Explore World YWCA’s External Annual Report for the periods of 2022 and 2023.
At the World YWCA, we believe that leadership must be shared to be just. It must be intergenerational to be lasting. And, it must be authentic and accountable to be transformative. We are living in a time that demands bold imagination and collective courage. In and across every corner of the world, young women, girls, and women of all generations reimagining systems of power.
This tool, The Intergenerational Triangle, is both a reflection of the YWCA movement’s history and a bold offering to the future. It was shaped through global conversations with hundreds of feminist leaders, co-designers, and community voices, including questions, hopes, tensions, and truths. This resource is for leaders in the non profit, for profit, public, private, UN member states, faith, philanthropic, recreational, academic, government and other sectors committed to the wisdom of
intergenerational leadership.
We are always eager to support organisations along their journey towards practising intergenerational leadership. If you would like to know more about this tool or would like to provide feedback, please reach out to us at worldoffice@worldywca.org.
This Week Without Violence 2024, World YWCA is partnering with YWCA USA to spotlight financial abuse as a form of violence. Each day of the week, we will focus on different aspects of financial abuse, bringing attention to its various forms and impacts.
Join us from October 21-26,2024, under the theme ‘Financial Trauma: From Abuse to Safety and Justice for Women,’ This year tool is designed to support deeper understanding for women and young women globally. It highlights financial abuse and provides actionable solutions to inform, protect and guide you toward achieving financial safety, independence and justice. This tool helps advocate for financial equity and raises awareness about how financial challenges disproportionately affect women’s rights and gender equality worldwide. With a global, intergenerational focus, the tool breaks down key elements of financial trauma to generate awareness and critical thinking through a solution-oriented approach.
Join us in the fight for a safer, more inclusive world in 2024. Don’t forget to engage on social media using the hashtags #YWCALeaders #WeekWithoutViolence2024 #WWV24
Since 1904, the World YWCA-YMCA Week of Prayer has been a cherished tradition, uniting communities across the globe in prayer and reflection. Each year, during the second week of November, this observance invites people to focus on a theme that reflects our world’s ongoing realities and needs.
From 10-16 November 2024, the theme “Moving with Faith Through the Elements” encourages reflection on the spiritual significance of water, earth, fire, and wind, emphasising faith as a guiding force through life’s challenges. This year’s Week of Prayer occurs at a time when global crises are ever-present—wars in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe, systemic oppression affecting parts of the Americas and Southeast Asia, and worsening environmental disasters displacing families and threatening livelihoods.
These struggles remind us of the fragility of life and the urgent need for healing and justice. As communities come together this week, they are invited to draw on their faith, foster resilience, and unite to pursue peace and renewal for all.
As we edge closer to World YWCA Day on 24th April 2024, the anticipation and excitement within our community grow. This year, we stand at a pivotal juncture, marking nearly two centuries of relentless advocacy, community engagement, and the promotion of gender equality by the YWCA movement. It’s a reflection of our collective resilience and the unyielding spirit of YWCA leaders worldwide.
The theme for World YWCA Day 2024, “Resist, Reclaim, Revolutionise: No To Rollbacks,” is a direct call for every YWCA leader and supporter to stand against those trying to undo the hard-won progress towards gender equality. We are thrilled to announce that our #WorldYWCADay2024 toolkit is now available in English, French, and Spanish!
Access the tool to find more information on the theme, ideas to mark the day, and resources to engage in social media with visuals and social media covers.
Don’t forget to engage in social media using the hashtags #WorldYWCADay2024 and #YWCALeaders!
Click the buttons below to access the toolkit:
Join us from 12 to 18 November
As we approach the Week of Prayer and World Fellowship in 2023, we invite communities worldwide to come together from November 12 to 18 to reflect on the theme, ‘Seeds to Blossoms: Cultivating Hope and Love in Solidarity.’ This theme celebrates our unity within the global and intergenerational YWCA-YMCA movement and reminds us of the profound connections that bind us.
Picture our movements as a diverse garden where each individual represents a unique seed. Just like different plants needing specific care to blossom, we can learn and grow with our diverse backgrounds and perspectives and contribute to a global garden of peace, justice, and equity.
During this Week of Prayer, join us to embark on a journey where, like a gardener, we care for a plant to prepare the soil, sow the seeds, nurture with care, be guardians of growth, foster resilience through pruning, and harvest the fruits of our labor.
In our diverse and interconnected global YWCA-YMCA movement, we invite you to take part in this reflection, prayer, and action journey to cultivate hope and love, strengthening the bonds that unite us for positive change.
Remember to tag World YWCA on social media channels so we can share your local activities with the larger Y movement.
Access the booklet below:
Remember to tag World YWCA on social media channels so we can share your local activities with the larger Y movement.
For additional information, kindly contact worldoffice@worldywca.org
YWCA’s Week Without Violence is an annual global campaign held during the third week of October every year. For over 25 years, this campaign has been dedicated to raising awareness, promoting change, and enabling positive action to end violence against women, young women, and girls in all their diversity.
Join us from October 16-21, 2023, as we come together under the theme ‘Not On Our Screens, Not On Our Streets: A Movement Towards Violence-Free Communities’ taking a stand against Online Gender-Based Violence (OGBV) and working together for safer communities worldwide.
YWCA is calling upon young leaders worldwide to unite in the fight against violence. Join us from October 16 to 21, 2023, to stand in solidarity with ending gender-based violence in all spaces where it occurs—online and offline. We recognize the deep connection between online and offline hate speech and violence against women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals. Everyone deserves the right to be their true selves, to explore and express themselves safely and free from violence, whether in digital spaces or communities.
Raise your voice against online and street-based gender violence! Together, we can create a world where women, young women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals are safe both online and on the streets. Share your stories, advocate for change, support one another, and report harassment when you see it online or on the street. Let’s unite to eradicate gender-based violence from our screens and communities. We present our Toolkit and invite you to engage in this cause by using some of the following resources:
- 💡 Fact Information and Data
- 🌟 How to engage in the campaign
- 🤝 Safety tips for online and street harassment
- 📄How to report incidents
- 📱 Social media templates
Join us in the fight for a safer, more inclusive world in 2023. Don’t forget to engage on social media using the hashtags #YWCALeaders #WeekWithoutViolence2023 #WWV23
Download our toolkit and contribute to the fight against GBV by sharing content in social media, planning engaging activities and/or advocating with other tools shared in this document!
Download the Templates and social media covers
For more detailed resources and guidance, visit YWCA USA.
This year’s theme graphics were developed by YWCA Canada . For information and resources specific to Canada, visit YWCA Canada and check out their toolkit.
A digital annual report detailing key developments and achievements from the World YWCA in 2020, including information about events, campaigns, and resources.
Blooming Wildflowers: Weaving Stories of Activism
From our earliest years, stories have played a crucial role in our lives. They have the power to forge emotional connections, bridging the gap between local and global issues. Stories not only bind us to our heritage and culture it also links us to our ancestors, to our land, ocean and skies. Stories inform our way of knowing, being, and doing. It connects us to our present and future, as well as the natural world that surrounds us. Stories shape our perspectives, and influence how we navigate the world. With this in mind, the Storytelling Guide by the World YWCA has been meticulously crafted to help individuals harness the power of #storytelling for social activism.
Designed with activists, #leaders, changemakers, women, and #youngwomen in mind, this comprehensive guide provides a feminist perspective on effecting change through storytelling. It is particularly tailored to the leaders of the World Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), spanning diverse regions, cultures, languages, and storytelling traditions. Packed with a comprehensive range of exercises and support, including journaling prompts and brainstorming techniques, the Guide offers an invaluable resource for refining personal and collective perspectives while effecting tangible change. With its seamless adaptability, it empowers individuals to develop and cultivate their storytelling skills in support of their #activism and their activism journey.
The Storytelling Guide is designed to be adaptable and easily accessible to all users.
If you are keen to translate the guide in your local language, kindly contact worldoffice@worldywca.org for guidance.
The World YWCA Advocacy Roadmap lays out the pathways to guide our actions and ensure that World YWCA remains disciplined in focus and depth of impact. We consider advocacy as a set of strategic activities designed to influence decision makers, laws and regulations, structures and practises to address the root causes of injustice and transform power structures for gender equality. The World YWCA uses different advocacy methods and tools depending on the context including policy research, campaigning, public events, lobbying and policy dialogue, media work and production of assets such as podcasts, toolkits, and statements. We acknowledge that effective advocacy is multifaceted, complex and beyond the scope of a single organisation.
