©UKPAC SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL

©UKPAC Soroptimist International is the world’s largest women’s service organisation. You will find Soroptimists from Argentina to Zimbabwe

©UKPAC Founded in 1921, we are an NGO for working professional women. We are a non-political and non- religious organisation that works on projects at international, national, regional and local level.

©UKPAC The organisation has General Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is represented on the Board of the Conference of Non- Governmental Organisations (CONGO)

©UKPAC Soroptimist International has been granted official relations with United Nations Specialised Agencies including: UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Labour Organization World Health Organization UN Industrial Development Organization Food & Agricultural Organization The organisation is also accredited with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) UN Environment Programme

©UKPAC It is through project work, and the special reporting of it, that Soroptimist International retains its General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

©UKPAC Here in the UK, the United Kingdom Programme Action Committee (UKPAC) provides help and guidance to clubs in the UK in devising, planning and carrying out their project work. We call this work Programme Action

©UKPAC The Committee is also responsible for co- ordinating national projects and partnerships, and successfully lobbying the British Government and other organisations on important issues relating, in particular, to women and the family.

©UKPAC A UKPAC initiative that gathered momentum in the UK until every region around the country was involved, and taken up by all four Soroptimist Federations around the world, was Women Walking for Women

©UKPAC On 23 September 2006, across the UK and around the world, women walked to raise awareness - and sponsorship money - for women who have suffered through war. The money was raised as part of the International Project – Project Independence, a partnership programme with Women for Women International, combining the forces of thousands of individual women to support women survivors of war in Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Rwanda.

©UKPAC We are aware of the shortfall of women working in the area of science and technology and the need to actively encourage women already in the field. The UKPAC has, therefore, established the SISTER Network (Soroptimists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Research). A newsletter is published each quarter.

©UKPAC The Network has enabled us to be knowledgeably aware of emerging issues, for example, the genome and drug rape. And we still press for promotion of Science and Technology as major career options for girls.

©UKPAC Some of the organisations on which the UKPAC has representatives, or with which we work closely

©UKPAC A question often asked: “What does the word Soroptimist mean?“ It was coined from the Latin soror meaning sister, and optima meaning best. Soroptimist is perhaps best interpreted as 'the best for women'.

©UKPAC From the founding of the first Soroptimist club in California in 1921, through to the present day, Soroptimists have continued to strive to achieve 'the best for women' in every sphere of their lives.

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