The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...
, and the nonprofit is headquartered in Washington, DC.
The YWCA is independent of the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...
, but a few local YMCA and YWCA associations have merged into YM/YWCAs or YMCA-YWCAs and belong to both organizations, while providing the programs from each.
Governance Structure
The World Board is the governing body of the World YWCA, and includes representatives from all regions of the global YWCA movement. The World Council is the legislative authority and governing body of the World YWCA. The 20 women who serve on the World Board are elected during the World Council, which meets every four years to make decisions that impact the entire movement. This includes the World YWCA’s policy, constitution, strategic direction, and budgets. The Council includes representatives from the 100+ member associations that are affiliated with the global YWCA movement.
History
The YWCA history dates back to 1855, when the philanthropist Lady
Mary Jane Kinnaird founded the North London Home for nurses travelling to or from the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...
.
The home addressed the needs of single women arriving from rural areas to join the industrial workforce in London, by offering housing, education and support with a "warm Christian atmosphere". Kinnaird's organisation merged with the
Prayer Union Emma Robarts (died 1 May 1877) was a British Christian activist who formed a group known as the Prayer Union. The organisation combined in 1877 with an organisation created by Mary Jane Kinnaird to form the Young Women's Christian Association.
H ...
started by evangelist
Emma Robarts in 1877.
[
In 1884, the YWCA was restructured. Until then, London had had almost a separate organisation, but there was now one YWCA organisation. Beneath this there were separate staffs and Presidents for London, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, "Foreign" and Colonial and Missionary. This organisation distributed Christian texts and literature, but it also interviewed young women in an effort to improve living conditions. In 1884, they were working amongst Scottish fisherwomen, publishing their own magazine and operating a ladies' restaurant in London.][
The World YWCA was founded in 1894, with USA, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden as its founding mothers.
The first world conference of the YWCA was held in 1898 in London, with 326 participants from 77 countries from around the world.][Carole Seymour-Jones, Journey of Faith: The History of the World YWCA 1945-1994 (London: Allison & Busby 1994)]
Early 20th Century
In the beginning of the 20th century, a shift began within the YWCA. While industrialization had been a founding concern of the association, it had sought primarily to evangelise, and to protect women morally and socially from the consequences of urban life. But the emerging socialist movement began to affect these objectives. The first sign of this was during the 1910 World YWCA conference in Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
, when a resolution was passed against considerable opposition, requiring the association to study social and industrial problems, and to educate working women about the "social measures and legislation enacted in their behalf." Over time the well-organised activists were able to take control of the YWCA, discard its original purposes, and employ it as part of their own movement. By 1920 the process was complete, and the YWCA became a largely secular organisation in all but name, with ties to Social Gospel
The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean env ...
groups.
Until 1930, the headquarters of the World YWCA were in London. The executive committee was entirely British, with an American General Secretary. This policy resulted in a resolutely Anglo-Saxon lens through which the association viewed the world. In 1930, however, the World YWCA headquarters were moved to Geneva, Switzerland, the same city as the newly formed League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...
. This was symbolic of the drive to become a more diverse association, and also to co-operate fully with other organizations in Geneva (such as the International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signa ...
and the YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...
).
World War II
In several countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, YWCAs were suppressed and disbanded. Throughout occupied Europe, however, women worked to construct support systems for their neighbors and refugees.[Karen Garner, Global Feminism and Postwar Reconstruction: The World YWCA Visitation to Occupied Japan, 1947 (Journal of World History, Vol. 15, June 2004)]
Shortly after the end of the war, the YWCA worked to fortify the bonds of women throughout the world by holding the first World Council meeting in nearly a decade in Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, wh ...
in 1947. This was significant in being the first World Council held outside of the West, and further voiced the desire to be an inclusive, worldwide movement. It also served to bring together women who lived in countries that had been enemies during the war, and to raise awareness among the western YWCAs that the ruin of war was not limited to Europe.
During the following decades, the World YWCA spent much time researching and working with the issues of refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s, health, HIV and AIDS, literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
, the human rights of women and girls, the advancement of women and the eradication of poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse < ...
; mutual service, sustainable development and the environment; education and youth, peace and disarmament, and young women's leadership. These issues continue to play an integral role in the World YWCA movement.
Programs
YWCA Week Without Violence
Each year during the third week of October, YWCAs worldwide focus on raising awareness to end violence against women and girls.
YWCA Week of Prayer
Starting in 1904, the World YWCA and the World Alliance of YMCAs have issued a joint call to prayer during the Week of Prayer and World Fellowship. During this week, the two movements pray and act together on a particular theme in solidarity with members and partners around the world. The week-long event is a Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
study based on that year's theme.
World YWCA Day
In 1948, World YWCA's Observance Day was born, to help each member see how she could act locally in relation to the theme for the year. Some chosen themes for the Observance Day have been: My Faith and My Work, My Place in the World, My Contribution to World Peace, I Confront a Changing World, Toward One World and My Task in Family Life Today. In 1972, the event name was changed to World YWCA Day, and the date of celebration for World YWCA Day became April 24.
YWCAs around the world
YWCA has a presence in over 100 countries, and includes national and regional entities in eight global regions. Many regional YWCAs operate as independent entities at the local level and belong to their country’s national YWCA body as part of a federated, membership-based model.
Europe
The European YWCA includes national YWCAs in Belarus, Denmark, Great Britain, Norway, Romania, and more. The European YWCA is a regional legally registered body, serving as an umbrella organization for the national YWCAs around the European continent.
Middle East
The YWCAs of the Middle East region are in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine.
Africa
There are over 20 national YWCAs serving communities across the Africa region, including in Burkina Faso, Malawi, South Africa, and Togo.
Asia
YWCA has a presence in a number of countries in Asia, including Bangladesh, China, India, Korea, Nepal, Taiwan, and Thailand. Sophia Cooke established of the Young Women's Christian Association in Singapore in 1875.
Pacific
National YWCAs in the Pacific region include New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Samoa. In 1878, Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
activists established the first YWCA in the southern hemisphere. The YWCA branch in Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
was established in 1883 to support visitations to the sick; and, in 1885 Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
's chapter started up with a strong focus on providing a clean and properly supervised living space for working girls. YWCA Australia dates back to 1880, when the first YWCA in the country was established in Sydney to help migrant women.
North America
In North America, YWCA has a presence in the United States and Canada. YWCA USA was founded in 1858 and today has over 200 member associations, serving over 2 million women, girls, and their families. YWCA USA is one of the largest provider of domestic violence programs and shelters in the United States. YWCA Canada dates back to 1870. Today, YWCA Canada has over 30 member associations, serving 1 million women, girls, and their families.
YWCA USA is headquartered in Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
. Previously its headquarters were in the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
.
Caribbean
National YWCAs in the Caribbean region include Barbados, Grenada, Haiti, and Trinidad & Tobago.
Middle and South America
YWCAs of Latina America include Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, and Suriname.
Leadership since 1855
Partners
The World YWCA is involved and is a part of the Big Six Alliance of Youth Organisations (World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations, World Young Women’s Christian Association, World Organization of the Scout Movement, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation). It is also a member of Accountable Now, ACT Alliance, and has consultative status with ECOSOC of the United Nations. World YWCA works in partnership with a number of ecumenical players (World Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation, etc.) and a number of international institutional and government donors.
Bibliography
*Mary S. Sims, ''The YWCA: An Unfolding Purpose'' (New York: Woman's Press, 1950)
*Mary S. Sims, ''The Purpose Widens, 1947-1967'' (New York: YWCA, 1969)
*Anna Rice, ''A History of the World’s Young Women’s Christian Association'' (New York: Woman's Press 1947)
*Karen Garner, ''Global Feminism and Postwar Reconstruction: The World YWCA Visitation to Occupied Japan'', 1947
*Carole Seymour-Jones, ''Journey of Faith: The History of the World YWCA 1945-1994'' (London: Allison & Busby 1994)
*Dorothea Browder, ''A Christian Solution of the Labor Situation: How Workingwomen Reshaped the YWCA's Religious Mission and Politics'' (Journal of Women's History, Vol. 19, Summer 2007)
* List of other YWCA articles
Archives
Young Women's Christian Association (University of Washington) Records.
1903-1982. 50.6 cubic feet. At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
*Young Women's Christian Association of Canada fonds at Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
. The archival reference number is R4957. 1870-1991. 26.1 meters of textual records;1045 photographs (chiefly b&w); 7 audio discs (ca. 3 h, 11 min.); 9 architectural drawings; 5 crests and pennants; 2 printing blocks, linocut, photomechanical cut; 1 print photo-mechanical; 1 award plexiglass; 12 audio reels (ca. 11 h, 35 min); 7 audio cassettes (ca. 7 h, 30 min.); 7 film reels (ca. 3 h).
References
External links
World YWCA
official website
YWCA Canada
official website
YWCA USA
official website
Catalogue of the British YWCA archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...
YWCA of the U.S.A. Records, 1855-
Smith College.
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Ywca
Christian youth organizations
Organisations based in Geneva
Christianity in Geneva
Youth empowerment organizations
Christian women's organizations
International women's organizations