2013 is the International Year of Water Cooperation. UN Water have asked UNESCO to lead on this campaign in view of the organisation's mandate to pursue goals of peace and sustainable development, natural sciences, culture, education, communication and its longstanding programmes contributing to the management of the world’s freshwater resources.

  April was a busy month for Soroptimist Clubs worldwide and many new initiatives were launched to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls. Educational projects were a particular focus of many SI projects. Take a look at the reported activities of SI Clubs in India, UK ,USA, 

Bette Levy, one of Soroptimist International’s UN Representatives in New York and a member of SI Manhattan, will be speaking at a meeting on 28 May to analyse lessons learnt at this year’s session of the Commission on the Status of Women, organised by the NGO Committee on the Status

Femicide (gender-related killings), human trafficking and environmental crime were high on the agenda at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, during its 22nd Session from 22-26 April.  Soroptimist International’s UN representatives in Vienna, Roswitha Benesch, Dora Vrdlovec and Martina Gredler, were joined at the Commission by President-Elect Ann

  Members of the Soroptimist International Programme Team gathered from nine countries for a rare face-to-face meeting last week to share experiences, discuss issues and plan future work to educate, empower and enable women and girls. The lead UN Representatives from Geneva, Vienna, New York, Paris and Nairobi all attended

Update 10 May: more than 1000 people are now known to have died in the disaster. Soroptimist International President Alice Wells has called on women around the world to take action to prevent future disasters like the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, last week. Over 500 people died