World YWCA Day 2010 : Women Creating a Safe World

Since 1947, World YWCA Day has been celebrated annually on April 24 and is an opportunity for YWCAs around the world to commemorate the history of this special movement. Each year the celebration has a different theme and programme that enables members to act locally for a common global goal and on April 24, 2010, the World YWCA will continue to focus on ‘Women Creating a Safe World.'

‘Women Creating a Safe World' is the theme for the regional trainings in the Middle East, Europe and Latin America in 2010 and for the World YWCA Council, Switzerland in 2011. One important goal for World YWCA Day 2010 is to raise $10,000 to help enable YWCA women to attend regional trainings and additional funds to support YWCA women to attend World Council in 2011. In both the trainings and World YWCA Council, women will gain skills and knowledge about leadership, advocacy, governance, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV and AIDS, and violence against women.

"An investment in women's leadership is an investment in the future,” says World YWCA Fundraising Coordinator Lynn Sorrentino who is hoping the movement will get beind World YWCA Day. “Leadership is about making something happen or influencing how something is done or viewed in the world. It is about the collective capacity of a group, whether it be a community, movement, organisation or nation working together to create change. The World YWCA believes that every woman has the potential and power to be a leader."

Women of the YWCA movement are the foundation of support for the programmatic work of the World YWCA. “The YWCA movement creates women leaders. It builds the leadership skills of its members through local and national YWCA programmes, regional training participation and participating at global events. The women who attend regional trainings and World YWCA Council are the membership. They are the women who create the advocacy agenda of the World YWCA and in turn create the positive change needed in 22,000 communities worldwide," reflects Sorrentino. “Support of World YWCA regional trainings and World Council is integral to the continued progress of women in the YWCA movement and women globally.”