Zonta International the voice of the woman

Zonta International is an organisation of women in business & the professions which was started way back in January 1919, when Marian de Forest, a playwright and a newspaper critic, envisioned that educated and advantaged women could get together effectively to empower legions of underprivileged women who needed a voice and an advocate. She joined with a group of her associates to charter the first Zonta Club in Buffalo New York and became its charter president. In November 1919 a conglomeration of Zonta clubs was formed. The name Zonta is of Sioux Indian origin and means honest & trustworthy.  

Today, 94 years later, Zonta reinforces its valued positioning as an organisation of business and professional women working to advance the status of women globally & locally in the countries where it exists, through devoted and dedicated service and advocacy.

Zonta has grown exponentially, and become multi-national, with 1200 clubs in as many as 67 countries of the world divided into 32 Districts with over 33,000 members.  Its international headquarters has moved to Oakbrook, Illinois in the USA.

Zonta International District 25 comprises of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal who joined us recently, a new club being chartered in Kathmandu in February this year.

Each biennium, a District Conference is held in each Zonta District or Region which comprises of a group of countries. This Conference serves as a platform to support and inspire the Club Leaders and members of the respective District to network professionally, to share stories of advocacy and to increase the visibility of the service projects carried out globally and in the community.  






" Zonta has grown exponentially, and become multi-national, with 1200 clubs in as many as 67 countries of the world divided into 32 Districts with over 33,000 members.  Its international headquarters has moved to Oakbrook, Illinois in the US "



This biennium, the 12th ZI District 25 district conference was held in Colombo Sri Lanka with a large participation of the members of the countries in our district.
At present there are a total of 15 Zonta clubs in the countries of our District, i.e. 5 clubs in Sri Lanka (3 in Colombo, 1 in Kandy and 1 in Negombo) 3 clubs in India (2 in Bombay and 1 in Madras) 6 clubs in Bangladesh (5 in Dhaka and 1 in Chittagong) and 1 club in Nepal.

Yes, we women have come a long way since the last century, achieving universal franchise in the 1940s; gaining access to educational opportunities equal to those of  men, in many countries, and being able to pursue careers of our choice. We have better access to health care, and are more aware of the rights and laws available to us for prevention and protection against domestic and other forms of violence.  

However, many women still remain disadvantaged in many fields and face real challenges.  In the workplace they often do not receive equal wages for parallel work.  Only a few women reach the same top level positions in employment despite being as well qualified as men.

According to the 2012 MDG report only 25% of senior management positions are held by women, despite the MDG target to achieve full and productive employment for all women by 2012.  So many educated talented capable women are still held captive under that proverbial glass ceiling!  

Illiteracy and poverty still prevail everywhere. Purity laws such as female genital mutilation, is still practiced in certain countries, and women and girls are forced to comply for religious and cultural reasons. 130 million women globally are subjected to this type of procedure which is against human rights.

According to the inter-parliamentary union of December 2012 the average number of women in parliaments is only 23.3%.  We Zontions advocate much greater participation of women in legislative and decision making roles at the local and regional levels, as women are more sensitive to affairs concerning other women than men.  Also many believe there will be fewer wars and conflicts, if there were more women in governments!

Trafficking of women and girls has worsened globally since year 2000. A 2012 report from the UN office states that some 30 million victims are forced into labour globally each year, and around 2 million are victims of sex trafficking, a horrific 60% of whom are girls.

Violence against women has been a persistent problem which many organisations including Zonta International has focused on over the years. Despite continuous efforts this pervasive form of harassment still exists in all societies. Some women have become so accustomed to being treated as inferior to men, they expect and even accept it.

Women in developing nations are usually in charge of securing water, food and fuel and of overseeing family health and diet. Yet are systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they need to fulfil this responsibility.

About two thirds of the illiterate adults in the world are female.  Reproductive health problems including maternal morbidity and mortality represent a major but preventable cause of death and disability for women in developing countries. Failure to provide information services to help these women constitutes gender based discrimination and is a violation of their right to health and life.    

Social and legal institutions still do not guarantee women’s equality in basic legal and human rights, or access to the control of land or other resources, in employment and earning, and social and political participation. Laws against domestic violence prevail, but are often not enforced on behalf of women.

The countries in our District share many of these problems. And there are many more we need to focus on.