By Matters India Reporter
Chennai, Oct. 23, 2018: An Indian woman has been elected to the board of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) for a period of five years (2018-2022).
Juliet Ramamurthy was elected during the world body’s October 15-22 general assembly at Dakar, Senegal. The last Indian on the board was 12 years ago.
Ramamurthy is the only one from India in the 27-member of the Board. Currently she is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
“I feel honored and humbled,” Ramamurthy told Matters India after the election. “It was great to meet the committed women of all the continents and know of the wonderful work they do for the cause of women and children. I feel that I am blessed and thank the Almighty for His great kindness. He has been really wonderful to me.”
She represented India as the national president of the Council of Catholic women of India (CCWI), the only Indian Catholic Women’s organization affiliated to WUCWO.
The world body’s newly constituted board will hold its meeting in Italy next May.
The CCWI is one the premier women’s organization in the Catholic Church in India. Established in 1964, it has undertaken manifold empowerment programs for women. It advocates gender justice in society and the Church.
The WUCWO was founded in 1910 and now represents almost 100 Catholic women’s organizations worldwide, active in around 60 countries including all continents and some island states, counting on more than eight million Catholic women of every walk of life.
WUCWO’s promotes the presence, participation and co-responsibility of Catholic women in society and the Church, in order to enable them to fulfill their mission of evangelization and to work for human development, particularly in increasing educational opportunities, poverty reduction and the advancement of human rights beginning with the fundamental right to life.
In 2006, WUCWO was erected by the Holy See as a Public International Association of the Faithful. This canonical status honors the efforts of Catholic women active at the parish, diocesan, national and international levels.
WUCWO unites Catholic women in the world to give them a voice on the international platform. Since their inception, WUCWO has held Consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Human Rights Council (Geneva), the FAO (Rome), participatory status at the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) and is an official partner of UNESCO (Paris).
WUCWO examines the critical issues that have an impact on the lives of women internationally and promotes the dignity of every human being.
WUCWO coordinates the activities of Catholic women’s organizations worldwide, serving as a necessary link between them and the network of international organizations and faith communities.
Through them, WUCWO helps train those who are without resources or opportunities, provides victims of violence and poverty a means of subsistence for them and their children and helps enable them to fulfill their mission of evangelization and to work for human development.
WUCWO’s principal areas of activity are to promote the formation of women to face contemporary challenges. It fosters awareness and respect of cultural diversity and coordinates the activities of member organizations at the international level and represent them in international bodies.
It networks with other international organizations and faith communities for the respect of human rights, especially those of women and encourage ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.