Thank you very much !

You supported me so much that  I have been elected Regional Coordinator BPW Europe !

To be Regional Coordinator for Europe is to build synergies between the wishes, decisions and actions of 20 000 members in 28 countries. It is necessary to find ways to promote collective endeavours between members in all cultures of Europe, from iceland to Turkey, from Spain to Russia, to encourage members to improve their multilingual skills in an organisation where English, French, Italian and Spanish are recognized as official languages.

Luckily enough,  Gabriella Canonica has done an outstanding job in the past three years, she has worked so hard to put all federations and associate clubs in contact with each others and with  BPW International. Thank you so much, Gabriella, for the way you have travelled around Europe, opened doors by your contacts with other NGOs and European Institutions, proposed ideas for common projects at European level.

Luckily enough, work at European level is teamwork. It also progresses through the input of  the members of the European Coordinating Committee (ECC). Currently, the ECC includes   Enrichetta Bellini, BPW Italy, Annegret Hastedt, BPW Germany and Arzu Ozyol, BPW Ankara, Turkey, who have been elected to support and work with the European Coordinator.

Luckily enough, I can also rely on the passionate engagement of presidents of the European BPW Federations and Associate clubs. They are already working together for the development of BPW and the promotion of our common goals and values. Yearly Presidents’ meetings and online contacts keep us all on our toes.

We will see achievements at European level, if all BPW members are aware that their individual competences and skills are necessary to develop common BPW projects and actions.

So lets work together to

• support Young BPW members in their endeavours,
• promote mentoring and IDP programmes,
• promote the Equal Pay Day  at European level (15 April 2009)
• increase the contacts with other women’s organizations to achieve common goals,
• develop the participation of BPW members to events organized by Council of Europe and UN organisations based in Europe,
• make BPW known in European countries where no affiliate exists,
• take an active role in structures shaping public decision-making in our countries
• develop recrutment of new members
• make a success of the next European Congress (Munich 4 to 6 September 2009)

So, thank you very much in advance for your involvment at European level and for your support to your new Regional Coordinator !

amelie.leclercq@bpw-europe.org