What We do

72,000 Soroptimists Worldwide

There are nearly 72,000 Soroptimists worldwide, the majority of whom belong to their local Club, where they can make friends with like-minded women, have fun and work on projects that help improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally.

Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) also offers Associate Membership, for busy women who believe in what we do but do not have the time to get involved in Club activities.

Soroptimist International (SI) has General Consultative Status and SIGBI has Special Consultative Status at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations (UN). This gives us a voice on important discussion papers, and allows us to attend the Commission on the Status of Women in New York each March, contributing to the “Agreed Conclusions”. This status would not be possible without the fantastic work being done by our Members.

Join Us and help us to Make That Difference to Women and Girls worldwide.

Our Work

Clubs choose projects to work on that tackle one or more of the five P’s, below. All the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) fit into one of these P’s:

People – SDGs 1-5
Prosperity – SDGs7-11
Planet – SDG6 and 12-15
Peace – SDG 16
Partnership – SDG17.

All our work is linked to the Sustainable Development Goals whether it’s local, national or international. All projects work towards ending poverty, eradicating hunger, providing education for all and preserving the environment.

Club Members and Associate Members can support their projects by practical and/or financial support, or by Advocacy (lobbying governments and raising awareness of the issue).

Find out more about our projects in these areas

Organisation-wide Projects

As well as supporting their own projects, Clubs and Members also support a number of SI and SIGBI charities and projects. Full details of all these, as well as the opportunity to donate to them, are given on the Our Charities page.