20th February 1999

Federation President Pamela Lee speaks in Swansea

SI Wales South enthusiastically welcomed Federation President Pamela when she attended their Saturday Programme Action and Regional Council meetings at the Hilton National Hotel in Swansea.

At the Programme Action meeting Federation President Pamela asked her audience to be self critical about their PA work and to assess how it fits into the Way Ahead. She posed the following questions:

1. How far is Programme Action a) as a result of response to a need b) A requirement as a member of the United Nations or World Health Organisation c) do we benefit from or need this?
2. Is the reaction to outside persuasion regarding programme action successful?
3. Looking at the criteria for United Nations Membership - do we deserve it today?
4. Do we need programme areas - could they not come under Education and have a holistic approach?

Federation President Pamela continued by giving some background to the development of Programme Action which started in the 1930s when Oakland Club campaign to save the Redwoods and continued with topics such as Housing, Assistance for the Sick, etc.

Each project was stimulated by the need at that time, which is also true today. Individual Federations were concerned with their own problems -

• in America - the depression
• in Britain - housing
• in Europe - Women's Rights

After surviving World War 2, particularly in Europe, it was felt there was a need for a wider concept and clubs were urged to initiate service projects, not just fund raising efforts.

In 1984 Soroptimist International gained non-governmental status and also UN Category 1 Status and fitted the criteria for association with the World Health Organisation. The original submission was:

1. Multinational membership
2. Wide scope of service
3. To cover a cross-section of the life of the community
4. The absence of party politics and religious views
5. Involvement with other NGOs

This statement still stands and is constantly being reviewed - which is one of the reasons why reports from Clubs are vitally important.

Federation President Pamela referred to the Street Children Project where action is needed this year and will be reported on at the Cardiff Federation Conference in the year 2000.

1999 has been designated the United Nations Year of the Older Person. Soroptimists will be looking at the Pennall Report and viewing the positive aspects of women getting older. A report on Beijing plus 4 has recently been published.

In a lively discussion which followed it seemed that more information is needed on the results of various projects. Also that newer members should be helped by their clubs to learn about the history and background of Programme Action work.

During the Regional Council Meeting Federation President Pamela spoke of the progress made since the meeting in Bristol in January 1998 regarding the proposed Constitution. Since then the Federation Officers have been working hard to publish details of the new Constitution. Reference was made to the importance of the training role within the Region to advise Club members of the changes ahead.

President Pamela advised Clubs to keep a balance between their social and business meetings and to develop individual member's skills within the club, according to their own particular expertise. She described membership as a learning curve, ideally with a development plan for each member in accordance with what is right for each individual in Club, Region and Federation.

The Government is currently concerned with entering into partnership with voluntary organisations and is now taking note of what Soroptimist International has to contribute as "the voice of the people". Soroptimists should take an active role in publicly voicing their opinions and wherever possible co-operate with other women's organisations working towards the same objectives.

Federation President Pamela concluded by emphasising the importance of carefully reading the Soroptimist News as reports will no longer be issued from the Federation office.