Hilary Ratcliffe is the International Programme Director (IPD) for Soroptimist International (SI), a global volunteer movement of over 80,000 club members, working for the rights of women and girls. Each year Hilary attends the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and heads up a team of Soroptimists who are

International Programme Director Hilary Ratcliffe brings us a SoroptiVoice Blog on an official UN side event at the Commission on the Status of Women 58 (CSW58) in New York on 12th March. Hosted by by World Association of Girl Guides and Girls Scouts (WAGGGs) with the United Nations Millennium Campaign,

  Reilly Dempsey, Head of Programme and Advocacy at Soroptimist International, reports back on a challenging and inspiring SI CSW58 side event, giving a male perspective on the need to break down gender stereotypes. If we can call a group of girls “guys”, why can’t we call a group of

  Soroptimist International President Ann Garvie reports back from “Half the Sky is Not Enough”, a side event at CSW58, co-sponsored by the Armenian Relief Society, Soroptimist International and International Council of Jewish Women on 12 March 2014.  The event examined the role of new technologies - online peitions and

Today's Soroptivoice blog comes from International President of SI Ann Garvie who yesterday spoke at an panel event at CSW58 entitled 'Preventing gender-based violence and discrimination for equality and empowerment of women and girls of all ages'. The panel consisted of five leading women's NGOs and discussed empowering women and

  SI Programme Director Hilary Ratcliffe reports from "Pink is the New Blue: Opening Doors for Women and Girls", a side event at CSW58 exploring the barriers faced by women and girls in entering into traditionally male dominated fields particularly in STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The event

Hilary Ratcliffe, SI's International Programme Director attended the first SI co-hosted Side Event yesterday taking place at the CSW 58 entitled 'Solar Cooking: Power to Change Lives'. Here she report back on the event: "An early start for us all but not nearly as early as a woman in a

"Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary- General and Executive Director UN Women introduced the NGO CSW Consultation Day in a speech stating that many of the MDGs had achieved progress but not nearly enough. The relevant data she said is there for governments to utilise but there must be more involvement for

A forced marriage is where one or both people do not consent to the marriage and pressure or abuse is used. The UK Government estimate that up to 8000 cases of forced marriage happen each year in the UK alone; most include a female victim. In 2011, they began a

  Photo: At the Leadership Development Course Graduation Ceremony Women who have left abusive or violent relationships may take years to rebuild their lives; after the initial counselling and support has finished, many women continue to feel isolated and have a low sense of self-esteem, which can lead to a