President’s update


Dear Readers, Dear Soroptimists


UN Women is launched! UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment for Women. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said: “Trust me. I will do all I can to support this new entity.”


Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, said,“Women’s strength and women’s wisdom are humankind’s greatest untapped resource. The challenge is to show how this resource can be effectively tapped in ways that benefit us all.”


SIGBI members meeting on the Millennium Bridge on London’s River Thames on 8th March Celebrating 100 years of International Women’s Day


On behalf of all members of Soroptimist International I welcome this new entity and I hope that all our members “will tap our strength and wisdom in a way that will benefit the whole world”, as Michelle Bachelet said. Let us come together in a united effort to make this true.


Significant progress has been made since the first International Women’s Day a century ago when 1 million women marched on Europe’s streets to demand an end to discrimination in all areas of their social, economic and political lives. Soroptimists are part of this vital and


club also requested that the students have a lesson on IWD. Soroptimists in Nigeria marked IWD


The CSW meeting in New York was full of inspiration, friendship, excellent workshops and meetings. Our SI reception, with 100 participants, was very successful and we celebrated our work around the world with partners, colleagues and friends. Please read more about CSW in this magazine and on the SoroptiVoiceBlog, via the SI website. Another big event is the recent launch of the new SI website, www.soroptimistinternational.org where you will find news and projects from our 3000 clubs. SI is also active on social networks such as facebook, twitter, You Tube and tumblr. Our next big event is in July, the SI Convention in Montréal, Canada. It is a must for all Soroptimists to experience a convention once in our lives, so please visit www.si-convention.org and sign up. I am sure that you will find an interesting programme, exciting workshops, inspiring social events and the opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones. I hope to see you there! I conclude with the thought that the internet has made it possible for all of us to be kept informed about all relevant news items. It is then up to us to click and find it and to USE it. If only the progress for vulnerable women could go as fast as the communication through the computers, then their lives would be improved and we would reach the MDG goals.


Hanne Jensbo TIS March 2011 Page 2


ongoing movement for change. IWD is a chance to come together with other like minded organisations to celebrate all that has been achieved and to inspire and encourage us to ongoing action. As we go to press, we can see from the information we have received at SIHQ that Soroptimists from all over the world have been busy celebrating IWD. Soroptimists from the


South East of England joined 1200 others on Millennium Bridge in central London in support of Women for Women International’s ‘Join me on the Bridge’ campaign. This was one of 410 events which took place in 70 countries. Liz Morgan-Lewis, President of SIGBI, was invited to give an address after the march where she was able to share news of Project SIerra and the great work SI is doing with Hope and Homes for Children, transforming the lives of women and children in Sierra Leone. The plight of women in Afghanistan has


with a live televised event with participants talking about the impact of Soroptimism, the challenges facing the girl child in terms of accessing quality education and the issue of early/forced marriage. Discussion also considered the plight of women in the troubled Côte d’Ivoire and what can be done to help those in need. SI Liestal, Switzerland, distributed 600


Standing shoulder to shoulder with women around the world. Liz Morgan-Lewis, President, SIGBI


Roses for IWD. This action was held for the fourth time with with Zonta International to make the women of Liestal aware of this special day, as well as create publicity for SI and Zonta. Every rose had a tag with both organisations’ activities and missions. IWD breakfasts were


Soroptimists in Brisbane held a special morning tea, combining IWD celebrations with the UN Year of Youth. They invited a Girl Guide to speak and shared extracts from the outcome document from the joint WAGGGS/SI workshops on Violence against Women and Girls at CSW55. In honour of the 100th International


been at the forefront of our minds this year. Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of the Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, who joined the London event stated: “Women in Afghanistan are our modern- day suffragettes, standing up for their rights despite threats of violence”. SI Karachi Central also held the women


of Afghanistan in their thoughts as they held a ‘join me on the bridge’ event with students and teachers of Chanesar Goth School and the Connect Women and Child organisation. Together, they met on the Netty Jetty


Bridge and stood in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan and the world. The


Women’s Day, SIA highlights the progress women have made and encourages support for the struggles they continue to face through the ‘Live Your Dream Campaign’. This campaign celebrates the unique accomplishments of women and the power of their dreams. To find out more, visit www.liveyourdreamcampaign.org . Finally, at SIHQ, staff celebrated IWD


by tweeting 100 actions Soroptimists have taken to help women and girls around the world. Search #IWDSI on twitter to read the actions! Don’t forget to share what your club did


hq@soroptimistinternational.org.


a popular way in which Soroptimists chose to celebrate the centenary.


to celebrate IWD 2011 through the online reporting system. Please send any photos you have to:


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