advocacy

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

  • Decision makers – Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, community leaders, and members of the public on issues important to the lives of working women.
  • Providing resources to empower women through education; and the provision of information to enable them to stand up for justice and have a voice in issues affecting them not just in the workplace but and in their lives
  • Build and maintain a network of strong women leaders in communities throughout New Zealand
  • Organising formal training events and providing opportunities for our members to support each other through mentoring and coaching at club and national level

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.

Flexible working hours press release (PDF file 26kb)
Flexible working hours survey (PDF file 60kb)
A record of achievement
Select committee submissions 2005-2006
Our theme for 2005-2008
Conference remits 2007 (PDF file 40kb)
Constitution and Bylaws (PDF file 64kb)
Guidelines for action plans for BPW policy (PDF file 20kb)

Angela Mcleod, BPWNZ 1st Vice President attended a celebratory breakfast for the Quality Flexile Work Legislation, held in Wellington on a cold and frosty morning on 1 July 2008.
Click here to display Angela’s speech (PDF file 4.4kb)

A record of achievement

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."

Noela Page BPW NZ President 1977-1981

Back to top of page

Select Committee Submissions 2005-2006

Regulation of alcohol advertising (PDF file 33kb)

Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment (PDF file 17kb)

Repeal Section 59 of the Crimes Act. Submitted February 2006 (PDF file 15kb)

Flexible hours submission. Submitted July 2005 (PDF file 18kb)

Paid Parental Leave submission. Submitted February 2005 (PDF file 19kb)

Back to top of page

Our Theme for 2005-2008

New Dimensions Of Leadership

There are many definitions of leadership; most of them will include: setting things in motion, initiating actions, leading people by empowerment, and showing them the way to uncharted territory. It also means, of course: making decisions and accepting responsibility. In short, it is a key feature in shaping our society, and when it comes to developing the professional potential of women at all levels, BPW makes a significant contribution to women aspiring to a leadership roles.

The 25th International Congress held in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2005 focused on aspects of leadership where sharing and learning from each other provide opportunities for development:

  1. The Organisation as a Leader. More »
  2. Teamwork in Leadership. More »
  3. Emotional Intelligence and Leadership, with the key aspects: More »
    • Taking a front-row seat
    • Focusing on the essential
    • Dealing with setbacks

When it comes to developing the potential of women, it is always advisable to turn back to our founder, Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips, who, in 1930, stated: "The first step toward change has to be taken by the individual member." Thus, BPW have to rise to the challenge of becoming a role model and accepting the responsibility of mentoring. It is their valuable contribution to the growth and development of the next generation of BPW.

The theme of this Congress NEW DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP will also become the "International Theme" and, as such, guide the activities of the Federation in one hundred countries for the next three years. There will be a "Task Force Leadership" that will propose various activities and actions the results of which will be published on the web site www.bpw-international.org.

1. The Organisation as a Leader

Leadership is not just for individuals - organisations can also accept a leadership role! The question is: How can we enable the individual clubs and federations to fill this role? Clubs and countries that already have initiated mentoring programs, business consulting projects and training sessions will share their expertise in this field. The web site platform Projects & Events provides information on these developments.

2. Teamwork and Leadership

A leader who deserves this name knows that she or he cannot achieve great results without the team around him. Leading this team is more an art than a technique: Treating, for example, team members with respect, concentrating on the essential, believing in open communication and transparent actions.

Leadership is definitely not: wasting precious time and energies on fighting each other - openly or covertly -, self-aggrandizement or remonstrating.

Learning in this area might include:

  • What are the secrets of successful teams?
  • How do they deal with conflicts?
  • Is it diversity or the desire for harmony that represent the basis for teamwork that should be both: efficient and effective?

3. Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

Women should focus on these aspects;

  • Taking a front-row seat
    While they would be perfectly capable of taking on top positions, many women are not willing to do so.
    Why is it that women prefer to keep in the background?
    Why do they prefer to fill the frame rather than setting it?
    And why are they content to sit in the second row?
  • Focussing on the essential
    One of women's' strengths is taking the long view. When it comes to decision-making, women tend to incorporate as many aspects as possible that could influence their decision. This is an important factor to consider when building decision-making teams. On the other hand: many leadership situations require fast decisions, based on a minimum of criteria.
    Consider whether women need to develop their decision-making and risk-taking abilities?
  • Dealing with Setbacks
    Failure, rejection, roadblocks: many women interpret them as stop signs, when, in reality, they could be seen as a signal for reflection, as a natural obstacle which can be overcome - if it were only for training purposes! As a result, women in such situations frequently question their own leadership ability. These setbacks add significantly to those arguments that prompt women to withdraw from the business world in favor of excelling in family activities, knowing how others successfully dealt with setbacks can be valuable training for dealing with the next one.

Leadership is an important issue for women and men, young and old alike. BPW will also focus on partnership between genders, generations, and cultures.

Thus, opening up to New Dimensions of Leadership becomes a multi-dimensional, fascinating challenge.

Themes from the previous years:

A WORLD OF PEACE
2005   World of Peace in Politics
2004 World of Peace in Community
2003 World of Peace in Employment
2001-2002 Empowering women for the 21st century in Profession.
2000-2001 Empowering women for the 21st century in Business.
1999-2000 Empowering women for the 21st century in Politics.
1996-1999 Partnerships for the future.
1993-1996 Taking IFBPW Forward
1991-1993 Women - Environment and Development
1989-1991 Women - the Spirit of Enterprise
1987-1989 Why Not a Woman?
1985-1987 Building a Better World - Responsibility of Full Partnership
1983-1986 Women in Transition - Strategies for Success
1980-1983 Where Do We Go from Here? Putting Priorities into Action
1977-1980 The Challange to the New Woman

Back to top of page

Women working for women