Page 24 - BPW-UK ANNUAL REVIEW 2023-2024

As your joint International Vice Presidents we have continued to focus on International
matters and attend International events and meetings on your behalf.
The International Working Group continues to discuss matters of International interest as
stated in our Terms of Reference and met on three occasions this year.
We were very honoured to host a session at last year’s National Conference in March. We
opened our session with an International Candlelighting Ceremony. As far as we are aware this
was the first time the candlelighting ceremony has been part of the conference programme and
hopefully it will become a tradition going forward.

The ceremony was particularly relevant given the number of international BPW represent-
atives in attendance. The session speaker was Maureen Maguire, Soroptimist International Presi-
dent, who spoke to us about her term of office and her President’s Appeal, Opening Doors to a
Brighter Future. This is a series of education programmes across four continents giving oppor-
tunity to women and girls to learn new skills to support themselves and their families financially.
The session ended with a presentation by Mariella Camilleri to promote the European Conference
in Malta in May 2025.
In April, along with our President Jo, we attended the European Presidents meeting and
BPW Europe Training Day in Brussels. The training day focused on lobbying and included a tour of
the European Parliament. This was a great opportunity to meet and network with other BPW Eu-
rope members.

In May, again with Jo, we attended BPW Ireland’s Summer Lunch in Galway. This is an an-
nual event for women, attracting a large number of corporate attendees from businesses in the
area, and is a day of celebration of women’s achievements in their work-life. The guest speaker
was Natasha Adams, CEO of Tesco Ireland who spoke about her various roles from the shop floor
to the boardroom and encouraged us to keep challenging ourselves at all stages of our careers.
Across the year we have also attended BPW International and BPW Europe meetings held
online. Both Internationally and in Europe there have been several meetings to inform members
and discuss constitutional changes to improve operations and to secure the legal standing of the
organisation going forward through registration as a global NGO in the case of International and
to comply with EU law in the case of BPW Europe. Once ratified these changes may be worth a
closer look at a UK level as there are some good practices we could possibly mirror.

In the latter part of the year, the Working Group explored a possible motion for Confer-
ence around Asylum Seekers and their rights to work. The proposed motion has been accepted by
the FEC and will be debated at our AGM.

This year will see the end of our term of office in this role as we are standing down as
joint International VPs. We would like to thank the members of the Working Group for their sup-
port over the last three years and send best wishes and support to our successor. We have en-
joyed the role very much and have had some great experiences at European and International
levels.

If you are interested in joining the International Working Group please contact Ann at HQ
to register your interest and you will welcomed at the next Working Group meeting.

Jacqui McLoughlin and Ruth Galwey
Joint International VPs

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