Asia

On April 20, 2012 the YWCA of Korea proudly celebrated its 90th Anniversary together with 300 participants including members, donors and partners.

Thanks to the efforts of its three co-founders, Kim, Park and Yoo, and despite a difficult political context, on April 20, 1922, the YWCA of Korea was officially established.

In Kathmandu, Nepal on the 28^th of April 2012 the World YWCA held a week long training ‘Mobilising Young Women’s Leadership and Advocacy’.  The training titled “I am a young women, I am a leader” was organised by Juli Dugdale, World YWCA Global Programme Manager Women's Leadership & Movement Building; Focal Point Asia/Pacific. The training aims to increase the capacity of young women and mentors in order to build and exercise leadership in their lives, communities and to advocate for their rights. In total 18 young women and five women from six Asian countries including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar participated in the Nepal training.

The YWCA of India opened its first association in 1875 in Mumbai and was officially affiliated to the World YWCA in 1897. Since its beginning the YWCA of India has been focused on empowering women and girls to challenge gender inequities, social and economic disparities, caste based discrimination and all forms of violence against women. India is the second largest country in the world in terms of population with 1.21 billion inhabitants. Its population has grown by 181 million over the past decade and is predicted to overtake China by 2030.

In early December 2011 the World YWCA visited the YWCA of Nepal. The purpose of the visit was to review the progress of the Power to Change Fund project and deliver training on implementing the human rights-based approach and also young women’s leadership training. The visit also provided the opportunity for capacity building around the YWCA Standards of Good Management and Accountability. Furthermore, the World YWCA was able to conduct a baseline assessment in preparation for future training in Nepal “I am a young women, I am a leader” which is funded by AUSAID and will take place this April 2012. Juli Dugdale, World YWCA Movement Building and Women's Leadership: Focal point Asia and Pacific Global Manager conducted the training and said “The beautiful thing about the YWCA of Nepal is their celebration of their multi-faith society and embracing that diversity in their membership. The YWCA of Nepal represents the diversity of the country itself comprising of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindis”.

The World YWCA recently visited Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to attend a three day workshop “Southern Voices: Reclaiming and Redefining the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Agenda for 2015” organised by the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research centre for Women (ARROW). The World YWCA is part of the global ARROW project The Global South , which aims to give southern civil society the means and avenue of articulating a regional Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) agenda and distilling regional agendas into a global SRHR agenda. The ARROW project is currently engaged with the World YWCA in generating a global report on the regional and global SRHR agenda.

Since its beginning the World YWCA Power to Change Fund has been making a positive difference to lives of women and young women around the world. Direct grant making to YWCA Member Associations has meant that projects have benefited from a capacity building approach The Power to Change Fund provides innovative leadership programmes and empowering opportunities through dialogues, training and sharing of experiences and skills at regional, national and global advocacy platforms. Projects in 2011 included a range of YWCA initiatives from around the world on violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV, and economic empowerment. Three such projects were carried out in Myanmar, Colombia and Tanzania.

Thailand is facing a severe and protracted flood covering the northern and central regions of Thailand. 28 provinces are affected, with 4 million acres of land currently underwater. So far the floods have claimed the lives of 356 people and an estimated 800,000 homes have been destroyed. 640,547 people are temporarily out of work and 820,000 have been treated for water-borne diseases and stress thus far.

Women from Fukushima, Japan, have started a campaign to demand greater protection for children affected by radiation. Many families and children are trapped in Fukushima and are unable to leave for financial reasons. National and prefectural governments have determined that the accepted exposure rate to radiation is up to 20 millisieverts per year, and below that rate they are not obligated to offer financial support to residents, businesses or schools that wish to relocate outside the affected areas. At Chernobyl the right to evacuate was given from 1 to 5 millisieverts.

The World YWCA, represented by Reverend Pirjo-Liisa Penttinen, General Secretary of YWCA of Finland, participated in the second international gathering of the Global Christian Forum (GCF). The gathering met in Manado, Indonesia, from October 4-7, 2011, under the theme “Life Together in Jesus Christ, Empowered by the Holy Spirit.”

Thanks to funds acquired through the Power to Change (P2C) Fund, the YWCA of Sri Lanka provides guidelines and basic knowledge for young women to deal with social issues.