{"id":4717,"date":"2021-10-22T09:07:44","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T09:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/llandudno2021\/?page_id=4717"},"modified":"2021-10-30T06:34:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T06:34:42","slug":"update-on-the-road-to-equality","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sigbi.org\/llandudno2021\/friday-sessions-29-october-2021\/update-on-the-road-to-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on “The Road to Equality” – International President’s Appeal 2019-2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blog by\u00a0Meenakshi Ray,\u00a0SI Calcutta<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"It was late at night and I was watching the closing moments of the SI 100 Years Event. It had been two days of continuous viewing, & I had become inattentive. Suddenly, I was startled to see our Host, lead the studio participants into singing the opening bars of \u2018Dancing Queen\u2019 by Abba. To my delight, I realized that President Sharon had donned a glittering feather boa. She also danced a few steps to join in the carnival-like mood there! In those fun-filled moments, I learnt that being a leader entails wearing several hats. And a big salute to President Sharon for wearing them so comfortably! Today I feel privileged to be writing about SI President\u2019s Update on \u2018The Road to Equality\u2019 as she ends office shortly.<\/p>\n

Sharon began her presentation with the 100th<\/sup> year celebration of SI with the events being held around the world. She reminisced that, when her term began in 2019 with the Road to Equality, she, along with everyone else had no idea about the difficult path she would have to tread shortly with the onset of the global pandemic. However, since then, we have all managed to jump into the virtual world, have adapted, are learning more, and meeting more people than ever before!<\/p>\n

On a serious note, Covid 19 has impacted women in several ways. Girls are out of school, women are looking after children\/teaching them, and earning a living, all from home. This has rendered them very vulnerable with concerns about their safety & welfare. Women and girls represent half the world\u2019s population and therefore half the world\u2019s potential. As such, they have a right to gender equality and the associated rights & opportunities. Only time will tell if there is a paradigm shift to gender equality and human rights, to which Soroptimists are committed.<\/p>\n

We are experiencing climate disasters, conflict, and a global pandemic. To ensure the sustainability of our organization, we need to come together globally, locally as well as with others on these complex problems. We also need to voice our concerns globally. Since 1948, SI as an NGO, has been engaging with the UN structure with significant milestones.<\/p>\n

SI President\u2019s Road to Equality\u00a0Appeal (RTE) which commenced in 2019, strategically focuses on taking\u00a0action\u00a0and\u00a0advocating\u00a0on topics affecting women and girls, including\u00a0Child Marriage,\u00a0Female Genital Mutilation,\u00a0Domestic Violence,\u00a0Rights of Older Women,\u00a0Migration, and\u00a0Human Trafficking.\u00a0During the pandemic, the RTEA continued with learning opportunities, fund raising and projects which were not at risk of cancellation. During the period, 10 webinars have been hosted, as well as a series of podcasts as well as 2 AGMs, all of which have been well received. The President\u2019s Appeal Committee team is led by Ayushi Kundu from India & her fellow coordinator, Olga Sidenko from Switzerland. Details of Projects are given below.<\/p>\n