July 17, 2011 Issue 12
Message from the President
Dear Pille Ruul
It is a special honor to begin my term as the youngest president of the International
Federation of Business and Professional Women - BPW International - especially at this
juncture where we celebrate over 80 years of commitment to the worldwide
empowerment of women.
I am deeply humbled by the trust and confidence placed in me to succeed Elizabeth
Benham (Liz) and express my sincere gratitude to all, especially my predecessor for all
her guidance and encouragement. Liz deserves an enormous thank you from all of us —
for guiding the organisation so ably and for leaving us with a modernised international
office that has a real focus on delivering measurable outcomes for our members and
affiliates. Luckily, for all of us, Liz will continue to serve the Executive Board for an
additional year, in the role of immediate past-president. She has been a an exceptional
leader terrific role model, and I am especially grateful that I will be able to rely on her
wise counsel during my term.
I would like to express my deep thanks to those who have congratulated me, expressed
support and encouragement since my election. I have not had time to reply to each of
these messages, and I do so now collectively, assuring each of you that I am deeply
appreciative.
The legacy of past Presidents, Executive Boards, Board of Directors, Chairs and members
of standing committees and taskforces, UN Representatives, staff and member volunteers
is the wonderful organisation that is BPW International in 2011.
It is a privilege to lead BPW International with an exceptionally talented Executive
Board. First Vice President, UN – Huguette Akplogan Dossa (Bénin); Second Vice
President, Membership – Jill Worobec (Canada); Executive Secretary – Dr. Yasmin
Darwich (Mexico); Finance Director – Geva Murano (Australia); Young BPW
Representative – Anastasia Victoria Safarian (USA) and Regional Coordinators for
AFRICA – Adenike Adeyanju-Osadolor (Nigeria); ASIA PACIFIC – Susan Jones
(Australia); EUROPE - Sabine Schmelzer (Switzerland); LATIN AMERICA – Maria
Elvira Salles Ferreira (Brazil) and NORTH AMERICA – Bessie Hironimus (USA).
As your new president, I am truly humbled to be associated with the amazing collection
of talent that makes up our organisation’s rich membership. Together, we have the
opportunity to build an even stronger organization by capitalizing on our past
accomplishments and recognizing the opportunities ahead.
The next three years leading up to the XXVIII BPW International Congress in Jeju,
Korea, will pass all too quickly. The triennium theme of Empowered Women Leading
Business will give our Standing Committees and Taskforces a focused approach and our
immediate attention turns to finding the right teams for the triennium. Changes are a foot
and if you would like to serve our organisation, I would like to invite you to nominate for
one of our committees and be a part of our renewed vision.
As we start the journey of the next 80 years I am confident that there will be many who
will want to join us and share in the shaping of BPW International and our efforts to bring
the voice of women to business. Our sub themes position affiliates to capture every aspect
of economic power. BPW women are Empowered Women Leading Business in the
community, at all levels and from the top.
Come 2014, we will have much to celebrate in Jeju - so make sure you are a part of our
achievements!
Freda Miriklis
President, BPW International
2011-2014
News from the Executive
ITC (INternational Trade Center) Update:
BPW International is very proud to have had our partnership with ITCÂ renewed at our
Congress in Helsinki after the Executive Director Patricia Francis and the ITC team
completed the plenary session on Sunday June 19th, 2011 Entitled : ACCESS TRACK
PLENARY: Global Supply Chain
Smart Economics: More Women In The Global Supply-Chain
The BPW International initiative on getting more women into the global supply chain is
going strong and we are preparing to have a delegation of at least 20 of our business
members going to the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum Tuesday, 27 September
2011 - Thursday, 29 September 2011 in Chongqing, China. Â
For more information please click here
Congress Photos:
A very big thank you goes to our Public Relations Director Anneli Majuri  and Cathy
Savioz our website coordinator who produced and posted all the Post Cards from
Congress which included photos highlighting the daily events. (More)
The congress photo CD is still available for sale (click here) from the congress page
Liz Benham
Immediate past International president
BPW News
Canada:
Spring North America/Caribbean newsletter. (More)
France:
BPW Toulon Conference - Emotional Intelligence Presentation by Valerie Unite - BPW
Cote d’Azur President (More)
New Zealand:
June 2011 Newsletter (More)
North America Caribbean:
Spring Newsletter from Jill Worobec
BPW in the Media
Asia Pacific:
Nordic Chamber Breakfast Seminar on AMATA Science City Project
ScandAsia.com
She is also an Immediate Past President and member of Board of Director of International
Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW International), ...
Australia:
Kellie Tranter
Her environmental and human rights activism has been recognised by the Women's
Electoral Lobby, Business & Professional Women and the Women ... Kellie was recently
appointed to the BPW International Advisory Panel for the Environment, Sustainable ...
ABC Online · May 30, 2011, 8:01 PM (PST)
Canada:
Women from the County highlight Women of the World
countylive.ca
“At the opening ceremonies in Finlandia Hall, Jeanette sang Women of the World
incorporating the four official languages of BPW (Business and Professional ...
Germany:
Equal Pay Day - Henrike von Platen interview - 2dfmediathek (More)
Canada:
Business Calendar May 30
Winnipeg Free Press
Professional Business Associates meet with Carol Badiou, Canada One Travel ... June 7:
BPW Winnipeg Central Women & Politics Conference Advanced Leadership ...
Korea:
코리아타임즈 - :: Korea Federation of Business & Professional Women ::
According to the Korea Federation of Business Professional Women (BPW), the wage
gap by gender here is the widest among 26 OECD member nations. ...
www.bpw.or.kr/news/news04_view.asp?free_id=30
New Zealand:
Fantastic, the debate on pay-gaps proceeds
Scoop.co.nz BPW NZ (The New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional
Women) applaud the raging debate about the gender pay-gap. “ It is amazing and
gratifying to ...
New Zealand:
Equal Pay in NZ hots up
http://tvnz.co.nz/back-benches/s2011-e19-video-4273748
While we were celebrating at our farewell party in Finland, and hearing about BPW
Germany’s windfall for Equal Pay Day, the Green Party spokesperson on
Women’s Affairs Catherine Delahunty launched her members bill her in NZ to
amend the Equal Pay Act 1972, to make it more effective. The CEO of the Employers
& Manufacturers Assoc (Northern NZ) was interviewed on TV regarding his thoughts on
this and said that women were paid less because they took more sick leave due to their
monthly problems!
Imagine my surprise when I got to my Facebook on Wednesday night to see the furore!Â
And not there to wade in, boots and all! BPW NZ put out a press release (Noeline
Reisch did a sterling job with the support of Anne Todd-Lambie) – see attached - and
the resulting interviews are here:
http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/carolyn-savage-alasdair-thompson-s-period-comments3-39-video-4268775
http://www.3news.co.nz/Thompson-should-resign---BPW-
NZ/tabid/309/articleID/216746/Default.aspx
As Co-chair and Spokesperson of the Pay Equity Challenge Coalition I appeared on TV
in a programme called Back Benches. I’ll flick the link through tomorrow – once
it’s aired.  Angela McCleod
Samoa:
Samoa News|BPW names David Vaeafe guest speaker for June meeting
Tuesday, June 14, the Business and Professional Women of Pago Pago will hold a ... and
others who are interested in learning more about the BPW and recent ...
www.samoanews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=27212...
Worldwide News
Wind of change - Women set to rule the world?
International Business Times
By IB Times Staff Reporter | July 4, 2011 8:10 AM EDT There seems to be a wind of
change across the world, with the advent of the first female Prime Minister in Thailand,
women now seem to be more powerful than ever. With the growing dominance of women
...
See all stories on this topic »
Australia:
Unequal opportunity The Age 06/07/11
Canada:
The long fight for women's equality in politics
Toronto Star
But political leaders of all stripes have vowed repeatedly to tackle the long-standing
imbalance that sees women vastly under-represented in politics. The only way to get
more women elected is to get more women on the ballot. ...
See all stories on this topic »
Canada:
Gender inequality isn't a “women's issue”
Ottawa Citizen
Here at home, although the recent ascension of an unprecedented three female leaders to
the rank of premier has been greeted as groundbreaking, and our newly elected federal
parliament is now one-quarter female, women's representation at all levels of ...
See all stories on this topic »
Egypt:
Muslim Brotherhood Revives Women Role
Onislam.net
CAIRO – For the first time in six decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has held a
conference for its female members in an effort to revive the role of women in postrevolution Egypt. "It is a historic moment worthy of thanks to Allah," Khayrat Al-Shatter,
...
See all stories on this topic »
India:
'State must shield working women'
Times of India
MUMBAI: Arguing against the state bar on women working after 9.30pm, advocate
Veena Thadani, counsel for the petitioners, told the Bombay HC, "The rule violates the
fundamental rights of 50% of the population." "In the name of security and safety laws ...
See all stories on this topic »
India:
Govt should encourage education among Muslim women
Times of India
The famous saying, "Educate a man and you educate an individual, educate a woman and
you educate a family'', applies very well in the Indian context more so in the context of
Muslim women, a large section of whom have been denied education for a ...
See all stories on this topic »
New Zealand:
Personal tastes for professional workwear
New Zealand Herald
With the average New Zealand woman spending almost seven hours a day doing paid
work, that's much of her day spent dressed for the office. The business of ...
USA:
Senator Working to Involve More Women in Politics
New York Times
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ WASHINGTON — As a girl, Kirsten E. Gillibrand
learned about politics from her grandmother, Dorothea Noonan, a secretary in the New
York State Legislature who defied the norms of her day and organized other women into
what became a ...
See all stories on this topic »
USA:
IMF Needs More Women, Developing-Country Staff, Report Says
Bloomberg
USA:
Lenders warned not to discriminate against women on maternity leave
Inman.com
A report in the New York Times that suggested mortgage lenders had discriminated
against women taking maternity leave has resulted in a settlement with Houston-based
Cornerstone Mortgage Co. and charges against mortgage insurer Mortgage Guaranty ...
See all stories on this topic »
UN Women
UN Women's Agency Publishes Sobering Report on Lack of Gender Equality
New York Times
By KATRIN BENNHOLD PARIS — Most countries still do not explicitly criminalize
rape within marriage, according to a sweeping United Nations report of global women's
rights published Wednesday. The report also found that more than half of working
women ...
See all stories on this topic »
UN Report Calls for End to Injustices Faced by Women
Voice of America
July 06, 2011 UN Report Calls for End to Injustices Faced by Women Selah Hennessy |
London Women from minority groups are often victims of rape and torture and are
specifically targeted because of their ethnicity or religion. ...
See all stories on this topic »
UN News
DEPUTY UN CHIEF TO ATTEND WOMEN LEADERS’ CONFERENCE IN
ISRAEL New York, May 27 2011Â 5:10PM United Nations Deputy Secretary-General
Asha-Rose Migiro will travel today to the Israeli city of Haifa, where she will attend the
International Women Leaders’ Conference as a guest of honour.
Ms. Migiro has been a vocal advocate for women’s empowerment and the
advancement of gender equality, underscoring the role of women as “critical agents of
development.”
The conference, co-hosted by the Government of Israel and the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), will focus on the issue of ‘Women,
Science and Technology.’
Ms. Migiro will also travel to Jerusalem to hold meetings with senior Israeli Government
officials, including President Shimon Peres and the Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven
Rivlin.
In addition, she will meet with UN staff based in Jerusalem before returning to New York
on 30 May.
May 27 2011Â 5:10PM
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
Please forward all news copy to Jo-An M. Partridge, News Coordinator. Members can
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