International Council of Women

NCW has an international dimension through our active membership of the International Council of Women (ICW), to which we affiliated in 1897. ICW has almost 70 member countries world-wide, ranging from major developed countries to some of the least developed countries in the world. European members of ICW form a network known as the European Centre of ICW (ECICW).

ICW has long-standing consultative status with the United Nations, and NCW GB was accorded UN Special Consultative status in 2000. Members take part in annual meetings of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

ICW Triennial Conferences are held every 3 years, most recently in Johannesburg, South Africa. At this conference, attention focussed on violence against women, women's health, with particular reference to the problem of AIDS, climate change and uses of energy.

The ICW current agenda includes gender equality with emphasis on the need for more equal representation of women in Government and other decision-making bodies. The full ICW agenda follows the UN agenda for women, with work to remove all forms of discrimination against women and girls, action against violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation, and action against acute poverty which deprives women and girls of basic health care and education. With hostilities and civil wars affecting many countries, the need to involve women in peace-keeping and mediation is also a major objective.

ICW President Anamah Tan and Sheila Eaton at the Triennial Conference

ICW President Anamah Tan and Grace Wedekind

Member Councils of ICW