Our Roots
History & Strength in Advocacy
The
International Federation of Business
and Professonal Women (BPW International)
was founded by Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips
in 1930. BPW International has become
one of the most influential international
networks of business and professional
women with affiliates in 80 countries
in five continents. BPW has consultative
status with the United Nations Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) and participatory
status with the Council of Europe.
Its members include influential women
leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners,
executives, professionals and young
career women.
The root of BPW’s advocacy is embedded
in the work with the United Nations.
BPW lobbied for the formation of the
Commission on the Status of Women
(CSW) and supported many women’s issues.
BPW was awarded a Peace Messenger
Certificate from UN Secretary-General
Javier Perez de Cuellar in 1987. Esther
Hymer, BPW representative at the UN,
was named as one of three women playing
a significant role in the work of
the UN Commission by Secretary-General
Kofi Annan in 1997.
Today, BPW continues its representation
at UN Headquarters in New York, Vienna,
Geneva; UN regional offices (UNECA,
UNECE, UNESCAP, UNESCWA, UNECLAC);
UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO, WHO, UNCTAD,
UNIDO, FAO, UN DPI; Council of Europe;
European Women’s Lobby and continues
to work closely with UNIFEM.
Our
Aims
Develop Professional and Leadership
Potential for Women at All Levels
BPW affiliates contribute to society
by enabling women to sustain themselves
economically. In addition, BPW offers
personal development programs for
members such as mentoring, leadership
training and e-Business training.
Since 1996, BPW affiliates worldwide
have helped over 45,000 women to become
economically empowered.
BPW projects
assist women to:
- Enter and
re-enter the workforce
- Start up
and advance their business or profession
- Protect their
rights
- Overcome
their limitations
- Create a
nurturing environment in work, education,
health for women development
BPW affiliates also collaborate with
governments and other non-government
organizations (NGOs). BPW International
belongs to coalitions of NGOs such
as Project Five-O and Conference of
NGOs (CONGO).
Our
Ambition
Equal Participation of Women and Men
in Power and Decision-Making Roles
While capacity-building
and confidence-building enable more
women to advance to executive positions,
the goal of equal participation is
still far from being a reality.
BPW International is giving high priority
to create opportunities for women
to rise to the level of top executives
by collecting evidence on the return
on investment when women become top
executives. The aim is to use this
testimony to persuade the relevant
stakeholders such as companies, institutions,
academia and governments that they
would perform better if the percentage
of females at top executive level
increased and reached a par with men.
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