated in a broad range of projects
during the triennium: a joint project between
BPW Portugal and the Associate BPW Club
of Mozambique that provided Mozambican children
with 490,000 books, 700 boxes of medicine,
school materials, toys and clothes; construction
of a Technical Training Center in Karachi,
Pakistan, to train girls and women in income-generating
skills; a project called "Pymes Management"
which resulted in the creation of 20 businesses
and 65 employment positions (Spain); founding
of a School for the Blind by the Celaya
Club (Mexico); and a free course in garment
design and garment making for teenagers
(Trinidad).
PROJECT
FIVE-O MEXICO
 The
"School of Nursing" in the city
of La Paz, Mexico, was the first school
of its kind in the province of Baja California
Sur. Silvia Salazar Salazar, a member of
the La Paz Club and Past President of BPW
Mexico, served as the Coordinator of the
project from its inception in 1985. She
presided over the school's first graduation
ceremony in February 1995. Four representatives
of IFBPW attended the occasion: President
Livia Ricci, First Vice President Olga Margarita
Ramirez de Rodriquez, Immediate Past President
Yvette Swan and Tamara Martinez, Director.
In honor of Silvia Salazar Salazar, the
three-year course of instruction (6,848
hours) required for graduation was named
after her. 35 women and 8 men were in the
first graduating class. A second group of
nurses graduated in August 1995. There were
271 students in the nursing program in 1995
and a third group of nurses was expected
to graduate in August 1996. Trained in primary
health care, the nurses will provide health
care to one hundred and twenty poor rural
communities in the province of Baja California
Sur.
Seven
IFBPW Presidents played a role in laying
the groundwork and making the Project Five-O
Mexico "School of Nursing" a reality.
They were Beryl Nashar, Mildred Head, Maxine
Hays, Rosmarie Michel, Tuulikki Juusela,
Yvette Swan and Livia Ricci. Immediate Past
President Yvette Swan reminded members that
"the dream is indeed a reality, but
we must not forget that this project, from
time to time, will need us. Remember - the
building is OURS (BPW News International:
March 1995, p. 2)."
PROJECT
FIVE-O BRAZIL
IFBPW
collaborated on Project Five-O Brazil ("Women
Combining Efforts") with Soroptimists
International and the International Council
of Women in the village of Sao Sebastiao,
Brazil. Maria Ines Fontenele Mourao, a member
of the Brasilia BPW Club, is on the local
Project Five-O Brazil Coordinating Committee.
The goal of the project is to teach income-generating
skills to girls and women.
PROJECT
FIVE-O NEPAL
Ambica
Shrestha, President of the Nepal BPW Association,
initiated a pilot project in cooperation
with the Nepal Association of University
Women in Kathmandu, Nepal, to provide young
girls with "non-formal education with
skill-oriented training in food processing
and preservation." Young female child
laborers between the ages of ten and fourteen
working as housemaids and street sellers
were the target group, and the primary goal
of the project was to help them to become
literate and self-reliant in a safe environment.
Declaring
their commitment to fighting child lab or,
BPW Lausaunne and other Swiss Clubs contributed
$2,400 in support of Project Five-O Nepal.
As Rosa Thea Creton (Switzerland) said in
an article entitled "Millions Forced
to Work" (BPW News International, May
1995), "Children forced to work long
hours often have no time or energy for school.
Child labor forges shackles of illiteracy
and poverty for new generations. In some
areas the ILO estimates that twenty-five
per cent of children between the ages of
ten and fourteen are working, often under
hazardous conditions. There are approximately
100 million child laborers worldwide."
RESOLUTIONS
COMMITTEE (AD HOC)
Sharon
Selkirk (Canada), Chairperson of the Resolutions
Committee, prepared an IFBPW Index of Policy
Resolutions 1930-1995 which was published
by IFBPW in 1995.
TWINNING
TASK FORCE
The
Twinning Task Force was established following
the recommendation at Congress in 1993 that
"twinning" should be encouraged
and a formal program of "twinning"
should be developed." Twinning refers
to the close association of two BPW Clubs
and may occur between two established Clubs
or between a new Club and an established
Club with the aim of promoting communication
between women in different countries. As
Chairperson of the Twinning Task Force,
Ann Swain (UK) developed "Twinning
Guidelines" and acted as the coordinator
for Clubs wishing to "twin." The
"Twinning Register" compiled by
the Chairperson listed twenty-four Clubs
actively engaged in twinning as of November
1995. Anna Bieganowska, President of BPW
Poland, stated that "her Club in Gdansk
expected to learn business strategies from
twinning as well as organizational tips
for successful lobbying." The Gdansk
Club twinned with the Chur Club (Switzerland)
in 1994.
UNITED
NATIONS - STATUS OF WOMEN COMMITTEE
UNITED NATIONS - 50TH ANNIVERSARY
The
President's Message in BPW News International
(August/September 1995) was titled "Happy
Birthday UN!" President Ricci explained
that the UN was founded on October 24, 1945
(United Nations Day) to maintain international
peace and foster international cooperation
in the resolution of economic, social, cultural
and humanitarian problems. 184 countries
were now "Member States" of the
UN. Esther Hymer (USA), IFBPW Representative
(alternate) to the UN, attended the fiftieth
anniversary celebration of the UN in 1995.
She was one of the few in attendance in
1995 who had also been at the founding ceremony
of the UN in 1945. Concluding her President's
Message, Livia Ricci said, "This year
(1995) is not only the fiftieth anniversary
of the founding of the UN, but it is also
the year of the UN Fourth World Conference
on Women. Without the support of the UN,
these World Conferences would never have
come into being. Women have a lot to thank
the UN for, and, on behalf of IFBPW and
all its members around the world, I would
like to wish the UN a very happy fiftieth
anniversary."
 Yunsook
Hong (Korea), Chairperson of the UN - Status
of Women Committee and International Second
Vice President, reported that the focus
of her committee during the triennium was
to disseminate information relating to the
UN Fourth World Conference on Women and
to encourage affiliates to get the UN Convention
on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) ratified in their countries.
The
Chairperson reported that as of Spring 1994,
twenty-three IFBPW member countries had
not yet ratified the UN Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW). She encouraged members to lobby
for its ratification and congratulated affiliates
from Latin America and the Spanish-speaking
countries of the West Indies for being the
only IFBPW Region where all affiliated member
countries had ratified the Convention. As
of March 1995 a total of 139 countries worldwide
had ratified the Convention.
UN
Bulletins were published in each
monthly BPW News International newsletter
carrying articles on agencies, programmes
and UN conferences. During the triennium
there were more than twenty members who
acted as Representatives of IFBPW at the
UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna and with
its related agencies: the ILO, UNESCO, UNICEF,
UNIDO, UNIFEM, WHO and the five UN Regional
Commissions: ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, and
ESCW A. Representatives also attended sessions
of the UN Functional Commissions on: Human
Rights, Narcotic Drugs, Population, Social
Development, Status of Women, and Sustainable
Development.
INTERNATIONAL
YEAR OF THE FAMILY
When
the United Nations declared 1994 the International
Year of the Family (IYF), Federico Mayor,
Director-General of UNESCO, said, "It
is in families that we must find the first
and fullest expression of equality between
men and women and the full security and
recognition of the human person." The
theme of the Year was "Building the
smallest democracy [the family] in the heart
of society." To launch IYF, a World
NGO Forum was held in Valletta, Malta, on
the theme "Promoting Families for the
Well Being of Individuals and Societies"
from November 28 to December 2, 1993.Ilse
Spritzendorfer (Austria), IFBPW Representative
to the UN in Vienna, was honored for her
service as the Treasurer of the IYF NGO
Planning Committee, and IFBPW was recognized
as an "IYF Patron."
FOURTH
WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN
Sept 4-15, 1995 Beijing, China
The
four major objectives of the Fourth World
Conference on Women (FCWC) were: to review
and appraise the advancement of women since
1985; to mobilize women and men at both
the policy-making and grass-roots level
to achieve the objectives of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies; to adopt a "Platform
of Action" that identifies fundamental
obstacles to the advancement of the majority
of women in the world; and encourage implementation
of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies
within the UN system. IFBPW members in all
regions helped to develop the draft "Platform
for Action" through submission of recommendations
and statements at five regional meetings
held in preparation for the FWCW.
IFBPW,
as a non-governmental organization (NGO)
in consultative status with the UN Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC), received accreditation
for the following six members to participate
as observers in the FWCW: IFBPW President
Livia Ricci; Second Vice President Yunsook
Hong (Korea); European Regional Coordinator,
Sylvia Perry (UK); IFBPW Representative
to the United Nations in New York, Claire
Fulcher (USA); Regional Coordinator for
Asia and the Pacific, Pat Harrison (Australia);
and Susan Smith (Bermuda). Immediate Past
President Yvette Swan (Bermuda) and thirteen
other members of IFBPW served as official
delegates for their governments at the Conference.
17,000 people participated in the Fourth
World Conference on Women making it the
largest UN conference to date.
A statement
written on behalf of IFBPW members was presented
at the Plenary Session of the Conference
and became a part of the official record.
Part of the statement (printed in entirety
in the October 1995 issue of BPW News International)
follows:
We
urge governments to enact legislation for
pay equity and equal pay for work of equal
value. While in many countries equal pay
is enshrined in legislation, the reality
is that the actual wages paid to women are
often lower than those of their male counterparts.
Inequities in work and employment practices
that may cause a disadvantage to women are
job segregation, inappropriate evaluation
of skills and competencies, and gender bias.
We
believe that legislation should be enacted
to prevent discrimination in the workplace
on the grounds of pregnancy and breast-feeding
and that laws should require re employment
of women who have temporarily left the work
force on maternity leave. At the same time,
employers should recognize the provisions
of the ILO Convention No. 156 which recommends
security of tenure to workers with family
responsibilities and accept that not only
may parents need time to care for their
children, but they may also need family
leave to care for frail or sick older relatives.
We,
the affiliates of the International Federation
of Business and Professional Women, urge
our governments to follow through on their
commitments made through approval of the
"Platform for Action" and advise
them that we will be monitoring those commitments
when we return to our countries.
The
two consensus documents adopted by governments
at the FWCW were the "Declaration of
Beijing" and the "Platform for
Action." They contained guidelines
for governments to follow when dealing with
twelve critical areas of concern relating
to women: Poverty; Education; Health; Violence;
Armed Conflict; the Economy; Decision-Making
and Leadership Positions; Gender Equality;
Human Rights; the Media; the Environment;
and the Girl Child.
Hillary
Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United
States of America, summarized summarized
the major point of the Fourth World Conference
on Women in her keynote address to the Conference:
If
there is one message that echoes forth from
this conference, let it be that it is no
longer acceptable to discuss women's rights
as separate from human rights.
NGO
FORUM ON WOMEN '95
August 30-September 15, 1995 Huairou, China
The
NGO Forum on Women '95 took place in conjunction
with the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Supatra Masdit of Thailand was the Convenor
of the Forum. IFBPW's Representative to
ECLAC, Susana Reich (Chile), was a member
of the NGO Facilitating Committee established
for the purpose of encouraging the participation
of NGOs in the Fourth World Conference on
Women. The IFBPW Representatives to the
United Nations in New York, Claire Fulcher
and Esther Hymer (alternate), were members
of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women
and worked toward the accomplishment of
three goals: to facilitate input to the
draft "Platform of Action," to
consolidate and pinpoint the work carried
out by women and women's organizations since
1975, and to work in coalition with groups
interested in improving the status of women.
Wu Ganmei, Vice President of the BPW Club
in Beijing, was the Director of the Chinese
Organizing Department for the NGO Forum
on Women '95.
The
original site of the Forum was Beijing,
but with only a few months' notice, the
site was changed to Huairou, an hour north
of Beijing. Delays in receiving visas and
confirmation of accommodation were the norm,
but despite these problems, 30,000 people
attended, setting a record for attendance
at an NGO Forum.
Two
workshops led by IFBPW members were held
on September 2 as part of the NGO Forum.
Over ninety people crowded into the morning
workshop on "Women as Organizational
Leaders." Keynote speakers were Jane
Sheridan (USA), IFBPW Secretary; Mary Callaway
(Australia), IFBPW Treasurer; Pat Harrison
(Australia), Asia and Pacific Regional Coordinator;
and Susan Smith (Bermuda). The afternoon
workshop on "Employment, Management
and Entrepreneurship" was equally well
attended. President Livia Ricci, Immediate
Past President Yvette Swan, Secretary Jane
Sheridan, Treasurer Mary Callaway, IFBPW
Representative to the United Nations in
New York, Claire Fulcher (USA), Miriam Arnau
(Spain), Concha Osacar (Spain), and First
Vice President Olga Margarita Ramirez de
Rodriguez (USA) made presentations. Helen
Swank (USA), IFBPW Representative (alternate)
to the United Nations in New York, served
as the Rapporteur.
The
International Federation of Business and
Professional Women presented awards in Beijing
to representatives of nine countries for
their progress in promoting the status of
women since 1985. Certificates of Achievement
were awarded to Australia, Japan, and Sweden.
Ghana, New Zealand, Switzerland, Uruguay
and Bermuda earned Regional Awards. The
Global Award was presented to Canada for
its financial, legal, and social commitment
to equality for women.
Her
Excellency Dr. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings,
First Lady of Ghana, attended the awards
ceremony to receive the IFBPW Regional Award
on behalf of her country. Ghana had amended
its constitution to declare that all persons
were equal before the law. In addition,
the Government of Ghana had developed Strategic
Goals for the Advancement of Women 1995-2000.
The First Lady of Ghana thanked IFBPW for
the award with these words:
It
was a very special honour and privilege
for me to receive the IFBPW award on behalf
of the government and people of Ghana. The
award was indeed very significant at this
time as it gave the deserved recognition
to the efforts that Ghanaians are making
to uplift women from the doldrums where
they have remained for far too long. I believe
it is only through the uplifting of women
to decision-making positions in business
and all other sectors that the world will
truly advance and develop.
The
IFBPW is committed to the emancipation of
women via empowerment and development at
every level of society to enable women to
contribute to and also benefit from the
socioeconomic progress of their particular
country. The awards that the IFBPW gave
during the Fourth World Conference on Women
in Beijing were aimed at encouraging governments
of Member States of the United Nations to
continue into the next decade with their
efforts to overcome the obstacles to the
goals and objectives for the advancement
of women as contained in the Nairobi Forward-looking
Strategies."
The
IFBPW International Award was personally
presented by President Livia Ricci in Beijing
to Gertrude Mongella for her inspirational
work at the United Nations and, in particular,
for her leadership as the Secretary-General
of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
The Secretary-General paid tribute to the
role of nongovernmental organizations such
as IFBPW:
In
their advocacy role, NGOs were the first
to present women's concerns collectively
and expose their full magnitude. They have
given a voice to countless women who otherwise
would not have been heard. NGOs are a democratizing
force in this process. They are agents of
change. NGOs are the links between the grassroots
and the corridors of political power.
 YOUNG
CAREER WOMEN COMMITTEE
Fabiola
Kun (Mexico), Chairperson of the Young Career
Women Committee, listed the goals of her
committee during the triennium: to increase
membership, develop a YCW data bank, support
the YCW newsletter and prepare a YCW programme
for Congress in 1996. Jun Sawada (Japan)
became the second editor of the quarterly
YCW Newsletter in 1993 succeeding the Founder
Editor, Fabiola Kun. The number of YCWs
rose from 117 in 1994 to 205 in 1995, an
80 per cent increase. The Young BPW Fund
celebrated its tenth anniversary in 1995.
It was established by IFBPW and had provided
financial assistance to Young Career Women
interested in attending International Congresses
since 1985.
PRESIDENT'S
REMARKS
July
9, 1993, was a most significant date in
my life for it was the date of my election
as President of the International Federation
of Business and Professional Women. I was
both excited and proud to be following in
the footsteps of so many excellent presidents.
I have tried to do my best to repay the
trust members placed in me by electing me
as their president at Congress in Nagoya,
Japan, and to make this organization in
which I have always believed even stronger.
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