UN Women AGM and a new President

Progress for Women Is Progress for All

UN Women Annual General Meeting and a new President

May 2009

At the 2009 Annual General Meeting on 9 May the UN Women National Committee elected a new President, Jan Grasty. Jan has been a member of the UK Board of Trustees since 2004 and was Vice President last year. “It is a great honour to be working with all members and supporters of UN Women NC UK to continue to raise awareness of the inequalities faced by women and girls”, says Jan. “UN Women is uniquely placed to develop long term projects and initiatives which provide opportunities for a meaningful life. Your support through your membership fee or donations helps to fund these projects. I hope to meet many of you during the year and thank you for your support.”

Jan’s background is in the corporate world with over 20 years’ marketing experience in a blue chip company, as Chief Executive of an economic development company and as a marketing consultant. Since joining the UN Women Board she has worked on developing links with the business community and public sector organisations. She also represents UN Women on the UK National Committee for Microcredit.

Following her election as President at the AGM, held in Birmingham City Council House, Jan led the thanks to Board members who were retiring, and in particular to outgoing President, Zarin Hainsworth. Zarin will continue to be involved in campaigns to raise awareness of UN Women’s work, but she has also recently had the honour of being elected to the national governing council of the UK Baha’i Community.

Jan Grasty (on the right) and Zarin Hainsworth at the AGM

Zarin opened the AGM by reporting on key areas of progress in the past year. A major focus for UN Women internationally had been the ‘Say NO to Violence Against Women’ petition and in the UK the campaign culminated in a cross party event at the Houses of Parliament with ministers, peers and MPs. Throughout the year Zarin worked to maintain a high profile for UN Women through contacts with government ministries and other national organisations and agencies. The Northern Ireland branch arranged the national fundraising campaign of the year with two wonderful concerts featuring original music by local artists and sales of a CD. The meeting also heard about the development of the education outreach programme by the London branch and the new partnership with AVON UK.

After the formal business of the AGM, Wendi Momen, who will be continuing as UN Women Secretary this year, chaired a very interesting ‘Any Questions’ session with guest panellists discussing campaigns to end violence against women. The panel members were Zarin Hainsworth, Dr Mashuq Ally (Head of Equality & Diversity at Birmingham City Council), Marcia Lewinson (Chief Executive of WAITS – a women’s educational charity working in the Birmingham area), and Gemma Enolengila, who has organised a grassroots campaign to end female genital mutilation in the Tanzanian Maasai community where she now lives. Issues debated included the nature of violence – psychological and economic as well as physical, the gap between establishing policies or legal frameworks and implementing them in local communities, and the impact on both women and men when changes are implemented and a different culture develops.

UN Women is very grateful to Dr Ally and Birmingham City Council for providing the venue for this year’s AGM.

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