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History
BPW History The International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW)* was founded by Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips in 1930. Dr Phillips challenged leading women in Europe and the United States to form an international organisation to support and promote women in business and in the professions. The organisation was founded under the name of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW) and began on August 26, 1930 with 16 member countries. Through its connection with the United Nations, IFBPW has become one of the most influential international women's organisations. Two years after the United Nations was founded, IFBPW was one of the first women’s organisations to be granted Consultative Status with the United Nations in 1947. Today, BPW International is one of the Five-O organisations, together with the Council of Women, the Federation of University Women, Soroptimists and Zonta, who are invited to give statements at each of the U.N. agencies based in New York, Geneva, Paris, Vienna, Bangkok and Seoul. (The official name of IFBPW was recently changed and it is now known as Business and Professional Women International (BPW International)). The origins of HKABPW stem from a visit to Hong Kong in June 1979 by Ruth Ross, the then IFBPW Vice-President. On October 5th that year formal elections took place and Maria Tam became the first president of HKABPW. In May 1980 IFBPW celebrated its Golden Anniversary at Montreux, Switzerland, and Pat Chang, who attended as the official Hong Kong delegate, was presented with our Charter of Affiliation to IFBPW. Pat returned with glowing reports of the Congress and within a year HKABPW was asked to host the 1982 IFBPW Board Meeting. Over 100 official delegates met at the newly-opened Shangri-La Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Workshops and official business occupied five days and social gatherings in the evenings included the largest Tram Party – 17 trams – that Hong Kong Tramways had ever undertaken. During an official visit by IFBPW President Maxine Hays in June 1981, HKABPW discussed various important issues with the Hong Kong Government. These included: - the need to ratify the 1980 U.N. Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Two newspaper articles and the photo of Maria Tam and Ruth Ross The Origins of BPW International in 1930 Business and Professional Women International (BPW International) was founded by Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips in 1930. She challenged leading women in Europe and the United States to form an international organization to support and promote women in business and in the professions. The organization was founded under the name of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW) and began on August 26, 1930 with 16 member countries. Through its connection with the United Nations, BPW International had become one of the most influential international women's organizations. Two years after the United Nations was founded, BPW International (then IFBPW) was one of the first organizations to be granted a Consultative Status with the United Nations (in 1947) from the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Through this relationship, BPW International played a major role initiating and promoting: (1) The formation of
the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 1947; BPW International continued its strong support for all Women's World Conferences since then. To the present day, BPW International still continues to work with other international women's organizations and other UN bodies to bring forth a difference in women's lives locally as well as around the world. Among many outstanding
BPW members, two women were internationally recognized by the United
Nations: Ester Hymer, a co-founder of BPW International, was the Chairperson of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Planning Committee for International Women's Year in 1975 and Chairperson of the NGO Committee of the Decade of Women. She was awarded the "Peace Messenger" Certificate by UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar in 1987, and was named as one of the three women who had played a significant role in the work of the UN Commission by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997. The mission of BPW International
is best described by the words of Ester Hymer: As of year 2001, BPW International has 108 member countries, 20 of which are in the Asia-Pacific region. It is managed by an Executive Board which is elected at an International Congress every three years. The next International Congress, 25th BPW International Congress will be held in Switzerland in 2005. The Establishment of HKABPW in 1979 The following information was written for the HKAPBW 10th Anniversary booklet published in 1989. Our origins as a Business and Professional (BPW) group stem from a visit to Hong Kong by Ruth Ross, an International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW) Vice President in the summer of 1979 to attend a FAWA conference. The first, small informal gathering was at Diana Haigh's home where we discussed the possibility of establishing a club here. At our second meeting in the Board Room of the Hong Kong Tourist Association, some 50 women voted an Ad Hoc Committee into office with the task of preparing for formal inauguration in the autumn. Chaired by Maria Tam, this committee worked hard to define our aims and to draw up a constitution. On 5th October 1979 formal elections took place at which Maria became our first President. Almost immediately we had the chance to participate in an international conference when in May 1980 IFBPW celebrated its Golden Anniversary at Montreaux, Switzerland. Partially funded by HKABPW, Pat Chang attended as our official delegate and was presented with our Charter of Affiliation to IFBPW. Pat returned with glowing reports of the Congress and within a year we were being asked to host the IFBPW Board meeting in 1982. It was no small undertaking - 500 women were expected to attend and our group numbered less than 50. However, after much soul searching, we agreed, with IFBPW's promise, to cover all administrative and registration procedures. The Board meeting in February 1982 was a great success. Over 100 official delegates met at the newly opened Shangri-La Hotel. Workshops and official business occupied five days and social gatherings in the evening gave all our Hong Kong members every chance to meet IFBPW members from many countries. One evening we organized a Tram Party. The 17 trams represented the largest party Hong Kong Tramways had ever undertaken. Eight months before the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Board Meeting IFBPW President Maxine Hays spent four days here on an official visit. The result was an exhilarating whirlwind of activity. Small groups of members accompanied Maxine on a visit to the Governor's representative, Martin Rowlands, and to leaders of industry, education and commerce. We wanted to give Maxine the chance to learn something of Hong Kong ¡V its people, its industry and its government. Her visit gave us the opportunity to discuss various important issues with the Government: the need to ratify the 1980 UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the introduction of separate taxation for women, the provision of Child Care Centres for working mothers and of retraining facilities for women wishing to re-join the work force. By Moyreen Tilbrook, Past President and one of the Founding Members of HKABPW On the occasion of the Association's Tenth Anniversary, a summary of programs presented during this period is indicated. I had some very definite ideas about this as far as the last few years are concerned, when I was involved with organising these presentations, but was a bit vague about the preceding years when due to work commitments, my involvement and attendance were less regular. This meant going back to the records and doing a bit of research. The result was quite amazing - both the quality and quantity of events, equally amazing was the consistency with which the programs aimed to promote HKABPW's stated objectives. It would be tedious to enumerate every single program presented during the past ten years but it is interesting to highlight some of the areas with which we have dealt: Personal Development - building career self-confidence, presentation and assertiveness skills, dealing with stress, feminism, managing your moods, sexuality, improving speaking skills, problems of women executives, memory improvement. Careers - women talked about their own career choices and experiences: import - export, travel agency, public relations, police force, fashion business, journalism, insurance, theatre production, photo-journalism and exploration, conducting, media, image consultancy, forensic science, marketing. Financial - a number of programmes throughout the years addressing themselves to women's attitudes towards money management, investments, establishing credit. Health - programs focusing on specific aspects of women's health, non-traditional healthcare, choosing a fitness centre. Community and Legal Issues - women and crime, separate taxation for married women, nuclear arms, divorce, crime presentation and treatment of offenders, sexual image of women in advertising, Basic Law, battered women, women in the Kowloon Walled City, women in the labour force. Aside from several career-oriented training courses organized for HKABPW members, the Association also ran successful and very well-attended seminars on "How to Start Your Own Business", a self-development workshop on "Focus on Success", a "Health Seminar" and a workshop on "Institutional Management". On the lighter side, we organized "Member meet Member" and networking meetings, outings aboard a junk, festive Christmas lunches and an Annual Lunch to celebrate International Women' s Day. During the summer months and the holiday season members met for informal suppers. Is there a trend? Yes - attendance figures show that members are particularly keen on personal development and growth: to learn techniques and skills for gaining better control over their personal lives, their health, finances and careers. Throughout the years, HKABPW has been instrumental in filling these needs in a supportive, non-competitive and constructive manner. By Anne Thaler, Past Vice President (in memoriam)
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