ACWW

Associated Country Women of the World

The Country Women's Association of Victoria Inc has been a member society of ACWW since 1933, when ACWW was formed in Stockholm, Sweden. Members were interested and actively involved in International Activities in the lead up to the formation of ACWW.

ACWW Aims & Objectives

To raise the standard of living of rural women and families through the education, training and community support programs.
To provide practical support to its members and help them set up income generating schemes.
To give rural women a voice at International level through its links with United Nations agencies.

Background

• In 1927 the first steps to form ACWW was taken
• Delegates from Australia attended, in 1929, a Conference held in London.
• In 1933 ACWW was officially formed with a member of CWA of Victoria attending this Conference
• In 1947 ACWW received special consultative status with the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations. Since then has been granted consultative status with the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UNESCO, UNICEF and UNIFEM.
• In 2011, supported the establishment of UN Women.

Currently

• ACWW is made up of approximately 360 members societies from 70 countries
• Has about 9 million women members
• There are nine areas of the world, Australia is part of the South Pacific Area
• Approximately UK 150,000 pounds worth of projects were funded in 2010, with about UK35,000 pounds of these funds coming from Australia
• Further goods are sent and projects funded directly in their Area by Member Societies.
• Worldwide there are about 1500 individual ACWW members, 900 are in the South Pacific Area.

See ACWW website and Facebook page
http://www.acww.org.uk/

Some history on ACWW

As I talk to members around the state I am often asked many questions about our connection to ACWW, such as how did it come about, what does it mean, why we have a country of study, to name just a few.

The history of the establishment of ACWW is quite interesting and heartwarming, with many twists and turns in its development, many challenges confronted and addressed.

So over the next few months I thought I would provide a brief overview of ACWW, from the early days to the current, including some very human stories. Women from Australia have been involved right from the start.

The early days of women’s organizations; now I am quite sure there have always been loose knit women’s groups, even back in Stone Age times, however the development of formal women’s organizations started in the 1790’s, the first being in Finland. Over the 1800’s women in a variety of countries, including Canada and USA started such formally organizations. In 1915 Mrs Watt, who had lived in Canada and involved in Women’s Institutes there, introduced the concept to England - within two years there were some 1500 established.

Over this time and the next decade these organizations communicated and established informal links. In 1929 the first International Conference of Rural Women was held in London, in the lead up to this invitations were sent to various women’s organizations, with 23 countries represented by 46 women attending. In Australia various states were establishing The Country Women’s Associations and right from the start they had an international perspective. Mrs Fairfax of Queensland represented Australia at this Conference. The women shared stories, giving information of their own situation. In the book ‘History of the Associated Country Women of the World’ (1929-1953) a lovely example is given. ‘Mrs Fairfax, of Queensland, spoke of the vast distances which caused her to drive 6000 miles to visit 54 branches of the Country Women’s Association of Queensland, of the loneliness and lack of help and comfort which were driving people from the country to the city. She told of members driving 90 or 100 miles to a meeting, a statement which the Norwegian delegate could cap with stories of old ladies of seventy or over, who would row across a fjord for two or three hours to seek the companionship of an Institute meeting.’ (p12)

Mrs Watt was a very central character within this process; her belief was that when women from around the world came together they would discover that they had much in common. The women came together; the dream was created…..

No new organization is created without the efforts and commitment of people, in this case it included Mrs Madge Watt, Lady Aberdeen and Mrs Zimmerman. Timing helped in that they meet up, holding similar ideas and saw the value and benefit in the formation of such an organization, plus they were prepared to put in the enormous effort that would be required to lay the foundations of the Association.

Mrs Madge (Alfred) Watt had been actively involved with Women Institutes in Canada, coming to England after her husband died. The 1^st World War had broken out and she believed that the establishment of Women’s Institutes would be of use to communities. She lobbied for assistance by Government and was successful. The first WI was formed in Llanfair P.G., Anglesey by Mrs Watt in 1915, and by 1919 some 1405 Institutes had been established. In the book ‘The History of the A.C.W.W. and of it Member Societies’ (1953) the foreword provides a tribute to her:

‘No history of A.C.W.W. would be complete without a tribute to Mrs Alfred Watt, to whose memory this book is dedicated.

That small frame with its coronal of snow-white hair contained the spirit of a giant. Mrs Watt knew no fear; no difference of race, of creed, of culture could daunt her.

With a clear vision of the ultimate goal she strode ahead, creating, constructing, forging links of friendship between those who were strangers; uniting those who must forever be separated one from another by the breadth of a hemisphere.

To her sure insight and indomitable energy, country women the world over owe the organization which binds them together in sympathy and friendship for a common purpose.’

Lady Aberdeen had long standing involvement with women’s issues on an international level through her connection with the International Council of Women, being elected World President at their third Conference in 1899. She heard the voices of rural women calling for understanding and assistance and was in sympathy with their plights. She had the capacity to work consistently hard, with a strong sense of purpose and duty. She Chaired the first International Conference of Rural Women’s Organisations held in 1929, with Mrs Watt her Vice Chairman.

Miss Zimmerman is another who committed her energies, prepared to work herself to the bone and to turn her hand to any kind work that was required. In the lead up to the establishment of ACWW she held the position of General Secretary of the International Council of Women. It was Miss Zimmerman to whom Lady Aberdeen entrusted the list of rural women’s organizations as they were located. She provided the skills and aptitude of a very good secretary, a vital role in any organization.

There were many others; however the combined diversity of greatness within these three women provided the great strength need to launch and develop a new international organization.

When reading this - keep in mind the context of the time - that the majority of people lived in the ‘country’, in rural areas.

With the dream created and many women and their societies supporting the concept, much hard work was now needed to convert the dream into reality.

A ‘Liason Committee’ had been created in the lead up of the 1929 London Conference and it was the work and energy of this Committee that drove the activities. From our part of the world was Mrs Fairfax of Queensland and Mrs Drage of New Zealand. Mrs Drage was the first Chair of the Finance Committee. Funds were needed, and while much labour was volunteered there were some essential costs. To raise funds a book was created titled “What Countrywomen of the World are doing” and it sold very well. An Endowment Fund was created with one hundred Foundation Friends donating £5-00 plus many member societies paid an annual subscription of £1-00 per year.

A monthly newsletter was created, called ‘Links of Friendship’ and sent out to women societies (in three languages) around the world and received with great interest.

This ‘Liason Committee’ functioned as a standing committee of the International Council of Women (I.C.W.), they functioned under the I.C.W. umbrella but very much wished to be independent. The next I.C.W. Conference was in 1930 in Vienna, with 34 rural women societies from 28 countries, sending representatives to this event. Lady Aberdeen addressed the Conference saying:

‘country women have begun to realize that their best contribution to the welfare of their families and their countries is not to stagger on under burdens too great for their strength, which result in invalidism and premature death; but, through co-operation with one another, to secure that due care for their health as mothers which is their right, and those reasonable opportunities for education and recreation, and development of their talents, which every human being should be able to claim”.(The History of A.C.W.W. p17) 

A memorandium was presented which outlined four plans for future action, these being

1. form an informal alliance with I.C.W.
2. search for another international body which would give the Committee a home and assistance
3. the formation of the own organization with permanent Headquarters and Secretary
4. an office in Geneva attached to the I.C.W. or some other international body.

At this Conference women gained even stronger links and it was decided to create a larger ‘Liason Committee’ and rename it “The Liason Committee of Rural Women’s and Homemakers’ Organisations’.

This Committee commenced functioning independently with its first AGM held in May 1931 with 30 women from twenty-one countries attending. A constitution was evolving, the rights and limitations of membership developed. Women travelled far and wide speaking about the developments. Mrs Drage travelled around New Zealand and visited parts of Australia.

It was agreed to accept the invitation of the League of Northern Housewives to a meeting in Stockholm in 1933 and work was directed to this. Membership by The Country Women’s Association of Victoria was taken up in 1932 with Mrs Norman Welsh a Victorian member travelling to Sweden for this Conference. She was present when Reports were given on the work done, the presentation of the proposed Constitution and its acceptance, there when, suddenly, an independent organisation was formed named. She was there when Mrs Watt wrote, on a blackboard, Associated Country Women of the World. Also when Countess Keyerlingk wrote under this Welt-Landfrauen-Verein, then Mm Gilbert-Randin wrote Association de Femmes Rurales Mondialas and finally, in Swedish, Fru Silfverhjelm wrote Verdens Husmodersforbund. In June 193, after many years of gestation, a new organization was born, where to now…..

April 29^th, 1933 - ACWW has been formed, what to do now…………...

One can only imagine the elation of the women involved in the formation of Associated Country Women of the World, however they soon had to get to work to make the Organisation into what they wanted it to be, and of course, there were many differing opinions on that subject.

Women from various parts of the world were elected to positions that were vital to the development of ACWW. Mrs Fairfax of Australia and Mrs Drage of New Zealand, were elected as a Vice- President’s: the women of the South Pacific involved from the beginning.

A magazine ‘The CountryWomen’ was created, however this was very expensive to produce and circulate. Finances were always an issue. Mrs Watt was not known for her ability to grasp hard finance concepts, she and Mrs Zimmerman often disagreed as to where the resources should be allocated. However they did manage to compromise, find common ground and continue to work effectively together. One of Mrs Watt’s greatest abilities was to gather able people around her.

The next World Conference was planned for May/June of 1936 in Washington. No-one anticipated the response of the women of the USA & Canada to this Conference.

From Member Societies some 200 women came, as delegates, to Washington, however they disappeared into the crowd of the 7000 American farm women who descended on Washington to be part of this event. Mrs Roosevelt was, from the first, interested in ACWW activities. President Roosevelt addressed the enormous crowd of women from the balcony of the White House. As can be imagined this Conference was very challenging to run, however they did manage and came away with quite a few new ideas, like Member Societies having an International Day each year and the Study of another Country within ACWW.

Following the Washington Conference some women, including Mrs Watt travelled to Canada. A meeting was scheduled to be held at the Guelph Agriculture College which was also where these women were staying. The accommodation provided proved to be of a poor standard, with the Principal of the College most apologetic, and to make up for the lack he offered to provide a meal for women coming significant distances for this meeting. One can only imagine his shock when 4000 women came, many having left home before daylight. Such responses demonstrate the outstanding need and interest of women, around the world. And by the way he did manage to feed all.

Mrs Watt embarked on the world tour, including a visit to Australia, speaking of ‘the invisible but potent network of affectionate relationship’.

Committees got underway with valuable work. The Study and Investigation Committee explored and prepared reports on many subjects including:

• A Midwifery Report – this was presented to the Conference of the International Commission of Agriculture held in The Hague in 1937. Many countries had no midwifery services and many of those that with Midwifery services lacked standards and guidelines.
• A Nutrition Report – working with the League of Nations, through the ACWW network a great deal of information came from all parts of the world in response to questions asked about nutrition, providing a picture never before possible.

They were invited to consult in many areas, busy women became more busy, however many more women joined and helped.

The next World Conference was schedule for 1939 in London. Several of the women who had worked so very hard to create ACWW died in the later part of this decade, including Lady Aberdeen in 1939, just before the London Conference. A great deal of sorrow was felt and expressed at this Conference; however more challenges were looming with the outbreak of WW2; some of the Members Societies would be on opposite sides. The need to develop an additional ongoing income stream was vital - Mrs Drage’s had a brain wave – Pennies for Friendship…………