BPW NZ

We achieve our mission of advocating for working women by providing information, education, and advocacy to:

Our focus is on improving the environment for working women. We have lobbied on issues such as Matrimonial Property, Student Loans, Employment Relations, Disability Strategies, Prostitution Reform, Pay Equity, Health & Safety in Employment, Paid Parental Leave and the Ministry of Women's Affairs Action Plan for Women. Angela McLeod BPWNZ 1st Vice President, Issues, keeps in touch with what is happening and ensures that members have the latest news available. See below for the latest Press Releases

BPW has an established record of work to improve the employment, education, economic and social conditions of women. Resolutions passed at annual conferences reveal the constancy of past efforts and the challenge to achieve further improvements

Business Trade & Employment
	Childcare	1952, 1992, 1994, 1995
	Education, access to	1961, 1973, 1975, 1985, 1991
	Equal Pay	1998
	Job Sharing & Part Time Opportunities	1981
	Parental Leave	1995, 1999, 2001
	Student Loans	1989, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999
Health
	Abortion	1993, 1996
	Assisted Reproduction	1994
	Breast Cancer/Mammograms	1989, 2002
	Cervical Cancer	1989
	Cost of Prescription Drugs	1959, 1992, 1996, 2002
	Maternity Services	1998
	Mental Health	2003
Legislation General
	Domestic Violence	1993, 1999
	Matrimonial Property	1977, 1986, 1994
	Same Sex Marriages	1997
	Sexual Harassment	2000
United Nations
	Human Rights	1952, 1954, 1979, 2003
General
	Nuclear Power/testing	1954, 1956, 1963, 1972, 1973, 1985, 1992
	Pornography	1989, 1992, 2002
	Prostitution Law reform	1994
	Sexual Abuse	1993, 1994, 1995
	Superannuation	1992, 1997, 1999
International
1999	International XXIII Congress in Vancouver, Canada. BPW NZ had a delegation of five voting delegates, two alternates and two observers. In addition a former President, Anne Knowles attended as International Constitution Advisory Committee Chair. Of the 19 resolutions presented seven were from New Zealand. Workshops on Lobbying and on Child Labour were organised and presented.
2000	For the past ten years the New Zealand BPW Federation has had ties with BPW Nepal through the annual trips by a former President, Pauline Gapper. The Federation contributes to BPW Nepal's International fees and many clubs raise money for the literacy programmes for women and others knit garments for the children, which Pauline takes with her once or twice a year. In September 2000 President Maureen accompanied Pauline and met up with the BPW Nepal President, Ambica Shrestha, and several other members. She also saw the literacy classes and visited child care centres to distribute clothing.
2001	The project on "Women's Legal Rights" was also implemented by BPW Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, by BPW Cook Islands and in Australia. It has also been distributed in NZ to other NGOs such as NCW and Graduate Women, as well as to Western Samoa's "Women in Business Foundation".
2002	International Congress in 2002 was in Melbourne, and was attended by 5 delegates and 2 alternate delegates. Members presented workshops on 'Women's Legal Rights and Access to Justice including CEDAW' and 'Strategies for controlling Domestic Violence'. Joan Bielby's expert assistance was sought as a Parliamentarian and Anne Todd-Lambie was the Constitutional Advisor. BPW New Zealand had its resolution on Sexual Slavery and Trafficking accepted for debate, and the delegates adopted it with a large majority.
2003	New Zealand sent a delegation of seven members to the Oceania Sub-Regional Meeting in the Cook Islands. As the nearest federation to the Cook Islands and, with traditionally close ties between our peoples and governments, NZ is looking forward to forward to establishing much closer links with the women in the Cook Islands. NZ members working for BPW International include: Anne Todd-Lambie as BPWI Executive Secretary, Dianne Glenn as Asia-Pacific Regional Co-ordinator and Ann Knowles as a Trustee. Jean Park was appointed to the BPWI Culture and Peace Task Force, Anita Devcich to the Public Relations committee and Maureen Eardley-Wilmot to the Resolutions committee. Member Maureen Eardley-Wilmot as Chair of the ad hoc BPWI Committee on Violence Against Women, travelled to New York to present her report to the UN Committee on the Status of Women. Anne Todd-Lambie, as a member of the non-NZ government delegation, presented the NZ non-Maori NGO Report to the CEDAW Monitoring Committee at the United Nations. Jean Park also attended the CSW Meeting in New York as a BPWI and NZ government delegate. In September 2003, BPW NZ was asked to endorse a Joint Statement of the NGO Committee on Peace to the United Nations to a Conference on Facilitating the Entry Into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. As BPW NZ has had Policy on this issue since 1954, we sent a short statement of endorsement and subsequently discovered that New Zealand was the only BPW recorded as one of 113 organisations that supported the Joint Statement.
*Conclusion*

"Frequently I was asked through my two terms of office whether BPW still has relevance in New Zealand or whether we have not already achieved so much for women in our country, that the battle is over. I believe most sincerely that we must continue to fight: firstly to bring about in actual fact the gains we have made in law; secondly, we must continue to fight to bring about changes in attitude which are crucial to the realisation of our ideals; and finally we must continue to fight lest by our own apathy and inaction we lose much of what we have fought to achieve."