Hanne Jensbo

Dear Soroptimists, dear Friends,

When reading the media of today it is clear that the work of Soroptimists will never be unnecessary.

We all know the 8 Millennium Goals set up by United Nations with a collective vision for the future: a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, education for all, equal opportunities for women, an improved physical environment and a partnership between developed and developing countries to achieve these objectives.

More than half the period to the target date has now passed and each day we read that the time-bound targets are not reached.

Recently SI encouraged all members to sign the FAO petition “END HUNGER” and join the campaign to put pressure on politicians to end hunger. Sign this petition to add your voice to the others who say: ”1.000.000.000 people live in chronic hunger and I’m mad as hell!”

Click here: www.1billionhungry.org.

SI also encourages members to add their names to the UNIFEM petition for PEACE and ask their governments to support three steps to implement Security Council Resolution 1325:

• Prosecute those who command and/or commit sexual violence

• Ensure that women participate in peace negotiations

• Increase the number of women in troops, police forces and civilians within international peacekeeping efforts.

Click here: www.saynotoviolence.org/make-women-count-for-peace.

Soroptimists are very good at making awareness and advocacy, so let us join those petitions and encourage our friends and colleagues to do the same. Only when we have a united voice can we be heard in the outside world.

Please start CLICKING TODAY!

In friendship

Hanne Jensbo
International President 2009-2011

Floods continue to devastate Pakistan

“It has been a very bad time for Pakistan and the situation is still not under control. The weather is not helping and the flood waters are moving towards Sindh where Karachi is located. The north of Pakistan is already facing devastation and we are now bracing for a worsening of the situation in the south as well. Your support means a lot to us and the members of SI clubs of Pakistan.” (Talat Pasha, SI. Karachi Central, FPAC Pakistan)

To see the devastation in photos, visit http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/08/severe_flooding_in_pakistan.html

According to the latest figures, about 14 million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan, and with the waters surging to the south this number is likely to increase. Yet compared to other natural disasters, aid mobilisation is far slower.

The UN is launching an urgent appeal for millions of dollars to aid the 13.8 million Pakistanis impacted by the country's worst flooding in 80 years. The scale of the destruction has now eclipsed that of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Pakistan's 2005 earthquake and the Haiti quake in January, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, although the number of deaths is much lower.

If you would like to help, please visit http://soroptimist-gbi.org/ for a link to the SIGBI Emergency Relief Fund.

International relations

General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, United Nations (ECOSOC); Operational Relations with the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Special List of the International Labour Organization (ILO); Official Relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), Official Relations with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Consultative Status with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Accredited to the Commonwealth as a Civil Society Organization.