We Saw and Heard at the Council Meeting (WIDF Helsinki, 1957): Umi Sardjono for Gerwani

=== [PDF page 1] === WES ACWe4UN DE RwR DA Til HE “COUNCIEY MBETING “...Our first concern is to better the conditions of African women. We have begun to teach them to write and read their names. We make representation to authorities who deal with problems of hygiene and medical protection of women and children.” Miss Christina Wilmot Chairman of the Ghana Women’s Association, Vice-President of the Young Women’s Christian Association declared: “..70 per cent of our womenfolk cannot read or write and, as a result, the Government has established mass education units or centres under Social Welfare and Community Development.” Madam Nuzhat Mansoor of Pakistan Said: ¢ “...I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the W.LD.F. for inviting us and thus giving us an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with our sisters from other lands and also to participate in the deliberations of the Council. It is indeed an honour for me to represent my country in this distinguished gathering. I bring to you the best wishes of the women of Pakistan who wish the Council meeting all success.” She then spoke of the various activities of her organisation in the interests of business and professional women and students, for child welfare and on legislation on marriage and the family. In the Name of 640,000 members of the Indonesian Women’s Movement (Gerwani) Madam Umi Sardjono President spoke of her great organisation. “...A campaign for the marriage law in all Indonesia - is going on. In several] regions lectures are given which show the importance of this marriage law to defend and give security to women and children and to safeguard the happiness of the family. Several women’s organisations have already agreed to co-operate in order to achieve this common aim. “...In 1955 we had general elections for Parliament and for the Constituent Assembly for the first time in history. The Gerwanf itself as a mass organisation did not come out as a separate political party, but some of its members were put forward as candidates. The result Was that five members of Gerwani are now in Parliament and six in the Constituent Assembly. In the provincial Councils there are fifty-two women representatives, all of whom are Gerwani members. “...Activities in defence of children are being conducted in the provinces, for instance nurseries are being set up which are very necessary for working mothers. 18 Although financial support from the government is very small, groups in the villages, streets and in factories have succeeded in setting up these nurseries. To date eighty-seven such nurseries have been set up. “\.. Co-operation was achieved in the cultural sphere in the form of a mass protest against immoral films which have a harmful influence on the minds of children and young people... The Kutilang Foundation shows films which have educational and cultural value for young people and children, but unfortunately it does not have sufficient government support.” Miss Nelly Pereira of Ceylon, a former warden of the Rural Leader's Training Institute of the Lanka Mahila Samiti (the rural women’s organisations in Ceylon) which has 75,000 members, spoke about the struggle for peace in her country in which she plays an enthusiastic part, “feeling this was the greatest service we could render at this time of the world’s history. She concluded by saying: “...As I am very new to the work of the Women’s International Democratic Federation, I will end my brief contribution expressing the hope that I learn more and gain by this experience. I wish the Federation every success.” The National Federation of Indian Women requested affiliation to the W. I. D. F. through Madam Renu Chakravarty its Vice-President. *..-As one of the youngest national organisations which is just entering this big family of the W.I.D.F. I greet you all in the name of the National Federation of Indian Women. “...From its very inception or if I may say so even before that it has had connections with the W.I.D.F. It was at the Copenhagen Congress that for the first time the biggest delegation of Indian women attended as observers — over twenty of us from every walk of life. The W.I.D.F. did not ask of us anything in the way of under-writing their decision or insisting on our joining them. Our delegates came, Participated in the various commissions and took an active interest in the formulation of the Declaration of Women’s Rights and went back deeply impressed at the great solidarity and friendship of the women of the world. “...The Declaration of Women’s Rights, which we used as the main theme for convening a Congress of Indian Women in Calcutta in the summer of 1954, was especially useful to us. a There are numerous organisations of local and provincial character organised to work among certain com- === [PDF page 2] === WEESSAW- AND HEARD AT! fae COUN eins MEETING | munities, religious groups or areas according to their local demands — some entirely social in character, others running a school or institution, some cultural and so on. Many of them felt the need to have central guidance and help because they often could not develop due to their isolation and lack of experience. At the same time they wanted to have freedom to develop according to their own needs... With this idea our Federation took shape and over forty big and small organisations with a total membership of 120,000 joined it. We did not affiliate to the W.I.D.F. till now. We have women of various political opinions, and a wide propaganda that the W.I.D.F. was the organisation of a political party made us ‘vait. “...The W.1LD.F. gave us opportunities to profit by the rich experience of attending the World Congress of Mothers, the deliberations of various Council meetings, by accepting our President, Miss Bose, as their Vice- President, ad by keeping us informed of all its activities. We also even sent a representative to the W.LD.F. headquarters to learn and also to give what she could to the international women’s movement. In this steady way our women, by their own experience of the W.LD.F., learned that the work of the Federation is one of the noblest and dearest to the hearts of all mothers. “’..That is why at our second conference, just concluded at Vijayawada, we have taken the unanimous decision to affiliate to the W.LD.F. and we now enter the ranks of the great family we see assembled here.” The voice of China was heard through Madam Tsao Meng-chuan member of the Secretariat of the All-China Democratic Women’s Federation: .« “...The general trend of the present international situation is one towards further relaxation, but this does not mean that there exists no danger whatsoever. As is known, the U.S. aggressive bloc, while intensifying its efforts in the establishment of atomic bases, is despatching units equipped with atomic weapons to various countries, including Chinese territory Taiwan. We see Asian and African peoples carrying on heroic and tenacious struggles for defending peace, for safeguarding national independence and against colonialism. “... We are willing to further develop our friendship and strengthen our unity with all the peace-loving women and women’s organisations in the world, irrespective of their political views and religious beliefs, to work together for the immediate cessation of nuclear weapon tests, for the relaxation of international tension.” Madam Kim En Sou Vice-President of the Korean Democratic Womens Union told us that: “When Korean women speak about peace they think first of all about the necessity to withdraw American troops from Korea and to peacefully unite their country by the Koreans themselves.” Madam Elizabeth Vass President of the National Council of Hungarian Women said among other things: “...We wish to convey thanks for all the assistance which the Women’s International Democratic Federation and its member organisations gave to us during the past difficult period. We truly felt in those critical days the greatness and importance of international solidarity. “...The women’s movement which has begun to work again also regards it as a foremost duty to show the relationship between our own life and the peace of the world. At the peace meetings in our towns and villages it can be seen that the women recognise the peril from which the Soviet troops, hurrying to our aid in keeping with the Warsaw Treaty and international solidarity, and the efforts of our own people saved us. Perhaps never before have peace meetings been so successful. “...Every day letters and telegrams of protest are sent to the National Council of Hungarian Women and the Hungarian Peace Council which, in dramatic words, condemn the experiments with the murderous weapons and those responsible for these tests. “...There is another sorrow which grips the hearts of us Hungarian women and mothers. It is the fact that many thousands of Hungarian children, minors under eighteen who are in need of and have a right to parental love and care, live scattered in the world with strangers, in camps, in institutions headed by fascists, and are not allowed to return to their country, their parents’ homes. “...We request the Women’s International Democratic Federation, one of whose tasks is the protection of youth, the national women’s organisations and all our friends, to do everything to make the competent organisations of the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the Red Cross Societies of the various countries and the different governments, take steps which will facilitate and not impede the return of children from foreign countries to their homes.” Madam Rosetta Longo General Secretary of the Union of Italian Women firstly emphasised how, “guided by the aims fixed by the Peking Council meeting of the W.I.D.F. for the development of co-operation among women on both national and international level, the Union of Italian Women, continuing in the way it had been doing for some time, made great headway. The development of co-operation is due to the fact that the great problem of the emancipation of women, which is the main aim of our association, has become more and more clear to the great majority of women.” “".. But the possibility of improving the conditions of women in the social, economic and political fields, depends on the winning and maintenance of peace. The Union of Italian Women has a long tradition of struggling for peace and during the last years it has continued this struggle.”: 19