BPW International

BPW Empowering Entrepreneurs…
Every day of the week, all over the world, Governments at all levels, and businesses and companies of all sizes buy products and services. They buy products to manufacture new products for sale; they buy products to use in their offices and factories; they buy services to assist them in carrying on with their own businesses. The global economy exists through a complex network of supply chains… each business created to service the need of another business, or to provide products and services direct to consumers. That is fact.

BPW International is working alongside the International Trade Centre to increase the participation of women in these global supply chains.  One of the most immediate and realistic ways that we can do that is to have our members actively involved in and supporting the Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors and its ‘realtime’ counterpart, the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (WVEF).

WVEF is a forum where women-owned businesses (WoBs) are provided direct contact with the procuring entities of major corporations (and soon hopefully governments as well!) with the ability to secure real contracts and/or gain further knowledge about the needs of these corporate buyers and how to better do business with them. At the inaugural WVEF, over USD $14Million in contracts were signed.. showing that real business is being done.

The next WVEF is to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the latter part of 2012. We are currently calling for all potential participants to complete the 2012 Member’s Survey.. to let the ITC know which industry sectors women own businesses. Once they know which sectors to focus on, ITC can work to bring relevant buyers and sellers together, to do business in the here and now!

We encourage all our members (particularly women entrepreneurs) to complete this survey to let ITC know which industry sectors to focus on at the next WVEF.

We then encourage you to register so that you too can attend the next WVEF in Jakarta in 2012 – I look forward to seeing you there!

Freda Miriklis
BPW International President

Dr. Huma Qureshi was officially appointed as BPW International Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions. "Dr. Huma’s academic credentials will be a valuable assistance to strengthen our contribution to ESCAP  especially through health related meetings where we believe she will make an excellent contribution to BPW International mission" said Freda Miriklis, President of BPW International.

The Permanent Representative is Mrs Marlene Parenzan, whose efforts and work done in the name of BPW International, we sincerely appreciate.
Mrs Ozyol is the founding President of BPW Turkey and lives in Ankara, Turkey. She has been involved with BPW for many years now and has given advice on environmental matters especially in the area of water and represents BPW as part of our membership with the Water for Women partnership. Mrs Ozyol is currently a member of the Steering Committee of Rio+20 and is organizing preparatory meetings for Rio+20 in Marseille representing BPW  through the Water for Women partnership.
Mrs Ozyol is the Turkey Representative to the UNESCO Center for Women and Peace in the Balkan Countries - which acts for the benefit of women and disseminating actively the United Nations resolutions aiming at promoting peace, the respect of human rights, women's empowerment and their increased participation in development.
We believe that Arzu will be an valuable member to our United Nation’s team
Freda Miriklis
President of BPW International

BPW Members and Friends,

I would like to begin this message with a big thank you. I know our members work tirelessly to bring BPW values to life on a daily basis. I would like to acknowledge and thank each and every one of you for the wonderful work that you are continuing around the world in the name of BPW. I continue to hear reports of, and experience first hand the stories of our members as they bring their creativity and imagination to bear on some of our most difficult social problems.

Each making a difference.
Each promoting gender balance.
Each a beacon of resilience and hope.

Read the complete message and download the documents (available in french, spanish, italian)

Dear BPW

As this year draws to an end I am reminded of the exceptional work that continues to be done by Affiliates around the world that work for gender equality promoting women in the economy and women in decision making roles.

I have been moved and inspired by the work that is done in the name of BPW and these past few days have returned from mission tours in South Korea, Taiwan and Pakistan. It is humbling to see first hand the life changing impact that we are making at grassroots levels around the world.

Freda Miriklis attends the Commonwealth Business Forum, Perth

Commonwealth Business Forum session

Commonwealth Business Forum session

Commonwealth Business Forum session

Commonwealth Business Forum session

Commonwealth Business Council

BPW International President, Freda Miriklis, in Greece.

A BPW meeting will be held in Athens prior to the Global Summit of Women (GSW) in May 2012

BPW Athens Meeting

BPW Athens Meeting

Dear BPW

We have witnessed troubled times and heavy rain throughout the north and central provinces of Thailand that have led to the country’s worst flooding in almost 60 years. Our thoughts and prayers are with our members in BPW Thailand during this most troubling time.

Registration opened for the NGO CSW, NY, Consultation Day & NGO Reception. Please note that the deadline for registration is very tight: Friday, 25 November 2011.

Palermo, Italy: 11th -15th October, 2011

Over 200 members from the Sicilian District attended a meeting at the calling of Eugenia Bono, President, Foundation FIDAPA. I was pleased to address this impressive gathering in the main Palace and Parliament building of Palermo. Members heard from Cettina Oliveri, President FIDAPA - BPW Italy Sicily District; Livia Ricci, Past International President; Eufemia Ippolito, President BPW Italy & National FIDAPA and Arzu Ozyol, President BPW Turkey. Working meetings with members in Palermo were very effective and i think that we can expect to see some strong leadership emerge from Italy in relation to the WEPs. Business seems to be a major focus for Italy going forward.

Rome, Italy: 15th - 18th October, 2011

I then travelled to Rome to attend the Opening Session of the FAO's 60th Anniversary which was impressive and full of pizzazz! I spoke with Michelle Bachellet and enjoyed successful meetings with FAO Reps - Annarosa Colangelo and Cristina Visconte. Back to back meetings were also arranged with President Eufemia and BPW International’s 5 Chairs of Standing Committees. It was a wonderful opportunity to discuss the triennial focus and more importantly the relevance of our broader definition of business which is our differentiator.

Athens, Greece: 18th - 20th October, 2011

It was a great pleasure meeting the members of our newly formed Associate club, BPW Athens. The club is doing very well under the stewardship of President Niki Protopapa and it was a highlight to meet with members of her Executive. A strategic meeting was held with Ms Ketty Tzitzikostas, President of the Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO exploring further the possibility of establishing a Mediterranean Summit with the focus on growing the Balkan countries for BPW international. It was decided that with the support of the Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO, that a BPW meeting will be held in Athens next year prior to the Global Summit of Women (GSW) in May 2012. Historically, many of our members support the GSW and in the lead up to last year's event BPW Turkey took advantage of this opportunity and held it's inaugural WEPs event.  
Secretariat for BPW International
The Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO have agreed to support BPW in the organisation of a BPW event to be held just prior to the GSW. A secretariat will be established in Athens under BPW International guidelines and a registration fee will be determined shortly. Interpretation services in Greek/English/French are being considered. Members interested in attending next years GSW should plan to arrive 2 days earlier in order to participate in this BPW event. More details to follow.

Western Australia, Perth: 24-28th October, 2011

I was delighted to attend the Commonwealth Business Forum that is apart of the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting - CHOGM. At the recommendation of Dr. Salima R. Ahmed, President, BPW Pakistan, BPW International was invited by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) to reinvigorated the Commonwealth Business Women (CBW) initiative. This was successfully supported by the business leaders at the Forum and BPW International together with the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAWE) and the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) are the founding initiators.  

Freda Miriklis
President BPW International 2011-2014

Dear BPW,

As your read this edition of E-news there is much fanfare by BPW members around the world that are watching and listening to the video we released a few days ago where leading CEOs in South Africa express their commitment to advancing equality between men and women - the cornerstone of the seven Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). If you have not listen to this inspirational video, then I encourage you to do so.