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HEADLINES

Suffrage Day, 19 September: The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MWA) has set up Facebook and Twitter pages for Suffrage Day on 19 September. Check them out, click like/follow, and let your networks know. MWA is looking for posts and sharing of information, so feel free to put up some relevant content and encourage others to do the same – it’s also a great opportunity to promote Suffrage events/activities that your branch or organisation has planned.

Congratulations: Vanisa Dhiru, YWCA of A/NZ Board member and YWCA of Greater Wellington President has recently been appointed as CEO of Volunteering New Zealand. We wish her all the best for her new role and are very proud that one of our own young women leaders is taking this challenge on!

World YWCA Council 2011: We will be blogging from Zurich so you can experience the World YWCA Council. Visit http://ywcagirlsgoglobal.wordpress.com/ for regular updates as we head towards the big event from July 10 -16, 2011.

AGM 2011: We are pleased to announce Gwyn John has joined the A/NZ Board. Gwyn also holds the position of YWCA of Dunedin President.

Like Your Body booklets now available: Our very popular Like Your Body resource has been reprinted. Please contact our office to request your free copy.

YWCA Encore Enrolling now: Encore programmes for February are about to start in seven regions around New Zealand.  These free eight week programmes are designed specifically for women who have had breast cancer surgery at any time in their lives. Encore is conducted by women and incorporates gentle exercises, relaxation techniques, information and support. Click here for locations and dates

YWCA of Dunedin: The YWCA of Dunedin held their AGM last week (30 November). The existing Board was re-elected with one addition. The Board now consists of Gwyn John (President), Pat Johnston (Treasurer), Beatrix van de Klundert (Secretary), Jan Hudson, Heather Stanley (young woman) and Tonelle Horner (new member and young women).

Job Opportunity: Ara Taiohi is a new national youth sector organisation set up to help people who work with young people (aged 12-35) become more connected, effective and accountable. It was launched in November 2010 by NZ Aotearoa Adolescent Health and Development and the National Youth Workers Network Aotearoa. This exciting new organisation builds on their two decades of experience, know-how and commitment, with support from the wider youth sector and more than 400 inaugural personal and group members. Click here for more information

Congratulations to the 16 new qualified Encore Coordinators who successfully completed the recent training course held in Auckland. The new coordinators will be holding the free Encore Programme throughout the country over the following months. Click here for more information on our very popular programme.

Survey On Female Stereotypes Around The World: We are a multidisciplinary research group from G.D'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy. At the moment, we are carrying on a survey on female stereotypes all around the world. In particular we wish to investigate stereotypes related to some specific areas such as: emotion and temperament, education, job, politics, body image and sexuality. Starting from a first preliminary survey aiming to collect a list of stereotypes from different countries, we have built a questionnaire which can be filled in online at the following address: Women stereotypes survey

YWCA of Christchurch Training and Education gets EXCELLENT results from NZQA External Evaluation and Review: They have done it!  The YWCA of Christchurch Training and Education Unit has got excellent rating in the recently conducted NZQA External Evaluation held last 14th April 2010. Read more

YWCA of Greater Wellington seeking Maori women’s groups to fund: This year, the YWCA of Greater Wellington celebrates 20 years of supporting local Maori women’s projects and programmes through their grant programme, the Maori Women’s Transfer Fund. For Maori Language Week, they are calling for early applications for Maori women’s projects in the region. Read more

Girls make a point with pink: The Y-Dub club of Whangarei Girls' High School students is getting ready to push the anti-bullying message across in a way Whangarei has never seen before. Read more

Congratulations to our World Council Delegation: Announcement of the delegation happened during our AGM. Well done to our President, Sarah Davies, Tania Thomas, Shannon Kelly, Janelle Nee and Andrijana Trajanovska

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Enrol! Vote! Make Women Count!

With Suffrage Day upon us and an upcoming election, the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand is using this opportunity to ask young women and women to enrol, vote  and make women count.

The YWCA of A/NZ has developed a resource that will be circulated at nationwide suffrage events and to all political parties as we gear up for the General Election. On one side is a list of ten questions young women and women can ask candidates, and on the other helpful hints about enrolment, voting and education on what will take place on 26 November.

 

Enrol! Vote! Make Women Count! resource

 

This is an apolitical resource. We are not saying who to vote for – we are encouraging young women and women to enrol, vote and make women count!

 

For more information contact Sarah Davies, YWCA of A/NZ Strategic Development Manager sarah.davies@ywca.org.nz / 021 026 169 27

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The ‘Abstain for the All Blacks’ campaign led by Telecom is sending the wrong message, says the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand

"The Rugby World Cup is a huge international event and this would have been the perfect opportunity for Telecom to support a safe sex message. We need to be realistic that there will be a lot of sex during the Rugby World Cup and with raising rates of sexually transmitted infections, teenage pregnancy and HIV in New Zealand, we need to be promoting safe sex, not abstinence,” says Sarah Davies of the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Although the YWCA acknowledges the campaign is tongue in cheek they recommend Telecom use this opportunity to do something positive. “Instead of black rubber finger rings that promote abstinence, produce some black male and female condoms for fans. They will get much more use.”

The YWCA also highlights that there is worldwide research that indicates abstinence only messages have no effect on teen sexual behavior. “We do sexual and reproductive health and rights education and information events as the YWCA and we are well aware that young and old alike are having sex in New Zealand. It would be great if Telecom could have used this campaign to promote safe sex and we urge them to do so as they roll out this campaign.”

The YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand and Positive Women Inc.  are currently holding regional events to raise awareness of the female condom in New Zealand. “Most Kiwis have never seen one and although they are gaining popularity at slower rate than the male condom, the young women are very receptive to learning about them and at least trying them out.”

“ The YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand is right behind the All Blacks and just like everyone else in the country , have our fingers crossed for an All Black win. We simply urge Telecom to now take this campaign and turn it into a safe sex message, ” says Davies.

For more information contact Sarah Davies, YWCA of A/NZ Strategic Development Manager sarah.davies@ywca.org.nz / 021 026 169 27

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YWCA says rates of violence against young women in the Pacific ‘unacceptable’

Across the Pacific region, high rates of violence against women and children, unstable political environments and ethnic conflict continue to undermine peace and security – compromising the safety of individuals, families and entire populations.

On International Youth Day ( August 12, 2011), the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand says it is time to challenge and redefine narrow gender roles and stereotypes that condone and perpetuate violence against young women in the Pacific.

“We have major concerns about the safety of young women not only in New Zealand, but across the Pacific region. Recent studies highlight intimate partner violence against women in the Pacific Islands is amongst the highest on the world and that is unacceptable” says Sarah Davies of the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand. Violence against women rates are as high as 68% in Kiribati, 63% in the Solomon Islands, and 46% in Samoa.

The YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand, in partnership with other Pacific YWCAs, recently launched the very first Pacific young women’s leadership strategy that puts young women at the centre of efforts to strengthen women's leadership to create safe communities; including in the elimination of violence against women

The strategy was developed after consultations with young women in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Australia, Solomon Islands and New Zealand , an expert reference group of representatives from regional organisations, including the Commonwealth Youth Programme, Pacific Youth Council, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, New Zealand Family Planning, Leadership Solomon Islands and FemLINKPACIFIC, as well as key UN Agencies, amongst which UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNESCO were invited to further develop the strategy.

In launching the report a number of Pacific women highlighted the issues affecting their communities including early marriage and violence against women.

“Young women in the Pacific have rights and International Youth Day is a great day to speak up and demand them. The YWCA firmly believes the best way to eliminate violence against women is to prevent it before it occurs and we strongly advocate for long term, adequately funded violence prevention initiatives that give young women and men the skills to develop safe and respectful relationships with their parents, peers and partners,” says Davies.

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For more information please contact Sarah Davies, YWCA Strategic Development Manager sarah.davies@ywca.org.nz/ 021 026 169 27

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Young women lead the way in the Pacific

The inaugural 'Pacific Young Women's Leadership Strategy' was launched at the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) World Council in Zurich last week.

World YWCA President Susan Brennan in launching the report said, " This strategy puts young women at the centre of our efforts to strengthen women's leadership to create safe communities.

This document is the first of its kind and marks a new way of collaborating and connecting at a regional level to reach our objective of developing young women's leadership."

The report highlights five key areas for work to ensure women and girls are:

 

The strategy was developed after consultations with young women in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Australia, Solomon Islands and New Zealand and with remote input from Tonga and Bougainville, an expert reference group of representatives from regional organisations, including the Commonwealth Youth Programme, Pacific Youth Council, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, New Zealand Family Planning, Leadership Solomon Islands and Fem’LINKPACIFIC, as well as key UN Agencies, amongst which UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNESCO, were invited to further develop the strategy.

In launching the report a number of Pacific women highlighted the issues affecting their communities including early marriage and violence against women.

For interviews please contact: Sarah Davies, YWCA of A/NZ Development Manager, 021 026 169 27

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