"Soroptimist International President Yvonne Simpson is delighted to announce that the new President Elect for
Soroptimist International is Mariet Verhoef-Cohen, Past President of SI
Europe. Mariet brings passion and a tremendous amount of experience in advocacy
work that will assist SI in being a Global Voice for Women. We welcome Mariet
to the Officers’ team, commencing duties on 1 January 2016". Yvonne Simpson

 

A message from Mariet Verhoef-Cohen

"I am truly delighted
to have the opportunity to be your SI President Elect from January 2016 onwards.
For the trust you have placed in me, I thank you very much.

Please allow me to
introduce myself: I became a member of Soroptimist International in 1996. After
holding several offices in my club, I started my ‘career’ in the organisation as President of the Union of the Netherlands, Suriname and the Antilles from
2002-2004. Shortly after this I was elected President of the Soroptimist
International of Europe (SIE) 2007-2009. My biennium theme was ‘Soroptimists Go
for Water’, and my presidency culminated in the SIE Congress on this water
theme in Amsterdam. I continued on the SIE Board as Liaison Africa, which
involved helping the fledgling SI Future African Federation. I am currently President
of Women for Water Partnership, whose mission is to position women as active
leaders, experts, partners and agents of change to realise access to safe water
for all – including gender responsive sanitation – for all uses. As you can see,
this goes hand in hand with the Soroptimist vision.

During these years I have
travelled extensively and visited many Soroptimist projects and the different
SI Federations. I also attended the CSW and other sessions at the UN more than
once and actively participated in four World Water Forums as an official
representative. I have also had the honour to be a panellist or speaker at
several high-level sessions and conferences, including at the Stockholm Water
Week. In my capacity as President of Women for Water Partnership (WfWP), I was
invited by the Dutch government to take part in the economic and water mission
to South Africa as the only NGO. Wherever I go, I always try to involve local
or national Soroptimists to help achieve our goals.

As you may have
gathered, my passions all these years have been women (gender equality) and water.
These two interlinked causes have always run like a thread throughout my adult
life. Soroptimists are striving for a world where women and girls together
achieve their individual and collective potential, realise aspirations and
where women are seen as equal. SI is committed to creating opportunities to
transform the lives of women and girls through the SI theme Educate, Empower
and Enable. I am completely dedicated to this mission and pledge my support,
whether it be to grass-root issues involving women or to the highest levels of
the UN, where SI is well represented. I will continue to work untiringly to make
this world a better and more equal place for all women and girls.

But first, I look
forward to assisting SI President Yvonne Simpson in any way possible and to
promoting teamwork with all Federations. It will be a great pleasure to take up
this new challenge and meet Soroptimists from around the world".

Mariet Verhoef-Cohen

SI Club Zwolle, the
Netherlands SI of Europe