YWCA NSW Blog

The YWCA World Council 2011 has concluded and after traveling from around the globe, participants are making their way back to their home countries with plenty to digest.  

A new president has been voted in (congratulations Deborah Thomas from Trinidad & Tobago), a new treasurer (congratulations Carolyn Flowers from the USA) and a new Board (congratulations all) with the Vice Presidents and Nominations Committee still to be decided.

We have passed resolutions to support Climate Justice and North Korean refugees. We have promised to share leadership, give young women more of a voice, become more sustainable and accountable as a movement and considered what YWCA in 2035 will look like.

Songs have been sung, friendships created and renewed, tears shed, passions inflamed and there have been many moments where we have been given cause to stop, pause and think. The crosses created from bullets from Liberia’s streets, the courage of those living with HIV Aids, the insidious epidemic of sexual harassment in Egypt and stories of rape, child marriage, refugees, dispossession, isolation and violence.

And yet, we leave Zurich with a sense of focus and determination, a re-commitment to the movement, a sense of solidarity and a quiet space in our hearts for those who don’t have a voice.

In the words of Deepak Chopra as quoted by Mary Robinson from The Elders, “The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal.”