As a member of the International Federation of Business & Professional Women (www.bpw-international.org/), BPW Canada and its members are part of an extensive network of women in more than 100 countries working to improve economic, political, employment and social conditions of women world-wide. Our international work is a very important and very exciting part of what BPW Canada is all about. In February of each year, clubs hold a beautiful Candle-lighting Ceremony, symbolizing the spirit we share with our sister clubs around the world. On March 8th, we celebrate International Women's Day. BPW Canada also participates in our international delegation each February-March to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York. In 2008, our BPW members were present when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a Global Campaign to end violence against women. BPW Clubs around the world will support this campaign through a variety of activities in the coming years. By joining BPW Canada, you, too, can be part of this large network of women who are working to improve the lives of girls and women around the world.

First call for BPW members to attend the 53rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women to be held in New York from March 2-13, 2009. (pdf) Stay tuned on this page for more information.

• Women’s Inequality in Canada. Submission of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the occasion of the Committee’s Review of Canada’s 6th & 7th Reports. September 2008 (pdf)
• The World Economic Forum has released its 2008 Gender Gap Report and ranked 130 countries on it. The gap index measures "gender-based inequalities on economic, political, education- and health-based criteria" and is "designed to measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities." Canada has dropped from 18th place in 2007 to 31st. (pdf)
  

BPW Canada members attended the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in early 2008.

1st Vice-Président Sue Calhoun; BPWI President Chonchanok Viravan; BPW Canada President Fran Donaldson, and Vi Andersen, President of BPW Virtual	Fran, Sue et Vi with Liz Benham (right), 2nd Vice-President of BPWI et Monica McNeill, Regional Director of the North Amercian Non-Spanish Speaking Countries, BPWI	The BPW Canada delegation with Mme Carolyn McAskie, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations (in red).

* * *

GEAR UP! The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) campaign is in full swing! At its 2006 Convention in Toronto, BPW delegates passed an emergency resolution calling on the United Nations to establish an independent women-specific agency at the UN. At the 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in February 2008, the GEAR campaign was officially launched. Its objective is to build a United Nations that really works for all women. The campaign focuses on the establishment of a stronger women's entity at the UN, fully funded to meet expectations and deliver results, led by an Under-Secretary-General and supported by extensive field presence, accountable at both the global and national levels, and active in promoting gender mainstreaming throughout the UN system. Hundreds of non-governmental organizations, including BPW Canada, have signed on. The Canadian government also supports the GEAR reform. BPW Canada is urging clubs to get involved in this very important campaign, which will make a difference to girls and women around the world. For more information, visit www.wedo.org/index.aspx

* * *

Gender and Climate Change – Why Climate Change is a Women's Issue
By Kellie Tranter
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Legislation for BPW International.

The recent spate of 'natural' (or nowadays probably more correctly, 'climate related') disasters all over the world caused me to wonder whether their effects are evenly spread between the sexes. Logically, human beings of both sexes should react in much the same way to environmental threats, and in the absence of social factors, any differences in the effect of disasters between the sexes should be fairly small. I was interested to turn up some research that has already been done. I was appalled at what it showed. Read the Full Report (pdf).

* * *

PROJECT FIVE-O

In 1980, five of the world’s largest and most influential women’s organizations came together with a mission to provide vocational training for poor women in developing countries. The group, including BPWI International, the International Federation of University Women, the International Council of Women, Soroptimist International and Zonta International, launched Project Five-O at the second World Conference for Women in Copenhagen. Its purpose was and still is today to use the skills and expertise of the members of the participating organizations to provide training course in income-generating skills, accompanied by training in health, nutrition, hygiene, child care and literacy. Visit www.project-five-o.org for more information.

* * *

• The BPW International Newsletter is available at
www.bpw-international.org/publications/library-international-newsletters.htm.

• The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, and 185 countries, including Canada, have ratified the Treaty for the Rights of Women. The treaty, unfortunately, has no enforcement authority to the United Nations or any other body. That’s why it is important for BPW Canada, as a non-governmental organization representing women, to keep reminding our government of its obligations under CEDAW and pressuring them to fulfill those obligations. For more information and to keep up-to-date, visit the CEDAW site at www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/

International Federation of BPW Women
http://www.bpw-international.org/