Page 29 - BPW UK AGM Conference 2024 Programme_FINAL

"Women of the World"

by Jeanette Arsenault

<<Chorus>>
Hey, hey, hey there woman
Hey, hey, hey, there girl
The times has come
There's work to be done
Come on you women of the world

Hey hey hey there sister
Hey hey hey there friend
Come and walk by my side
Sing out with pride
Come on you women of the world

They say that change is a-coming
They say that change is good
You've got to change whatever you can
In a place where you stand

<<Chorus>>
They say the road is so long
They say it's always been

No matter how deep the roots may be
You've still got to shake that tree
<<Chorus>>

Come on you women of the world (x2)

Jeanette Arsenault wrote Women of the World in 2006 for International Women’s Day when BPW
Canada President at the time, Fran Donaldson, asked her to write an anthem for women. Jeanette
wrote the song as a thank you to women around the world who are doing such inspiring work for
women and girls in communities around the world. The song debuted on March 8, 2006, in Prince
Edward County, Canada.

Then in 2009, Fran played it throughout the weekend for their BPW Canada Conference in Winnipeg,
Canada. Liz Benham was running for President of BPW International, heard the song at that
Conference and then went on to play it at all the Conferences she attended around the world.

When Liz won the Presidency, she invited Jeanette to perform it throughout the weekend for the
BPW International World Congress XVII in Helsinki, Finland, 2011. Jeanette had the song translated
into the four official languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish (All 4 versions are available on
iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music, etc)
In addition, she created a quadrilingual version to open the Congress and then performed the English
version throughout the weekend to open and close workshops as well as at the final gala.

You can view a live video of the Gala performance from:
BPW International World Congress XVII Gala (https://youtu.be/47_U3eqSQPI?feature=shared)

The song has subsequently been translated into Turkish & German as well. Plus, BPW Stuttgart created
a Women of the World dance which has been danced in many BPW clubs around the world which you
can view here:
BPW Stuttgart Women of the World Dance (https://youtu.be/sGtQOEIxULc?feature=shared)
Website/Women of the World page (https://jeanettearsenault.ca/discography-2/women-of-the-world-
2/)