| It’s
great to return to Canada. When BPW International
Congress was held in Vancouver in 1999,
it was the first time that we gave awards
for Beyond 2000: Helping Women Help Themselves
competition. My aim is to inspire BPW and
document the work that BPW already do to
help 2000 women or more. Nine years ago,
I did not meet this goal. However, today
I’m delight to inform you that we
can now account for BPW works that help
over 200,000 women to sustain themselves
economically. This is almost 10 times the
total number of BPW members world-wide.
Something
likes this is what make me proud to be a
part of BPW. To be BPW, one gains the most
when we give, when we asked not “What’s
in it for me?” but “What can
we do to make a difference?”
In
regards to the theme of BPW Canada’s
National Conference “Women of the
World make Democracy work”, we can
ask, how can BPW make a difference in democracy?
Women
represent half of the world population.
But looking at women as member of parliaments
in countries world-wide, it’s clear
that women representative is no where near
50%. If women want to make democracy work,
more women need to dare to step up and run
for office.
I would
even say that for BPW to be influential
in the 21st Century, BPW affiliates world-wide
should raise awareness of the benefit attain
when more women as top executives. BPW need
to encourage more women (especially BPW
members) to run for office and support them
to make women’s voice heard. An icing
on the cake is the chance for BPW affiliates
to advocate success increase substantially
when BPW members are in the office.
I wish you and every member of BPW Canada
a great success at this conference. Let’s
BPW Canada and BPW International continue
to work together to create global impact
and enhance BPW influence world-wide.
Counting
on you for the future of BPW!
Chonchanok
Viravan
BPW International President
24 July 2008 |
