YWCA News current

The second round for the World YWCA Power to Change Fund 2012 is open! YWCA Member Associations are invited to apply to the Fund by August 31, 2012.

Young women and girls face multiple and complex barriers to education, gender equality and economic stability including the burden of domestic work from an early age, security issues, child marriage and poor sanitation. Globally, despite recent attention to their role in development, young women and girls continue to experience human rights violations, gender inequality, and exclusion from many gains made under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Young women are too often subject to harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, which increases their risk of maternal mortality or childbirth injury, HIV infection, and domestic violence. Young women from marginalised social groups, girls living without their parents, and displaced girls are particularly vulnerable to violence (UNICEF, 2010).

About 650 million people in the world (10 per cent of the world’s population) live with disabilities, and frequently encounter a myriad of physical, economical and social obstacles. They often lack the opportunities of the mainstream population and are usually among the most marginalised in society. Often, women with disabilities are invisible both among those promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, and those promoting gender equality and the advancement of women. As noted in the Platform for Action document, created at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995, "Girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are among the more vulnerable and marginalised of society. There is therefore need to take into account and to address their concerns in all policy-making and programming. Special measures are needed at all levels to integrate them into the mainstream of development."

World YWCA staff member Marie–Claude Julsaint, Global Programme Manager for Violence Against Women;, attended the Association for Women’s Rights in Development’s (AWID) 2012 conference on « Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women’s Rights and Justice  », in Istanbul, Turkey, from April 19 – 22. The forum focused on exploring issues on economic power and development from a feminist perspective. It was also a space where feminists of all generations could connect, share reflections and network.

On April 20, 2012 the YWCA of Korea proudly celebrated its 90th Anniversary together with 300 participants including members, donors and partners.

Thanks to the efforts of its three co-founders, Kim, Park and Yoo, and despite a difficult political context, on April 20, 1922, the YWCA of Korea was officially established.

On Friday May 4, 2012, the YWCA of Palestine celebrated World YWCA day in what is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Seventy eight YWCA members, board members and staff from Jerusalem, Ramallah and Jericho headed to the old city of Jericho and shared the global breakfast together as a celebration of the 24^th of April World YWCA day.

In Kathmandu, Nepal on the 28^th of April 2012 the World YWCA held a week long training ‘Mobilising Young Women’s Leadership and Advocacy’.  The training titled “I am a young women, I am a leader” was organised by Juli Dugdale, World YWCA Global Programme Manager Women's Leadership & Movement Building; Focal Point Asia/Pacific. The training aims to increase the capacity of young women and mentors in order to build and exercise leadership in their lives, communities and to advocate for their rights. In total 18 young women and five women from six Asian countries including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar participated in the Nepal training.

From April 17-21, 2012, the World YWCA held a regional sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) training session in Arusha, Tanzania and in Nairobi, Kenya, with 20 young women participants gathering from a number of African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Zambia. One objective of this meeting was the review of the civil society regional report of the ICPD [1]+20 monitoring project [2] lead by the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW). A second objective was to review the progress in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights of young women supported by Packard Foundation.

24 April is one of the most important days for YWCAs around the world. Member Associations worldwide all create events to celebrate this special day and come together, despite time differences and the kilometres that separate each YWCA, This years theme “I am a woman, I have the right. We are women, we have the power" was celebrated in different ways. We continue our tour of YWCAs and the events that took place on World YWCA Day:

Promoting intergenerational leadership is one of the World YWCA's main objectives; and building young women's leadership is our top priority. The World YWCA has been at the forefront of young women’s empowerment, continually advocating for young women becoming leaders both within and outside the YWCA movement, building their confidence and encouraging peer training, mentoring and sharing of experience. Through internships, leadership training, dedicated space at the decision-making table; and opportunities to engage in global and regional advocacy, the World YWCA equips young women with the knowledge, skills and experience to face the challenges of leadership.