The Twenty-Ninth World Council will be held at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Center, from 17 to 22 November 2019 (arrivals on 16 November and first departures late afternoon on 22 November).  Between 300 and 500 delegates, observers, guests and other participants are expected to attend, with the YWCA of South Africa and the World YWCA jointly hosting this major gathering in the life of the global YWCA movement.

Objectives

1. Fulfill all the tasks required of World Council as provided in the Constitution. These are:
   • To accept the minutes of the previous World Council meeting
   • To accept the report of the World Board on its activities and the management of funds since the previous World Council meeting
   • To accept the report of the General Secretary
   • To approve the report of the Treasurer on the budget framework and affiliation fees until the next World Council meeting
   • To approve the rules of procedure for the World Council meeting
   • To approve policies, guidelines and resolutions until the next World Council meeting
   • To conduct elections for the World Board members including Officers, and the Nominations Committee
   • To provide opportunities for mutual learning and exchange between member associations
   • To deal with other business.
2. Undertake a collective reflection on the theme of the 29^th World Council, in relation to the internal and external challenges that confront the YWCA and young women in particular.
3. Ensure the full integration of young women in the programme and process of the 29^th World Council.
4. Celebrate faith through prayer, song and liturgies that strengthen community and solidarity among World Council delegates and participants.
5. Engage World Council delegates and participants in a discussion on the state of the YWCA movement and its purpose.
6. Facilitate the sharing of knowledge and skills between member associations through workshops.
7. Learn about South Africa, its history, culture as well as the challenges its women face through inputs, face to face interactions and creative presentations.

The theme chosen for the 29^th World Council is “Young Women Transforming Power Structures for Gender Equality.”  This theme is rooted in Goal 2035 which was adopted by the delegates at the 2015 World Council in Bangkok.  This goal states that:

“By 2035, 100 million young women and girls transform power structures to create justice, gender equality and a world without violence and war; leading a sustainable YWCA movement, inclusive of all women.”

Unlike previous World Council meetings, the 29^th World Council will not start with a Young Women’s Forum.  The hope is that young women’s voices and leadership will be built into the core framework of the World Council programme.  In order to ensure that young women delegates can participate actively in business sessions, a training and orientation session for youth delegates, the Council’s Rules of Procedure will be organized on the first day of World Council.

World YWCA Council is a space for mutual learning and the sharing of stories.  It is a space to build community, nurture friendships and develop new leaders, under the theme: “Young Women Transforming Power Structures for Gender Equality.”

The logo for the 29th World YWCA Council was inspired by the calabash as a symbol for more unity, celebration and solidarity. Calabash is the term used for artefacts made from the hard shell of a fruit in the gourd family that is commonly used in the African region. Hollowed-out and dried, calabashes are a typical utensil in households. They are used to clean rice, carry water, and as food containers. Smaller sizes are used as bowls to drink palm wine, and in other regions in Africa, they are used as instruments. 

Acknowledging that the calabash may come in different shapes, the design was conceptual rather than literal, and it suggests a divergent perspective of the calabash viewing it from the top. The design also seeks to be bold, simple, clean, smart and dynamic, while capturing other African elements like traditional wear and fabrics.

At the same time, the circular design symbolizes – focus, cycles, unity, wholeness, centring and revolution.

The palette of colours used are a combination of vibrant warm and earth colours, and existing ones that are part of the current World YWCA branding.

Acknowledgements

The development of this creative process was only possible thanks to the support of our honorary host association, the YWCA of South Africa, the feedback provided by the World YWCA Global Communication Group when selecting the final design, and the talent, skills and commitment of graphic artist Olivia from Sri Lanka, who you may reach to by clicking here.

The programme of the 29^th World Council will have six main components:

1. Governance and business sessions
2. Thematic plenary sessions
3. Thematic and skill building workshops
4. Worship and morning prayer
5. Zenzele marketplace
6. Opening and closing ceremonies

Business sessions of the World Council will be guided by the Council’s Ways of Work and Rules of Procedure which is updated and approved on the first business session of the Council.

The thematic and skill building sessions will make use of participatory and creative methodologies and will be held in plenary and small groups.  Skill building sessions will mainly be in the form of workshops offered by member associations.

Worship will take place every morning and will be organized around different themes.  It will be participatory, creative and reflect the diversity of the worldwide movement in terms of songs, languages, prayers and symbols.

The Zenzele marketplace will be a multi-purpose space where local artisans and YWCAs can showcase their work and products for offering and selling to the delegates and participants, a safe-space for youth delegates to meet and share stories, an open space for engaging with members of the local YWCA, for networking with other participants and hanging out for a relaxing conversation and coffee.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be jointly organized by the South Africa YWCA and the World YWCA.  The opening ceremony will be a formal event where delegates are expected to dress in their national costume.

During the World Council, two rounds of five parallel workshops will be offered to attendees as a part of the programme. As strategic skills-building initiatives, the workshop topics have been tied to the theme of the Council both in content and form and essentially speak of the practical ways in which Goal 2035 can come to life. Each workshop has been designed to share more than just good practices, engaging the expertise and experiences of participants. A number of suggestions and requests on workshops were received from the member associations and while it wasn’t possible to include them all, the process of strategically placing workshops aiming towards Goal 2035, helped in finalising and working with member associations for combined workshops designing.

Participants coming to a workshop will be able to get the following:

• Get access to existing tools, real-life experiences and replicable practices on the issue to have the confidence to drive change in communities, countries, regions and even in member associations, wherever presented with a challenge.
• Have access to existing and developing approaches to consultation, knowledge/capacity enhancement and mobilisation for contributing to achieve Goal 2035 in local and national contexts with women and young women leaders as advocates and drivers of coalitions and campaigns to address issues that hinder the full realisation of the Goal.
• Understand the good practices from both inside and outside the movement on issues of movement building, governance, thematic areas of programming, faith, communications and social media in advocacy, resource mobilisation etc.

All workshops will be interactive and engaging, led or/and co-led by young women from across the world, inside and outside the movement. Workshops have found their source in the outcomes from the last survey of member associations, developments since last council, findings from ongoing work and programmes, funded initiatives, campaigns, ongoing trends and opportunities that impact the YWCA movement, and/or findings from the initial young women consultation work.

If you had submitted a request for workshop during the call for workshops we sent out earlier this year and haven’t heard from us, please write to ceylan.togaz@worldywca.org for more information.

Zenzele is a Xhosa and Zulu word which means “self-reliance.” For the YWCA of South Africa, Zenzele carries a much deeper meaning rooted in their history and in the empowerment of black women.  During the apartheid era in South Africa, black women were excluded in the YWCA.  This exclusion, however, did not stop them from organizing themselves and mobilizing other black women and establishing their own YWCA which they called “Zenzele”.  By naming the YWCA Zenzele, they were declaring their freedom and independence to do what they thought best at the time, to struggle against apartheid and empower black women in their communities through Zenzele.  They had only themselves to rely on and that was enough.

At the 29^th World Council, we shall capture the spirit of Zenzele at the “marketplace” (which shall be called Zenzele) – a place to meet as a community to share stories, exhibit our work, marvel at the arts and crafts of South Africa, to sing and dance, to cry and protest, to make friends and celebrate our sisterhood. More specifically, Zenzele will offer the following:

1. A marketplace where arts and crafts from South Africa and YWCAs may be exhibited, offered as gifts or sold
2. A storytelling space which will feature women storytellers from South Africa and across the world
3. A healing space to benefit from healing practices from South Africa.
4. A youth space for youth delegates to meet, conduct their own activities and hang-out
5. A networking and dialogue space for those seeking partners for their work
6. A space to accommodate spontaneous actions and activities

In order to give life to Zenzele, Member Associations are invited to participate through the following ways:

1. Reserve a space on which to exhibit the work of your YWCA and chat with delegates and participants who might be interested to meet with you
2. Contribute a story
3. Share a healing practice to those who might be interested or in need of healing
4. Mount an exhibition on a theme that is close to the heart of your YWCA

Procedure

Fill in the Zenzele proposal form below and submit to worldcouncil2019@worldywca.org no later than 20 September 2019.

Are you planning to bring in food, textile, arts and crafts to South Africa as part of your contribution to the marketplace?  If so, please be aware of South African customs requirements: https://www.sars.gov.za/ClientSegments/Customs-Excise/Travellers/Pages/Arrival-in-SA.aspx

Submit this form to worldcouncil2019@worldywca.org no later than 15 August 2019.  You will hear from us in September regarding your proposal.  If accepted, we shall offer a space for your activity/proposal and provide minimum logistics.  Set-up for the Zenzele Marketplace is on 17 November 2019 between 12:30 and 14:30.

Apart from being a marketplace for gifts and crafts, we are excited to host a number of Power Sessions at the Zenzele Marketplace- creating a space for presentations and discussions building on and learning from the vast experience of national YWCAs. During our call for workshops, we received some great proposals which we felt fit more in form of power sessions. If you submitted a workshop proposal, you will hear from our Workshop Team before the end of September.

We will invite member associations who have shared projects to prepare half an hours sessions for succinct yet stimulating presentations on their topics. As mentioned in the June-July newsletter, the workshop selection process this year was centred on the outcomes of the 2018 Member Association Questionnaire and Goal 2035. We will be communicating shortly on the results of the selection process but one exciting idea that came up during our discussions in the World Office is that of Power Sessions.

In order to bring these Power Sessions to life, we are going to ask and invite some of those that submitted workshop proposals to consider transforming their proposal into a Power Session.  This might involve rethinking your methodology but it will also allow you to think more creatively about how to make an impact on your audience and get your messages across in such a short amount of time. The Power Sessions will inspire, encourage curiosity and provoke thoughts and/or questions that can be shared in a short exchange. Participants and listeners leave the Power Session with new energy, a discovery and an insight brought about by the presentation and exchange.

• Become a member of the World Council Steering Committee (WCSC): The overall objective of the committee is to oversee the smooth functioning of the World Council meeting, ensuring that the functions of the World Council are fulfilled. The WCSC is composed of one representative (a member association’s voting delegate or observer) from each of the eight (8) regions, the Chair of the Global Governance and Constitution Committee (GGCC) of the World Board, and a representative of the Young Women Global Advisory Council (YWGAC). At least 25% of WCSC members must be aged thirty (30) years or under.
• Become a part of the Parliamentarian and Moderators Team: A group of internal and/or external experts who, in order to facilitate the World Council Business Meeting and support the chairing role of the World Board President and vice-presidents, will act as moderators and advisors to the World Council meeting.