YWCA News current

“We don’t want nuclear power! Stop nuclear power plants NOW!”

 The two day Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World held in Yokohama, Japan, on January 14-15, 2012, attracted some 11,500 people from 30 countries worldwide, as well as 30,000 who watched online, to help create safe societies with justice and to cry out “NO!” to both nuclear weapons and to nuclear power, which had been promoted as “clean energy”. The conference was organised by grassroots NGOs and supported by many individuals and organisations including the YWCA of Japan, to provide a space for people to network, exchange information and ideas, contribute skills and knowledge, and share actions to make the world free from nuclear power.

Girls Not Brides is a new global partnership committed to ending the harmful traditional practice of child marriage. Initiated by The Elders, Girls Not Brides  brings together more than 50 organisations from around the world including the World YWCA, who are currently working to tackle child marriage at the grassroots, national and global levels. As a movement, the World YWCA is committed to promoting women, young women and girl’s rights and fully supports the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In March 2010 the World YWCA participated in the first global High Level Summit of Religious Leaders on HIV concluded in the Netherlands, along with high level religious and spiritual leaders from many of the world’s major religions and pledged “stronger, more visible and practical leadership in response to HIV”. This month as part of a follow-up from the summit, a survey has been released to gather information to develop and strengthen opportunities for dialogue between networks of people living with HIV and religious leaders, faith-based organisations, and faith communities at country level.

On 12 January 2010, as witnessed with horror by many on their TV screens, Haiti was devastated by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake which traumatised the country and its people, led to vast loss of life, dramatic destitution and the uprooting of many Haitians. Thanks to donations from across the globe, including from YWCAs worldwide, as well as relief efforts from international humanitarian organisations, close to 900 Internally displaced persons (IDP) camps were set up for some 600,000 Haitians, over 300,000 of whom were women.

The 56^th  session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to be held in February 2012 in New York promises to be an exciting and progressive event focusing on the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and other current challenges.

Date: July 22-27, 2012 

The Power to Change Fund is a permanent fund of the World YWCA, which endows leadership development programmes for women and girls worldwide. A number of exciting and empowering projects were successfully developed in 2011. The YWCA of Finland was one of the member associations that successfully applied to the power to change fund.

Date: February 27-March 9, 2012

On December 6, 2011, the Permanent Mission of Canada in collaboration with the World YWCA organised a panel discussion on ‘the role of men and boys in ending violence against women’. The discussion was part of the 16-days campaign of activism against gender- based violence. Nyararadayi Gumbonzvanda, World YWCA General Secretary, co moderated with H.E. Elissa Golberg, permanent representative of Canada to the UN in Geneva.