Campaigns & ACWW
NFWI Board of Trustees has decided that in these exceptional circumstances, the results of the shortlist selection process will be used as a proxy for the Annual Meeting vote.
The shortlisting selection results were:
2020 resolutions | Selections | |
1 | A Call to increase potential stem cell donor registration | 38,280 |
2 | Female crash test dummies | 9,124 |
3 | End modern slavery | 35,395 |
4 | Time to talk about death and dying | 9,820 |
5 | Protect our precious helium | 11,705 |
Total selections received | 104,262 | |
In the shortlisting selection stage, the two resolutions (stem cells and modern slavery) attracted a clear majority of selections from members (over 70%).
The Board felt that this was the most democratic means available to determine the outcome of this year’s resolution process taking into account time and resource constraints and the challenges of the current lockdown period. The Board also wanted to recognise the huge amounts of time and effort that members, WIs and federations put into the resolutions process this year.
This means that the two resolutions have now been adopted by the WI, and members are free to campaign on these issues.
The resolutions are as follows:
A call to increase potential stem cell donor registration
There is an urgent need to increase the number of people registered on the aligned UK stem cell registry in order to provide potentially life-saving treatment to people of all ages with certain blood cancers. We call on all WI members to promote registration to the database to avoid people dying whilst waiting for a match.
There is an urgent need to increase the number of people registered on the aligned UK stem cell registry in order to provide potentially life-saving treatment to people of all ages with certain blood cancers. We call on all WI members to promote registration to the database to avoid people dying whilst waiting for a match.
End Modern Slavery
There are tens of thousands of victims of modern slavery hiding in plain sight in the UK. Modern slavery has severe consequences for the health and mental wellbeing of survivors. The NFWI calls on Government to protect victims of modern slavery in the first instance and deliver longer term support to help them rebuild their lives. We call on our members to raise awareness of the prevalence of modern slavery throughout society and to campaign to defeat it.
There are tens of thousands of victims of modern slavery hiding in plain sight in the UK. Modern slavery has severe consequences for the health and mental wellbeing of survivors. The NFWI calls on Government to protect victims of modern slavery in the first instance and deliver longer term support to help them rebuild their lives. We call on our members to raise awareness of the prevalence of modern slavery throughout society and to campaign to defeat it.
WIs will not need to consider how they wish to vote or to hold discussion events, but they are nevertheless encouraged to engage with and learn about the topics.
We recognise that the discussions before the Annual Meeting and at the event itself offer members a valuable opportunity to engage with the issues and learn about the resolutions. The Public Affairs Department will be producing a range of educational and discussion materials over the coming weeks and months to allow members to consider the issues in more depth.
Given the ongoing restrictions on meetings and campaigning activity, the NFWI will not be producing campaigns materials to our usual timetable, but will instead first focus ways that members can learn more about the issues raised by the resolutions, with full campaign packs to follow later.
International Forum on Rural Women
Global survey of the living conditions of rural living
We know that the voices of rural women are the hardest to hear
We want to change this Visit www.ifrw.org.uk to take part, and ensure that your community is heard on the global stage
We would like to invite every ACWW member, their colleagues, friends and families to participate in this Global Survey. It is so important that women in rural communities are fairly represented and we are best able to advocate for your needs when we can show the issues that affect your every-day life. Please take part and encourage others in your community to do so too!
ACWW – Associated Country Women of the World
ACWW is the organisation to which we donate our ‘Pennies for Friendship’ which are collected annually at the Federation Annual Meeting each April. It is a charitable Organisation and the NFWI is an Associate member. The Isle of Ely Federation is also an associate member. Through these two memberships our WIs are members of ACWW. It is possible for WIs and members to become members of ACWW in their own right.
There are many similarities between the WI and ACWW. It is a women-led society, working collectively for a shared vision of an improved quality of life for women and communities worldwide. There are 420 member societies in 72 countries which gives voice to over nine million rural and non-rural women. NFWI supports ACWW by sharing information e.g. ACWW activity at the United Nations, publicising activities and having a representation at key events e.g. attendance at European conferences.
The first International Conference of rural women was held in 1929 and 46 women from 24 countries attended. ACWW believe in creating opportunities for women to exercise more power - through being better informed, being part of an enabling environment and having the necessary tools to carry out the changes they want. Since 1977, ACWW has distributed over £2.2 million in grants to some of the poorest communities in the world.
Each year applications for funding are considered and monies awarded. The projects cover a wide variety of subjects including improving the farming and marketing practices of women in Africa and Eastern Europe, educating young Indian girls in IT skills to prepare them for work, improving child birth knowledge and family planning initiatives. These are announced in January of each year.
If you would like to find out more about ACCW look at their web site: www.acww.org.uk or write to ACWW, 24 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3RB.
Rosemary Green - ACWW Rep
Annual Report 2020
ACWW – Associated Country Women of the World
This year I have been invited to several WIs to talk about ACWW. This organisation is one to which WIs are affiliated as we share a co-founder in Madge Watt. It has similar aims to the WI but is a worldwide organisation. It is the only charity for which WIs are permitted to raise funds. It is quite permissible for WIs to have a special fund raising event for ACWW.
The collection at the Annual Meeting in April 2019 amounted to £609.70. The donations were designated to Maternal and Reproductive Health. Our donation helped towards the £20,000 ACWW target. The Federation proposes that the donation for 2020 will go to Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Energy.
I would welcome the opportunity to bring a short presentation to WIs about the work of ACWW and the part we can play in supporting it. I will come at short notice if you have a speaker who cannot attend at the last minute.