DHARAMSHALA, July 19: Hundreds of Tibetan women representatives from all over India and Nepal are currently gathered in Dhondenling settlement, Kollegal in south India to take part in the 11th Working Committee Meeting of the Tibetan Women’s Association, which began Thursday.
A total of 115 grass root activists from 27 regional chapters of the largest Tibetan women’s group are attending the five-day meeting to assess initiatives undertaken since their prior meeting and strategise future endeavors.
The meeting’s inaugural function was attended by Khen Rinpoche of Sera Jey Monastery as the chief guest, Zogchen Tulku Dhonga Nyima, and former TWA president and current member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Dr B.Tsering among others.
Khen Rinpoche in his address called unity “the strength” of the Tibetan struggle and urged Tibetans to never get discouraged.
TWA’s president Tashi Dolma in her inaugural remarks paid tribute to former women leaders while reflecting upon the unique aspects of the nearly three decades old Association.
“We are quite different from the other (women) organisations because we are an organisation of a nation which lost its independence,” Dolma said. “The purpose of the re-establishment of this NGO is to continue the struggle for freedom of the Tibetan people and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and also to empower Tibetan women in exile. What TWA stands for in the exile community today is all thanks to the hard work of the previous executives and we promise that we will continue to work hard for the future development of this organisation.”
During the first two days of the meeting, executives of the central and regional chapters will be reporting on the various activities they have spearheaded over the last 18 months since the new team of top executive members assumed leadership. Also, in keeping with the principles of transparency and accountability, representatives will be presenting their respective financial reports for scrutiny from their peers, the group said.
“The final three days of the Working Committee Meeting will serve as a period of envisioning and planning, where participating members will discuss the agendas that Central TWA has procured,” the group said in a release.
“Then through consensus, they will pass new resolutions to be implemented for the next twenty months of their tenure.”
Re-established in exile in 1984, TWA has 57 regional chapters spread across the globe and over 16,000 members outside Tibet working under the slogan ‘Advocacy for home, Action in exile.’
