From her early days as a social worker, Helen Creed’s career has emphasised her commitment to social justice. She has used her position in government, the union movement and as a member of the community to make a significant contribution at state, national and international levels.

Helen will share her views with us as to what makes employment ‘fair’ and why what might be fair in one situation could be considered unfair in another. She will also provide an insight into the issues surrounding equality and opportunities for working women around the globe.

 January Planning Meeting

We had a very constructive Planning Meeting for BPW Joondalup in January with twelve members attending (and Ruby!) Themes and speakers’ topics were discussed at length. Our BPW Joondalup theme for 2008 is -

“Inspired women driving change”

This will then be broken down in to 3 sub-sections which would each span 3-4 months of speakers –

• February to April - “Courage for change”;
• May to July/August - “Honouring women who have inspired change”; and
• August/September to November - “The time for change”.

Thanks to all members who attended and contributed to both the lively discussion and the delicious meal.

Liz Flatters
President BPW Joondalup

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 International Women's Day 2008
Theme: Women, Science and Technology

International Women's Day is held each year on 8 March, the first being held in 1911 and officially recognised by the UN in 1975. It is a time for women to celebrate achievements for women and seek to improve opportunities for women to contribute to a better society This year’s theme, Women, Science and Technology aims to inspire women and girls to use and develop their skills in the area of science and technology for career or community purposes.

Many Western Australian community groups will be holding celebrations and BPW is involved in a number of these. For a full list of events go to the International Women's Day on-line calendar at www.community.wa.gov.au/DFC/Communities/Women

Below are details of events in which BPW is involved:

Worldly Women
This is the largest networking and mentoring lunch celebrating International Women’s Day in WA, attracting over 600 young Perth business women and Year 10, 11 and 12 high school girls each year for since its inception in 2004. This year BPW are again on board as a Mentor Partner for the event, giving BPW and its members the opportunity to give back through mentoring to younger women attending on the day, as well showing your support for women on this globally designated day. There will be high-profile guest speakers and an expo component. For more information and bookings visit www.lunchboxlist.com
 
Date and Time: Friday 7 March 2008, 11:30am (FOR 12pm sharp) to 1:30pm
Venue: Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Mounts Bay Road, Perth
Cost: BPW members are eligible for $55 tickets – a discount of $33 off the usual price.

Belmont BPW IWD Luncheon
BPW Belmont will be celebrating its third birthday and International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March with a multicultural lunch, a candle-lighting ceremony and a guest speaker from the Islamic community. Women from the African Islamic community as well as other multicultural groups have been invited. For further information contact Robyn Metcalf, President Belmont BPW on mirome@eftel.com.au

Date and Time: Saturday 8 March 2008, 12 noon to 2pm
Venue: Belmont Council Function Centre – TBC

UNIFEM IWD Breakfast
Guest speaker Milena Pires helped to draft the new Constitution for Timor Leste and following this was a member of the National Parliament. Born in Timor Leste and educated in Australia and Europe, Milena is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and their inclusion in their country’s drive for self-determination. She sits on the board of various NGOs and coordinated the campaign of Xanana Gusmao for the Presidential elections in 2001. Milena is currently the Sector Working Group Manager for Justice, Security and Defence at Timor Leste’s Ministry for Economy and Development.

This event will be opened by Perth’s first woman Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi and will also see the official launch of UNIFEM in Western Australia.

Date and Time: Friday 6 March 2008 7.00am – 8.45am
Venue: Perth Town Hall
Contact: Nicky Badman, BPW Joondalup: nicky_badman@iinet.net.au

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BPW Joondalup Executive Committee Position Vacant

Brenna Watt has decided to step down as Community Officer, leaving the position open to some other worthy, enthusiastic member! It’s a satisfying position and you’ll have lots of support. If anyone is interested please speak to Liz Flatters.

A huge thanks to Brenna for all she’s done since taking this position – and especially for organising last year’s UNIFEM Spring Walk at the Riding for the Disabled Academy. Brenna doesn’t leave the club but is committed elsewhere on a Tuesday evening.

Thanks so much Brenna – hope to see you soon.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Division News 

The next BPW WA Division meeting was held on Saturday 9th February at the Veteran Car Club, Busselton. There are two openings on the Division Executive, offering a great opportunity to contribute to BPW and understand how it all works on at a higher level. The positions of Secretary and Development Officer are both vacant and are for 9 months only. Both positions are easy to step into and would be very fulfilling. Contact BPW WA President Michelle Miller if you are interested in stepping up: michelle@riversofsilk.com.au

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Education Gap Narrows

Good news from the World Bank's 2007 World Development Indicators: the education gap between men and women is narrowing.

• Girls outnumber boys in secondary schools in 49% of countries surveyed (2004 - 171 countries surveyed)
  
• Girls outnumber boys in university education in 59% of countries surveyed (2004 - 141 countries) [Not just in the rich world, but also in countries such as Mongolia and Guyana, where university education for anybody is not common]

• Out of 200 countries, 122 saw female workforce participation rise, often quite sharply (albeit there is still a substantial gap, the trend is that the gap is narrowing).
  
• Some of the sharpest increases in participation came from some surprising places - Iran, Libya, Syria, Jordan and Tunisia.

• Better educated women help countries move into higher-tech industries, eg India.


• Female education is closely correlated to smaller family size, so growth in the world's population could be expected to continue to slow.

BPW Joondalup Christmas Party

Photos - LtoR:
Top Left: Helen Axton, Nicky Badman & Sandra Cook;
Top Right: Katie Brooks, Sarah Jayne Flatters, Alicia Curtis (BPW Kalamunda) & Elaine Darby;
Bottom Left: Helen Axton, Jasmyn Mumme, Christine Wood, Bianca Chantry & Vicki Chantry.
Bottom Centre: Back Row - Lorraine Wylie, Joanne Newton, Rita Cleaver & Vicki Chantry; Front Row - Deb Woods (former member & Immediate Past President) & Jacqueline Hope
Bottom Left: Carollers getting into the spirit of things... Deb Woods, Alicia Curtis (behind), Vicki Chantry, Jacqueline Hope, Sherryl Paternoster, Joanne Newton & Rita Cleaver.

“Get Real!”

“Get Real!” is a forum on body image issues, the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls hosted by Women’s Forum Australia. Guest speakers, photo exhibition and more.
When: Friday March 7, 7.00pm for 7.30pm
Where:  Government House Ballroom,
St Georges Terrace, Perth.
For more information go to www.womensforumaustralia.org

Astronomers say the universe is finite, which is a comforting thought for those people who can't remember where they leave things. – Anonymous

 Happy Birthday to…

December  1    Marian Oxenbury  2    Brenna Watt  7    Michelle du Plessis 15   Jacqueline Hope January 11    Michelle Badman February 3      Anita Cheetham 13   Brigitte Julien