Soroptimist International of Western Australia
Why do over 72,000 women in 3,000 clubs from 121 countries belong to Soroptimist International? Because they want to make a difference in today’s world.
Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer movement working together to transform the lives of women and girls. Our network of over 72,000 club members in 121 countries and territories works at a local, national and international level to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls.
Each Soroptimist club belongs to one of the five SI Federations:
- Soroptimist International of South East Asia Pacific (SISEAP)
- Soroptimist International of Europe (SIE)
- Soroptimist International of the Americas (SIA)
- Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI).
- Soroptimist International of Africa (SIAF)
Soroptimist International of Perth was the first club established in Western Australia in 1949 and has clubrooms in West Perth. With the formation of a club in Fremantle in 1953, the Region of Western Australia was established. Over the years new clubs have continued to be formed, or expanded, throughout the State with the latest being Bunbury in 2015.
In May 2022 Soroptimists from the South West Pacific Federation participated in the 23rd Conference of Clubs via their computers. This online virtual event delivered thought-provoking panel discussions and a celebration of the past biennium.
We welcomed the new Federation President Christine Johnstone from Australia and farewelled outgoing President Suman Lal from Fiji. A new constitution, the change of the Federation name to South East Asia Pacific and a new biennium project all came together during 2022.
The Sustainable Development Goals continue to underpin the work of Soroptimists and inform our objectives:
- To increase Soroptimist advocacy at the global level
- To increase the international profile of Soroptimist International
- To increase the federation’s contribution to global advocacy to promote and maintain our ECOSOC status
The Soroptimist Federations continue to be linked through their efforts to improve the lives of women and girls through education, empowerment and enabling opportunities.
Objectives
- Education
- Elimination of violence
- Economic empowerment
- Food security
- Healthcare
- Environmental sustainability/water and sanitation
- Conflict resolution/peace promotion
- Disaster relief, mitigation and resilience
These goals and objectives are closely linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and a good explanation of them can be found at
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/post-2015-development-agenda.html
Christine encouraged members to engage with her biennium theme “Our Voice for Change”. As Soroptimists, we have a voice. This is where our power comes from – the power to create actions and influence change.
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