At the start of a new Soroptimist year, there are two points I want you to be involved with and take action for: one is the question from Five-O about financing for gender equality the other is the President’s Appeal Restoring Dignity.
Five-O
Five-O is the collaboration of the five large(st) international women’s organisations
i.e.
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Business and Professional Women International
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International Council of Women
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International Federation of University Women
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Soroptimist International
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Zonta International
All those partners have the same aim: to strive for a better world for women.
The combined strength of those five important organisations can create fantastic opportunities for the empowerment of women and can be of great influence in the corridors of power.
The Five-O partners must work together not only in taking action, but also in raising awareness and advocating for all issues related to women and we will implement this i at the CSW (Commission on Status of Women) in New York march 8 2008
The theme is Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
All countries, represented on the CSW have pledged support for the idea of gender equality in the past and now the Commission is examining if their words are being supported by action.
The International Committee of Five-O committed the membership to do some preparatory work for the CSW. Our role is to collect information from our Soroptimist countries for our delegates to CSW; so that they can lobby efficiently.
The question we have to answer is
What percentage of the national budget has been set aside for the financing of gender equality and the empowerment of women
If you do not have this information, please contact a member who can find the answer and send it back to me by email or mail.
I need the facts by December 15 so that they can be transmitted to the International Liaison Officer and processed for using in the CSW meeting.
In the Strategic Planning Group we have stressed the international aspect of Soroptimist and the importance of working together at the same issues.
Let us prove that we can realise this goal and collect a maximum of information for our International President Margaret Lobo to use at the CSW.
President’s Appeal 2007 Restoring Dignity
click here to download this leaflet in pdf
We, in Europe, where good medical and obstetrical care are a certainty, do not dare to think how a happy event like giving birth can end in the nightmare of having a fistula.
Just try to imagine how YOU should feel if everybody rejects and shuns you, if YOU have to leave your family and live in shame.
As women and mothers it is our duty to help those women and mothers of Ethiopia to regain their dignity and secure a future.
The International President Margaret Lobo asks not much form us in her appeal: just some money so that Dr Hamlin and her team can continue to treat the victims of fistula’s and support the Desta Mender Village. It is a place to live for the women who cannot be completely cured where they receive ongoing medical care and where they are taught various skills so that they can become self-sufficient.
Do not buy the latest electronic gadget or book or handbag or face cream, give the money to the President’s Appeal and make a difference for a woman in Addis Ababa
Be aware, get involved, take action
In warm Soroptimist Friendship
Eliane Lagasse President Elect SIE