By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, April 10: The ninth General Body Meeting of the Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) kick-started here this morning and will go on till Wednesday.
The meeting being held at the Deckyi Tsering hall of the Upper Tibetan Children’s Village School has over 170 members representing various regional chapters from India and elsewhere taking part in it.
The six-day or so General Body Meeting, which is held after every three years, will, among others, elect the new office bearers who will form the 9th TWA Central Executive body for the next three-year term.
The opening function of the meeting started with Tibetan national anthem. The congregation then observed a minute of silence to pay tribute to Tibetan martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for Tibet’s cause. As part of the inaugural function, the organisation released its annual Magazine in English and Tibetan, and honoured three regional chapters with its “Efficiency Award.”
Dignitaries of the opening function included special guest Kasur Rinchen Khando, who served as the first president of TWA, and chief guest Dolma Gyari, the Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile. Representatives of Tibetan NGOs and members of Tibetan parliament also attended the opening function.
The outgoing President B. Tsering in presenting the summary report of the organization’s activities during her three years’ term noted that TWA was positioned to play a unique and dimensional role in the Tibetan community, which she said can be explained by the parallel contribution it had been making both towards the cause of Tibet and in the socio-cultural spheres of the exile Tibetan community.
Tsering said her organisation made successful efforts to raise the issue of Tibet and promote the rights of Tibetan women inside Tibet by actively participating in various international forums. Over the years, she said, TWA was also successful in introducing numerous educational and vocational projects and programs that were aimed at empowering Tibetan women. “However, in doing so, our prime role towards the cause of Tibet’s freedom struggle has never been less,” she said. “Year 2007 and 2008 were especially eventful for Tibet. And TWA was able to organise, support and take part in series of campaigns both at the organisation level and in collaboration with other prominent organisations,” she said.
“We are now convinced that TWA has indeed played a significant role and will continue to shoulder even greater responsibility in the future for Tibet’s cause,” she remarked.
“As 2009 marks 50 years in exile, the role of TWA and its office bearers in the coming years will be more demanding. So accordingly we must be prepared to face and overcome any critical challenges,” Tsering, whose presidential role will end this month after serving two consecutive terms, said.
Rinchen Khando said TWA’s continuous growth since its inception in 1984 was very commendable. “And above all TWA has effectively matured itself as one of the most prominent organisations in the exile community that works for the cause of Tibet regardless of religious and regional affiliations,” she said.
The Tibetan Women’s Association, headquartered in Dharamsala, boasts 49 regional chapters and over 15, 000 members worldwide, making it the second largest Tibetan non-governmental organisation, next only to the pro-independence group Tibetan Youth Congress, in the exile Tibetan community.
The group describes itself as the “only women NGO in exile that advocates human rights for Tibetan women in Tibet and works to empower Tibetan women in exile, in particular newly arrived refugees from Tibet.”
TWA supports the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s “middle-Way” policy that seeks “real and meaningful” autonomy instead of outright independence for Tibet.
