Pacific

News has just come in that Jenta Tau, the 2011 World YWCA intern from the Solomon Islands, has been appointed the new General Secretary of the YWCA of the Solomon Islands.

“We don’t want nuclear power! Stop nuclear power plants NOW!”

 The two day Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World held in Yokohama, Japan, on January 14-15, 2012, attracted some 11,500 people from 30 countries worldwide, as well as 30,000 who watched online, to help create safe societies with justice and to cry out “NO!” to both nuclear weapons and to nuclear power, which had been promoted as “clean energy”. The conference was organised by grassroots NGOs and supported by many individuals and organisations including the YWCA of Japan, to provide a space for people to network, exchange information and ideas, contribute skills and knowledge, and share actions to make the world free from nuclear power.

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has - Margaret Mead

Four YWCA delegates attended the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF), held 25-27 October in Perth, Australia, and a further four YWCA young women were invited to be among 130 young people from around the Commonwealth to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF), 23-27 October in Fremantle, Australia, in the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The YWCA Timor-Leste Committee has designed a beautiful desk calendar with over fifty colour photographs, statistics and information about women in Timor-Leste. This unique and practical gift supports the formation of a YWCA in Timor-Leste.

In August 2011, the Youth Adolescent Health Club (YAH), a project activity of the YWCA of Papua New Guinea (PNG), celebrated International Youth Day together with other youth organisations. The programme was prepared to commemorate the creation of  a space for local youth to demonstrate their talent and creativity, as well as join the global community in a united voice for peace, safety and justice in all nations. The theme, “Mobilising Youth for Change,” was chosen to draw the attention of other young people as well.

It is a campaign with a twist but YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand and Positive Women NZ have not let that stand in the way of their involvement in the International Paper Dolls Campaign that raises awareness of female condoms.

The YWCA is on a mission to ensure young women in New Zealand never have a ‘fat-day’ again.

The YWCA of New Zealand/Aotearoa and Positive Women Inc., an HIV positive women’s group, have joined a unique and attractive campaign – the International Paper Dolls Campaign – which raises awareness on female condoms, as well as the education and programming needed to support their use, in a most surprising way. The campaign is funded by The Universal Access to Female Condom Joint Programme (UAFC) so as to illustrate the growing, worldwide demand for female condoms

The World YWCA welcomes and congratulates the government of Australia on its visible leadership in advancing the rights and empowerment of women and girls, as reflected in its recent budget statement.