IAW International Meeting in Sofia (Bulgaria) in 2024.

as an Individual Member and Convenor of the IAW Commission on the Digital Divide from the Netherlands [our IAW Commission report is in the IAW Annual 2024 Report, page 20-22] of the International Alliance of Women (IAW). "Our most burning issue is to endTFGBV (Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence)". I attended the International Meeting in Bankya, Bulgaria 5-9 September 2024. I stayed in Hotel Bankya Palace between 4 - 10 September. It was a pleasant stay and very nice to meet so many 'old' and 'new' IAW friends from four continents. It was the first in person event since the outbreak of COVID in 2019. The meeting was opened by Alison Brown, President of IAW. Photo at the right

I liked the Intergenerational Dialogue between Rosy Weiss, Honorary President of IAW with Sung Sohn, founder of Education for Social Justice Foundation very, very much. Rosy presented her book "Traveling in Friendship and Politics, 1982-2010". Rosy Weiss her personal stories of her Presidency contributes to the herstory of IAW. I liked her WHY and HOW in her many speeches she shared memories of the women and the women's movement of a given country in order to not again reinvent the wheel. She is a GREAT role model and feminist for me and others. I liked also the Keynote speech by Iliana Balabanova, President of Eurpean Women's Lobby and Co-founder and Chair of the Bulgarian Women's Lobby. She shared with us privately nice to know stories about her country Bulgaria and in her speech used also a quote by Simone de Beauvoir about women are agents of change and the recent UN report about the SDG's (SDG 5 is about Gender equality). Rosy Weiss used this quote of Simone de Beauvoir "As I started to write about me, it became clear that I had to write about the situation of women."

In 1937 women got the right to vote and to be elected in Bulgaria. At this photo (right) you see Iliana Balabonova with two members of her team. The right one is the woman from the Bulgarian Women's Lobby who gave her advice ín November 2023 to me: it is better to fly to Sofia. What is very special about IAW is Peace. Peace has to be a concept and has to start with the mind. Banner text of Peace tent in Huairou 1995 ''Change the Culture of War to a Culture of Peace" was mentioned a.o. in the IAW Annual 2024 Report by Manju Kak the Secretary-General of AIWC (All Indian Women's Conference). Manju Kak wrote "We must ensure the right to live in peace and security, with access to food and medical services, without fear of endangerment, oppression and warfare (...) 'Right to Peace is a fundamental human right'". I became a member of Vrouwenbelangen (Dutch Society of Women's Rights) when I was a student in Groningen (in the North of the Netherlands where Aletta Jacobs was born too) and am a feminist since 1979. This was a topic during the 120 year Celebration of IAW who started with demanding Votes for Women in 1904 and partipants enjoyed singing togehter the March of the Women Music by Ethyl Smyth 1910. As a historian fond of herstories I want to celebrate a special woman The Bronze woman - the mother of Eve Nobrega whom I didnot know before. The last afternoon of the meeting we went by bus to Sofia and the following day we, the 13th IAW President Mr. Lyda Verstegen and I,

said in the morning goodbye to the participants of IAW's Historic Bulgaria Tour. At the end of this blog I write a BIG thank you to IAW treasurer Antonia Lavine, Executive Director National Council of Jewish Women San Francisco - Bay Area, who organised in her country of birth, Bulgaria, a.o. Hotel, Tour and many, many other things.