Category: News

The SI UN Vienna Representatives report back from the UN Crime Commission The Forgotten Children   Many of the side events which took place during the recent session of the Crime Commission were on the children of incarcerated parents. These side events, together with the many papers that were presented, underlined how children are too…

Soroptimist International is an active member of the Women’s Major Stakeholder Group for the forthcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20. The below statement was given at the ECOSOC on May 3rd. Women’s Major Group Statement United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 3 May 2012 Vice President of the Council, distinguished delegates and…

SI UNESCO Representative Dominique Mertz reports back from the Global Water Futures Forum. By 2025, an estimated 60 percent of the world’s population will live in “water-stressed” conditions. Securing access to safe drinking water (MDG 7) for all and managing this limited resource is therefore a high priority on the sustainable development agenda for the…

Programme Director Reilly Dempsey and President Elect Ann Garvie attended the 12th AWID International Forum on Women’s Rights & Development, held in Istanbul.  AWID is the Association For Women’s Rights in Development, and Soroptimist International joined the association in 2011.  AWID is an international, multi-generational, feminist, creative, future-orientated membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality,…

As Soroptimist International prepares to take part in a side event on migrant women and their children in prisons at the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, we issue our message to global leaders on this critical topic. "Help us and ask us questions"  This was the plea from a young Lithuanian girl, detained…

This week, SI’s UN Representatives in Vienna are attending the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. They report back on the opening session: The 21st Session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, chaired by Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand opened today in front of about 800 delegates, 111 States and…

  This was the banner created by SI Arusha, and proudly displayed high above the city streets on their Charter date of 20th March 2012. Four years ago the seed of soroptimism was planted by Mrs Margaret Ndzelen, a SI member from Bamenda, Cameroon. While visiting with her daughter who had just given birth, Margaret…

Press Release: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights In an open letter to world Governments, a group of 22 UN independent human rights experts called on States to incorporate universally agreed international human rights norms and standards with strong accountability mechanisms into the UN Rio+20 sustainable development conference’s goals, as the Rio+20 first…

SI UN Representative Lois Beilin reports back from the Commission on Population and Development, taking place in New York this week. The Commission on Population and Development meeting at the United Nations in New York, April 23 – 27 has refocused attention on the International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt…

Last month the UN Commission on the Status of Women failed to adopt agreed conclusions at its 56th session on the basis of safeguarding "traditional values" at the expense of human rights and fundamental freedoms of women. Together with our partner women’s rights organisations through the UN NGO system, Soroptimist International says NO to any…