Amplifying Our Advocacy Efforts

Above: The Z and Golden Z clubs of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna, Philippines, spearheaded the relaunch of iFight, a youth movement to end human trafficking and modern slavery in this generation.

Below: Members of District 6 advocate by saying "NO" to violence against women.

Learn more about Zonta International’sadvocacy initiatives atwww. zonta.org/Global-Impact/Advocacyand add your voice to end violenceagainst women and girls atwww.zontasaysno.com.

No matter where our nearly 30,000 members call home, they come to Zonta with a common purpose to use their personal time, talents and resources to ensure all women and girls, wherever they may live in the world, enjoy the same rights and opportunities. Our strength as an organization is in our collective voice and our combined efforts to put women’s rights and interests at the forefront of local, national and global conversations.

Two years ago, we set a goal to increase our advocacy efforts and elevate Zonta’s position as a leading advocate for women’s rights. Thanks to the efforts of our districts, clubs and individual members, we have seen great strides in our advocacy initiatives on a number of different fronts.

At the United Nations and UNESCO, our International UN Committee brought together experts and organized events on child marriage, migration, trafficking and girls’ education, while following other high-level meetings and events on topics relevant to Zonta International’s mission, including the monitoring and review of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Council of Europe Committee continued to monitor events at the Council of Europe and provided updated tools and resources on the Anti-Trafficking and Istanbul Conventions for Zonta clubs to use in their own advocacy efforts.

At the local level, across the Zonta world, our clubs found new ways to add their voices to end violence against women and girls through our Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign. From turning local landmarks orange to supporting domestic violence shelters and engaging men and boys to show their support for the campaign, Zonta International was seen and recognized as an advocate to end violence against women and girls in all its forms.

This biennium, Zonta clubs were also encouraged to work together across district boundaries to engage in advocacy actions at the national level. Zonta clubs in Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United States used this new opportunity to join efforts and elevate their actions to the national level.

Zonta USA Caucus: A new program for national advocacy in the United States

With 13 Zonta districts spread across the United States, US Zontians wereeager to find a way to join forces to advocate more powerfully at the nationallevel. After the success of the first Zonta Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in June2017, a group of US Zontians prepared a proposal for a Zonta USA Caucus,which was approved by the Zonta International Board in November 2017.

The Zonta USA Caucus unites all Zonta clubs and districts in the USA tosupport Zonta International’s mission to empower women and girls throughservice and advocacy. Working under the direction of the International AdvocacyCommittee and with a representative from each US district, the Caucus is aplatform for advocacy actions within the United States.

The Zonta USA Caucus’ goals are to:

1. Encourage policy development by the United States of America’slegislature and its committees and individual members, which promotesand sustains women’s access to all resources;

2. Assist in the development, consideration, and passage of legislation, whichfacilitates every woman’s ability to achieve her full potential and to live in asociety free of violence;

3. Promote women’s representation in decision-making positions on an equalbasis with men;

4. Take action in support of, or in opposition to, proposed or enactedlegislation and executive orders and regulations, implemented by theexecutive branch of government that directly or indirectly impact the livesof women and girls.

To support the efforts of the Zonta USACaucus, Zonta International invested in an onlineadvocacy platform that enables Zonta clubmembers in the United States and other citizensto contact their elected representatives at thenational and state levels to voice their supportfor, or opposition to, proposed legislation. Thisplatform also enables the Caucus to track movement on legislation relevant to Zonta International’s mission and vision.

The first two opportunities for action via this new advocacy platform werefor the Equal Rights Amendment and the bipartisan Campus Accountabilityand Safety Act, both of which were on the agenda for the Zonta USA AdvocacyDay in 2017. Thank you to everyone who has already taken action on these twovery important issues. Visit our USA Advocacy Action Center to learn moreand take action today.