BY JOY OFASIA
THE Young Women Christian Association has officially commemorated this year – 2018 Global Movement Day’ in Honiara.
The annual program event was held on Tuesday, last week with a ‘Round the Table Breakfast’ style of celebration at the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Head Office Conference room at Town Ground.
In the opening of the celebratory event, the General Secretary of YWCA, Joycelyn Lai said the event provides an opportunity for young women Christian associations to come together to honor the contributions of women leaders both young and old in their communities.
“It is a day where we all recognize our achievements and how important we could work together as a team, bringing everyone together, and building on our strengths, learning lessons, and moving forward for the betterment of our women and young girls across our country
“Each one of us does have different stories to share with each other, great stories that would bring encouragements, healing, embracing each other in our different life situations along this journey,” the President told the participants.
The event is annually celebrated around the world to highlight the history and achievements of the Global YWCA movement. The theme of this year’s World YWCA Day Celebrations is: ‘Find Your Voice, Share Your Story.
Development partners, Head of Non-Government Organisations, representatives of various organizations, Advisors of government ministries, and many other special guests including people with disabilities also participated in the program.
The breakfast program also took the chance to take a quick flashback of YWCA Solomon Islands including the launching of the Global Manual of YWCA Flagship program called the ‘Rise Up’ created in 2010, which was funded, by the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
According to the YWCA website and blog, storytelling is an often overlooked strategy for influencing social change, and can frequently work better than raw data when trying to change hearts and minds.
“As former Fire steel project assistant Paige McAdam wrote, “stories allow us to attempt to understand the lived experiences of those different from ourselves; more than that, they allow us to see our commonalities with one another.” With this year’s theme of “Find Your Voice, Share Your Story,” we want to explore the types of stories that make a change in our community, and what we can do to dismantle barriers that prevent women and girls from sharing their stories.
“The most impactful kind of stories are the ones that illustrate the destructive effects that systems like racism and sexism have on the daily lives of women and families in our region. Oppressive policies that curtail reproductive rights or enable violence by police against people of color are not only a tragedy for those who are directly impacted, but a cost for our economic, social, and emotional health as a community.
“Ashley Danielson told her story of graduating high school while experiencing homelessness as part of our Story Corps project two years ago. Her poignant recollections of how long it took just to get to school because of housing instability remind us that homelessness doesn’t just impact one aspect of a young woman’s life, but her education and well-being.”
Every year on April 24, YWCAs around the world celebrate World YWCA Day. It’s a day to observe our common membership and achievements in a movement that advances the human rights and leadership of women, young women, and girls. It’s also a time to recognize our movement’s efforts in creating positive change for all women around the world.
