Inspiring and innovative Soroptimist activities worldwide were
reported in October to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and
girls.  Here are some examples from Benin, Italy, UK, Sweden, Israel, India, Barbados, Germany, USA, Australia and Pakistan. Violence against women and human trafficking were key concerns,
with events to raise awareness launched on international action days.

 

View the slide show of featured projects above and read more about them below. 

SI Cotonou Doyen (Benin):

In a major initiative to make a new law on violence
against women better known, 60 Soroptimists from the 6 clubs in Benin undertook
a full day’s training on both the law and communication strategies to better
inform specialist groups and the general population on its use.

These Soroptimists then trained some 70 others in three
different localities, served as local interpreters, produced training guides and
distributed copies of the law.

This SI Benin project, funded by UNFPA, gained
country-wide coverage on television, 
radio and in newspapers. The government has promised to partner Benin
Soroptimists in a further information campaign in other parts of the country.

SI Martina
Franca (Italy):

Secondary schools were visited over three days to better
inform pupils of the action needed to eliminate violence against women and
girls. More than 120 SI logo T-shirts were handed to pupils to wear with pride.

This was followed by an 
evening performance of live painting together with a female writer and
dancers telling stories of violated women to raise funds.

To contribute to SI Italy’s national efforts to protect
the rights and dignity of women, SI Martina Franca also staged a painting
competition for students from a local arts school to challenge mass media
images of women.

SI St Helens
(UK):

To mark Anti-Slavery Day on 18th October 500
“Traffik-Free Toblerone” postcards  were
distributed in support of the campaign to put pressure on chocolate companies
to end child trafficking in the cocoa industry. Up to 12 thousand children are
estimated to have been trafficked to plantations in West Africa.

SI Cirencester and District (UK):

In a awareness raising exercise to get the public to
identify and act to stop human trafficking SI Cirencester and District hosted
an attention- grabbing super- sized UN Gift Box from the Stop the Traffik
campaign for two weeks.

SI
Stockholm-Lidingo (Sweden):

Club members made attractive bags from recycled materials
to sell in support of the Marta Resource Centre in Riga, Latvia which works at
regional and national levels to prevent domestic violence, prostitution and
human trafficking.

SI Rishton and
Great Harwood (UK):

More than £500 has been raised to provide transport costs
to safe houses and essential items for women at Hyndburn and Ribble Valley
Domestic Abuse Unit. Club members want women who leave abusive situations to
feel valued on arrival at the Unit. Books explaining that domestic violence is
NOT the fault of the victim are also provided.

SI Negev
(Israel) – pictured below

A series of meetings , lectures and workshops to empower
Bedouin girls to overcome low status in their community and take on leadership
positions was set up by SI Negev. This is part of  an ongoing project to teach Bedouin girls
skills to earn a living, gain independence and respect within their community,
especially those who are prevented from finishing school by their fathers.
European Soroptimists have given support for this work.

 

SI
Bangalore (India ) World Literacy Day

Catching them young with the
message “Education is Power” was SI Bangalore’s theme during events held at
three government schools to mark World Literacy Day. Despite government schools
being free in the early years of primary education, SI Bangalore reports
concern over drop out rates among pupils who often come from poorer
socio-economic backgrounds. More than 500 students got involved and the
importance of girl’s education was highlighted as the means for improving
women’s status and eliminating gender discrimination in India.

SI Bangalore
(India) celebrated World Peace Day with  29 girls from BBMP Government school, Austin
Road  who took part in an essay
competition on what  “World Peace” means
to them. The actions of local people in conflict areas worldwide, and the UN’s
role in building peace were discussed.

SI of Barbados:

Books, magazines and videos are being collected as part
of a continuing project to stock a women’s resource centre at a government
industrial school. This centre, set up by club members to promote the education
and enjoyment of female residents, was officially opened for business during
the club’s 50th anniversary week in November 2012.

SI Luebeck –
Bad Schwartau (Germany):

The Soroptimist Award aims to support female students who
are studying to work in areas often dominated by men. It has been presented to
an engineering and business student at the University of Applied Science in
Luebeck.

SI The
Verdugos  (USA): “Strikes
and Spares” fund raising event raised awareness and provided grants for
patients having financial difficulties because of breast cancer.

SI George Town in Tasmania (Australia) held an event for grade 5 & 6 girls attending the 3 schools in
George Town to mark International Day of the Gir. Successful local women from a variety of vocations / professions spoke briefly about their careers to show theses young girls the importance and benefits of continuing education / skills training.

SI Karachi Central (Pakistan) carried out a Gender Equity monitoring
(GEM) programme in local schools, exploring how women are treated differently
and different roles for men and women. They used the GEMS diary, a thought provoking and an
interesting workbook to help promote gender equity.

ACTION, ADVOCACY AND AWARENESS RAISING

There are
around 3000 Soroptimist clubs around the world, all working to educate,
empower or enable opportunities for women in their local communities and beyond
through action, advocacy and awareness-raising.  Working across the world
in over 120 countries, clubs undertake a huge range of projects depending on local
need. However, all serve the following objectives:

• to increase access to formal and
  non-formal learning opportunities.

• to improve access to economic
  empowerment and sustainable opportunities for the employment of women.

• to eliminate violence against women
  and girls and ensure women’s participation in conflict resolution.

• to ensure women and girls have food
  security and access to the highest attainable standard of health care.

• to address the specific needs of women
  and girls by improving environmental sustainability, and mitigating effects of
  climate change and disasters.  

These actions
were all reported during October 2013 by clubs on the Project Focus Report database, which enables
SI to track club activities across the globe and monitor the collective impact
of Soroptimists worldwide.