NEWS IN BRIEF

The 35th General Assembly of ICW

The 35^th General Assembly of ICW was held from September 13 to 18, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This year, 1500 Indonesian delegates and 200 ICW participants from over 40 countries gathered to attend the General Assembly.

During the General Assembly, we examined and evaluated women’s status from a global perspective, while assessing ongoing activities of ICW members and organizations. Through the event, our ICW sisters have shared their ideas and understanding, creating a basis for strengthened solidarity and global friendship.

On September 13th, the registration started in the morning and the Women’s Forum was held at an outdoor venue of the Grand Inna Malioboro Hotel. The Women’s Forum was held under the triennial theme of 2015-2018, “Transforming Society through Women’s Empowerment.” During the first panel discussion, speakers gave their speeches on the topic of “Empower A Woman, Transform A Society.” The second panel discussion focused on various forms of violence and infringement of basic human rights that women face and ways to protect women against such violence and discrimination.

After the panel discussions, there was a celebration ceremony of the 130^th anniversary of ICW. 8 marchers representing KOWANI and ICW entered the venue with the birthday cake and Tum-peung, incorporating elements of Indonesian tradition in commemoration of ICW’s long legacy of activism and solidarity among women. 

The celebration of 130^thanniversary was followed by five workshop sessions with titles of "Women and transformative politics," "Women and economic empowerment", "Eliminating violence against women", "Women’s empowerment through education", and “The role of Indonesian women in economic development/sector.” The Welcome Dinner was held in the same evening at the Grand Inna Malioboro Hotel.

On September 14, the Opening Ceremony was attended by key guests such as President of the Republic of Indonesia, ministers of Indonesian governments, ambassadors, and various NGO leaders. After the welcoming speech by the ICW President Jungsook Kim and KOWANI President, Giwo Rubianto, H.E. IR. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia gave a congratulatory speech on women’s empowerment in Indonesia. The ceremony closed with the beating of lesung, a traditional Indonesian ceremony performed in many official events.

The business meeting was also held on the same day. President Kim presented the presidential and administrative report on behalf of ICW Board. The constitution was also amended by the unanimous approval of the General Assembly. The Finance report for the last triennium was also approved by the General Assembly. In the evening, all the GA participants attended Prambanan Night to watch Ramayana Royal Ballet performance while enjoying traditional Indonesian cuisine.

On September 15, the second day of business meeting, all the National Councils reported on their activities for the last triennium to implement the ICW’s triennial theme of “Transformation of Society through Women’s Empowerment.” The elections for various leadership positions such as ICW Board members and Standing Committee members were also held. In the evening, GA participants took a trip to Kraton, Sultan’s Palace and enjoyed their dinner events in the company of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, the current Sultan of Yogyakarta Sultanate.  

On September 16, the third day of the business meeting, interfaith service was held. The meeting was followed by the reports of the national councils, reports of UN representatives, presentation of LELAF Mechta van den Bogert Award, and various reports of ICW-funded projects. In the evening, APRC hosted a fundraising event to mark its 10^thanniversary.

In the morning of September 17, Regional Council meetings were held. ECICW, APRC, RCA, and African Regional Councils gathered to discuss and evaluate the activities within each regional council. In the afternoon session, reports of the workshops held on September 13 were presented. The Standing Committees’ Resolutions and Plans of Actions were also discussed. Main topics of the resolutions included “Alerting Young People to the Dangers of the Internet,” “Addressing Abuse on the Elderly for a Better Quality of Life,” “Sub-Saharan Women Migrants in a Precarious Situation: “Challenges and Empowerment,” “Mental Health Support Following a Natural Disaster,” “Access to Environmental Information and Education,” “Availability of Safe Water,” “Combating and Eliminating All Forms of Sexual Harassment.”

On September 18, the GA was concluded with introduction of new triennial theme “Social protection for women and girls: Sustainable development for the world” and introduction of new life and individual members. The closing ceremony comprised of presentation of the next venue for ICW ECM, farewell to outgoing board, speech of the president re-elected, and the introduction of the newly elected Board. The photo session for newly elected Standing Committee members and Board took place after the GA.

*The newly elected officials are as below.

<ICW-CIF Board>

President                                    Jung Sook Kim

Vice President                                Linda Liu             Doris Bingley             Jamal Hermes              Fatos Inal              Giwo Rubianto                          

Member                                          Isin Atala             Pushpa Hegde

Treasurer                                    Martine Marandel

Assistant Treasurer                Marie-Claude Bertrand

<Standing Committee>

Status of Women Standing Committee

Co-ordinator: Chularat Israngkool Na Ayutthaya

Advisor

Implementation of Conventions:  Vivi Germanos-Koutsounadis

International Relations & Peace:  Mazal Renford

Human Rights:   Claudie Bourgon-Guibert 

Sustainable Development Standing Committee

Co-ordinator: Uli Hadriani Tiur Ida Silalahi 

Advisor

                         Women & Employment:    Mae Chu Chang 

                  Rural and Urban Women:   Saida Zniber

                  Economics:   Ayfer Yilmaz

General Well Being Standing Committee            

Advisor

Health:     Lyudmyla Porokhnyak

                 Habitat:   Siririat Tamrongterakul

                 Environment:     Wendy Rainbird

                 Nutrition:  Rakhi Shetty

Communications Standing Committee   

Co-ordinator: Leonie Christophersen

Advisor

                  Arts and Letters:  Jennifer Ann Davies

                  Music:    Eleonore Hauere-Rona

                  Mass Media:  Annamaria Castelfranchi

Social Issues Standing Committee                

Co-ordinator: Gloria Laraba Shoda

Advisor

Child and Family: Sheila Pepper

                 Ageing:  Maragret Jip Kuo

We congratulate on the wonderful achievement of the 35^th GA in September 2018, and really appreciate KOWANI (NCW Indonesia) for its dedication and support to make this GA a grand success.

All the things that we experienced during our stay in Indonesia will remain as beautiful memories for us.