Soroptimist International is delighted to welcome two new
United Nations Representatives to the Soroptimist family; Frances Zainoeddin and
Barbara Rochman.

 

Image:  Centre: Frances Zainoeddin, Left (far right) and right: Barbara Rochman

International Director of Advocacy Pat Black says: “I am thrilled to welcome Barbara and Frances to the SI UN team in New York. I am
sure through their combined experience of UN work and activities they will be
able to make a significant contribution to SI’s advocacy on behalf of women and
girls on the global stage”.

Here Soroptimist International gets to know these two remarkable
women, who will now play a significant role in the representation of SI in the
global arena.

Q. What inspired and motivated you to become a UN Rep for
Soroptimist International?

Frances Zainoeddin:
“I have always been interested in improving the lives of women and girls, and
Soroptimist is the ideal place to make this happen.  I am drawn by its many accomplishments around
the world and all the Soroptimists I have met have been amazing women!”

Barbara Rochman: “I
had been a UN Representative for a local New York City Bar Association.  In that role I joined and became part of the
leadership team of the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons
(CSTIP).  I created its first Advocacy
Task Force to meet in small groups with UN missions.  When the possibility of representing
Soroptimist International at the UN arose, I was excited: first because SI is
an organization devoted to assuring equality and the empowerment of women and
girls, — a goal I have been working on for more than 35 years; second because
the international scope of SI would give me an immediate and direct connection
to like-minded women all over the world, and the ability to learn from them and
to collaborate with them.  It is a great
opportunity to make a difference as part of an important organization working
for women and girls”.

Q. What do you believe you will bring to the role of SI UN Rep,
and what do you hope to achieve?

Frances: “Having
retired from the United Nations, after 31 years of service, I feel my knowledge
about its policies, programmes and activities would be useful for advocating
and promoting at the global level the issues of concern to all women and girls
everywhere.  It is crucial to remain
vigilant and ensure that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development lives up
to its promise of leaving no one behind. 
Monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by Governments and
non-state actors is important to ensure that the concerns of all women and
girls are included.  My focus over the
past three years has been on older people, and therefore of course, older women
who are among the most unrecognized and most marginalized.  Given the demographic trends which show that
the world is ageing at a pretty fast rate, I am determined to make sure that
the young people of today live long and prosper with dignity.  I am also very much involved in supporting a
multi-lateral instrument to protect and promote the rights of older persons”.

Barbara: “As a UN
Representative for four years in New York, I’ve learned something about the way
the UN functions, but another 40 years is probably needed to fully grasp this
complicated bureaucracy. I’ve attended numerous conferences for the Comission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Commission on Social Development (CSocD), and
the NGO Regional Review Forum on Beijing +20 in Geneva.   Fifty years ago in the US, NOW, the National Organization for Women was
formed, "to bring women into the mainstream of society."   I believed in that goal and have been
working to see that happen for many years. What I bring to SI is my
knowledge, and experience, but most of all my long-term commitment and
dedication to the challenge of achieving equality and justice for women and
girls.

Q. Would you tell us a little more about yourselves? 

Frances: “I left
Australia to join the United Nations in 1970 and have been living in New York
now for over 46 years.  Joining the NGO
community has been extremely rewarding – there are so many dedicated people who
uphold the ideals of the United Nations. 
I am convinced that civil society does and can make an enormous
difference to improving the lives of all – and so much work is done by
volunteers!”

Barbara: “When I
was five years old I began taking piano lessons, and although I sometimes got
frustrated, and even kicked the piano once or twice, I learned that if you kept
at it, you could achieve results.  That
was a very important lesson for someone who ended up working in the women’s
rights movement.  I was a political
science major in college and went to law school at night.  I worked as a lawyer in a traditional
corporate (i.e. sexist) environment for a number of years. One day I read in the paper that a National
Organization for Women (NOW) had been formed in the U. S.  I joined NOW and later became NOW- NYC
chapter’s Executive Director and then President.  I have spent the rest of my
life working for women’s equality.

SI President Yvonne Simpson concludes: “The work done by our
SI UN Representatives is crucial to our advocacy efforts in being a global
voice for women. A recent example is that without the background work done by
the New York UN Reps, I would not have had the opportunity to speak on the
behalf of our 75,000 members at CSW60, so that your voice was heard on the call
for disaggregated data, resourcing the implementation of the SDGs and to ensure
women and girls are included at all levels of decision making on matters that
affect them.  I am thrilled that we have Barbara
Rochman and Frances Zainoeddin, two Soroptimists, experienced at UN matters
joining our New York team, under the exceptional leadership of Bette Levy. Welcome
Barbara and Frances and thank you to Bette and Marie”.