YWCA movement prepares for World YWCA Day - April 24 2009
Celebrations are shaping up to be exciting as the YWCA movement commemorates World YWCA Day on April 24. Designed to connect YWCAs to the collective power of a movement that changes the lives of 25 million women and girls worldwide, YWCAs will participate in the biggest breakfast of the year over a 24-hour period.
The theme for this year's World YWCA Day is ‘Women Creating a Safe World’. The theme builds on the upcoming World YWCA Council 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland that will focus on the importance of personal and community security for women and young women and will explore the links between violence and HIV and AIDS.
YWCAs are busy preparing for the celebrations and momentum is gathering as April 24 approaches
“We have begun preliminary planning for celebrating World YWCA Day and also have activities for April 25 and 26 planned. This will be the first showcasing of the revived YWCA of Fiji bringing together members from Area Councils and having public awareness activities focusing on women and young women,” says Leba Halofaki-Mataitini, National President of the YWCA of Fiji.
“YWCA of Finland will celebrate World YWCA Day in Tampere. The local YWCA of Tampere will host a breakfast and we will celebrate winners of the YWCA of Finland Award of 11 000 euro,” says Mari Hyttinen, Communications Officer for the YWCA of Finland. “ We also have activities for April 25 and many of us will take part in the National Council of Women of Finland meeting.”
The YWCA of Australia is hosting a breakfast with World YWCA President Susan Brennan as a guest speaker, alongside Christine Nixon, the first female Commissioner of Victoria Police and the current Minister for Women’s Affairs Maxine Morand. They will also use the breakfast event to raise money for the Power to Change Fund.
The YWCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Council World Relations Committee in the USA have invited their local associations to join sister associations in the region to celebrate World YWCA Day. “ With limited resources and planning time, we have invited local associations to host a brown bag lunch/breakfast discussion, where staff and/or stakeholders celebrate the work of the YWCA around the world. The brown bag event is easy to plan and implement and we have provided a few tools such as a press release and website links to make it more feasible for our associations,” says Casey Harden, Vice President of Operations at YWCA Greater Baltimore Area, Inc.
The YWCA of Bahamas will commemorate World YWCA Day with a Cookout and Bake Sale. Skateboarding, karate and table tennis exhibitions will also be featured on the day with proceeds going towards the renovation of their Activity Center.
The YWCA of Malawi has sent a colourful DVD with photos of their programmes and services for World YWCA to use for celebrations and also plans to use the day to lift the profile of the YWCA in Malawi.
In the Virgin Islands, the YWCA will have an open house and free breakfast for members and supporters. They will also host a recognition ceremony on April 25 to honour women leaders.
“ It is really exciting member associations are planning events for World YWCA Day. It is a chance to show the world our global reach and share with our communities the exceptional work that YWCAs do every day,” says World YWCA Fundraising Co-ordinator Lynn Sorrentino. “Our hope is that each YWCA will use this day to reflect on our history, the strong foundation on which our movement is built, and look to the future to increase the reach and capacity of the YWCA movement.”
The World YWCA will host an event with partners, volunteers and friends on April 24 at the Geneva headquarters titled, "Discovering the World YWCA: Women Creating a Safe World" which builds on the World YWCA Council 2011 theme. “We are excited that World YWCA Day will explore the importance of women's personal security in the lead up to World YWCA Council 2011. It addresses a very current and relevant issue facing women globally in a number of contexts,” said World YWCA President Susan Brennan.
The World YWCA website will feature a special World YWCA Day video message from General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda that will be available next week.
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