July 2010 President's Message

Dear Zontians:

The International Conventions are always fun and they give you an opportunity to meet Zontians from different corners of the world. The San Antonio Convention offered several fun packages highlighting the culture, food and traditional Texan warmth.

This Convention was one of the lowest attended meetings of Zonta International. There were 1,370 members and 188 guests attending, with a total of 1,606 conventioneers. Of the 1,224 clubs, 632 clubs were represented by delegates and 480 represented by proxies. 112 clubs were not represented at all. Following is a summary of the decisions:

• New President elect is Lynn McKenzie of New Zealand
• Maria Jose Landeira Oestergaard from Denmark is the new Vice President – this election required a 2nd voting between her and A.O. Otomayo Morgan of Nigeria
• Ellen Karo, outgoing District 3 Governor was elected as Treasurer/Secretary
• Dianne Curtis of California was installed as the new President for the Biennium 2010-2012.
• Four International Directors were elected: Susanne von Basswitz (Germany), Jacqueline Beaudry (USA), Kathleen Douglass (Canada) and Kikuko Hara (Japan)
• Nominating Committee elected: Sally Bean (USA) for the Americas, Regina Smit (Belgium) for Europe, Simone Bleu-Laine (Cote de’Ivoire) for Africa, Alison Martin (Australia) for Australia and New Zealand, Imelda ?Dandy? Gomez (Philippines) for Asia At Large Directors: Dolly Dastoor (Canada), Ingeborg Geyer (Austria), Elba Pereyra de Gomensoro (Uruguay), Beryl Stern (Sweden)
• Membership has gone down 3%. 30 clubs have disbanded. Six new clubs have been created; and there are 34 under organization.
• There was public recognition of members that have recruited five or more new members. Our members Cassandra Holley and Diana Garcia were among them
• The increase of $15 in dues was approved effective 2011
• Our proposal on circularization did not pass and ZI’s proposal which tightens up the current by law was approved by 52.8% - as you can see this was a close call. When ZI’s proposal was approved it nullified our proposal
• Our proposal for separate Boards for ZI and ZIF was not approved either
• The International Service Program for 2010-12 was approved with a total funding of $1,500,000. All projects are in cooperation with the United Nations:
• $500,000 will go to Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Gender-Based Violence in Rwanda
• $500,000 for the Elimination of Obstetric Fistula and the Reduction of Maternal and Newborn Mortality and Morbidity in Liberia
• $500,000 to Safe Cities for Women Project in Guatemala City, Guatemala and San Salvador, El Salvador
• Funding for two ZISVAW projects were approved:
• $430,000 towards a comprehensive strategy to end burn violence against women in Cambodia, Nepal and Uganda, a project in cooperation with UNIFEM
• $200,000 to Security and Empowerment for Women and their Families in Haiti, a project in cooperation with UNIFEM.

I regret to say that this Convention was a very uncomfortable and disappointing event. There were interventions from the International Board that were contrary to parliamentary procedures --they are not supposed to answer or give rebuttals to Delegates’ statements and even their attorney intervened taking more than the normal two minutes allowed to Delegates. Furthermore, they were also untruthful and hurtful to our Club when responding to our proposal on different Boards for ZI and ZIF – they chastised us for having to spend on the attorney’s fees to attend our questions when this was their decision, we only asked for explanations. Despite this, we should move on and continue working for the common cause that is, improving the status of women.

Next Convention is in Torino, Italy, so we might as well start practicing our Italian,

Ciao,

Marilu del Carpio,
President, Zonta Club of Washington D.C.