Category: News

The Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015 is not far away. To date, many of the goals have not been achieved and this timescale now puts the pressure on member states to realise these goals. With the end in sight a new post-2015 framework needs to be designed, building on the achievements of the current…

International Widows Day on 23rd June 2013 highlights the ongoing plight of widows worldwide and the need for action towards achieving both recognition and full rights. Absent from statistics, disregarded by many researchers and overlooked by many national, local and civil society organisations, widows are virtually invisible in the wider world. In many countries, once…

Soroptimist International has signed a joint statement calling for human rights to be placed at the core of the post-2015 development agenda, which will succeed the Millennium Development Goals. The statement, by several leading human rights and development organisations, says that: “a post-2015 framework anchored in human rights moves from a model of charity to…

“Girls’ and women’s health and rights must be prioritized today, tomorrow, and every day until our work is done. Because we know, when girls and women survive, all of us thrive.”  Women Deliver President Jill Sheffield. The annual Women Deliver conference, held this year on May 28 – 30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,  highlighted the…

Video: Female genital cutting from Thomson Reuters Foundation on Vimeo. UN Agencies have urged Egypt to enforce the law against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and are calling for a full investigation into the death of a 13 year-old girl undergoing the practice at a private clinic. “The latest tragic death of Sohair El Batea, 13, is…

Beyoncé, Madonna, Prince Harry and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were among the celebrities who appeared at a star-studded concert on Saturday 1st June to highlight the millions of women and girls denied adequate healthcare, education and justice. 50,000 people attended the Chime for Change concert at London’s Twickenham rugby stadium, which was broadcast to more than 150…

Soroptimist International has co-signed a letter to USA President Obama  expressing  concerns regarding the ‘Federal Strategic Plan of Action for Services to Survivors of Human Trafficking’. The Plan, open for public comment in May, presented the opportunity for organisations working to end human trafficking to highlight the need to end the demand that fuels these crimes,…

2013 is the International Year of Water Cooperation. UN Water have asked UNESCO to lead on this campaign in view of the organisation’s mandate to pursue goals of peace and sustainable development, natural sciences, culture, education, communication and its longstanding programmes contributing to the management of the world’s freshwater resources. The objective of the International…

  April was a busy month for Soroptimist Clubs worldwide and many new initiatives were launched to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls. Educational projects were a particular focus of many SI projects. Take a look at the reported activities of SI Clubs in India, UK ,USA,  Fiji and more in the…

Bette Levy, one of Soroptimist International’s UN Representatives in New York and a member of SI Manhattan, will be speaking at a meeting on 28 May to analyse lessons learnt at this year’s session of the Commission on the Status of Women, organised by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women.  Other speakers include…