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SOROPTIMIST SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL

United Kingdom United Kingdom Programme ActionProgramme Action

CommitteeCommittee

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Soroptimist International is the world’s largest

women’s service organisation.

You will find Soroptimists from

Argentina to Zimbabwe

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Founded in 1921, we are an NGO for working professional women.

We are a non-political and non-religious organisation that works on projects at international, national, regional and local level.

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The organisation has General Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is represented on the Board of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations (CONGO)

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Soroptimist International has been granted official relations with United Nations Specialised Agencies

including:

UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

International Labour Organization

World Health Organization

UN Industrial Development Organization

Food & Agricultural Organization

The organisation is also accredited with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

UN Environment Programme

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It is through project work, and the special reporting of it, that

Soroptimist International retains its

General Consultative Status with the

Economic and Social Council of the United

Nations

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Here in the UK, the United Kingdom

Programme Action Committee (UKPAC) provides help and

guidance to clubs in the UK in devising,

planning and carrying out their project work.

We call this work Programme Action

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The Committee is also responsible for co-ordinating national projects and partnerships, and successfully lobbying the British Government and other organisations on important issues relating, in particular, to women and the family.

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A UKPAC initiative that gathered momentum in the UK until every region around the country was involved, and taken up by all four Soroptimist Federations around the world, was

Women Walkingfor Women

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On 23 September 2006, across the UK and around the world, women walked to raise awareness - and sponsorship money - for women who have suffered through war. The money was raised as part of the International Project – Project Independence, a partnership programme with Women for Women International, combining the forces of thousands of individual women to support women survivors of war in Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Rwanda.

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We are aware of the shortfall of women working in the area of science and technology and the need to actively encourage womenalready in the field.

The UKPAC has, therefore, established the SISTER Network (Soroptimists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Research).

A newsletter is published each quarter.

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The Network has enabled us to be knowledgeably aware of emerging issues, for example, the genome and drug rape.

And we still press for promotion of Science and Technology as major career options for girls.

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Some of the organisations on which the UKPAC

has representatives, or with which we

work closely

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A question often asked:

“What does the word Soroptimist mean?“

It was coined from the Latin soror meaning

sister, and optima meaning best.

Soroptimist is perhaps best interpreted as

'the best for women'.

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From the founding of the first Soroptimist club in California

in 1921, through to the present day, Soroptimists have continued to strive to

achieve 'the best for women' in every sphere of their lives.

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