There is nothing quite like spending time with BPW International Sisters from around the world.

The 7th BPW Mediterranean Symposium: The Balance of Power: Gender, Economy and Leadership brought sisters from across Cyprus (the host nation), various parts of Europe, me from the US, and two from Montreal, Canada. The conference was planned with an evening and a morning of talks, meals set up for conversations, bus rides to see the country, and many opportunities to meet women entrepreneurs and indulge in local offerings. Most important were these many conversations – about opportunities for collaboration, mutual support to make change happen, and exchanges on how best to grow our clubs.

The talk I prepared generated a fair amount of interest – in part because ofmy exhortation for us to do more with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), comparing our efforts to those of the Non-Governmental Organizations recognized at the United Nations, and in part because of my passionate requests for national action on selecting a Madam Secretary General at United Nations and on the question of migrants.

My chart (see Chart A—next page) on what BPW International clubs have accomplished for each SDG shows that we have engagement everywhere, but some of it is quite historic! There is room for improvement – and we need to be serious about logging our efforts!

In comparing our efforts with those of UN Registered NGOS, I developed the following table (see Chart B below) which shows a strong alignment to what others are doing, but underscores opportunities for us to do so much more.

An important element in my talk was the request that each club talk to their governments about the importance of selecting a Madam Secretary General next year. Seven women are in the running, but of all the candidates, only one name will be passed to the General Assembly for a vote. The selection will be accomplished in closed sessions.

I ended my talk by asking our sisters to also speak to their governments on the question of people on the move – migrants in this case – and to help frame the discussion especially around women on the move. The International Migration Review Forum is coming up in May 2026, and regardless of feelings about migrants in general, it is important that we advocate for business and professional women migrants to benefit from equitable treatment. Currently, many educated and experienced women on the move fall through the cracks in countries where they are not classified for their knowledge in the same way as men. This places them at a real disadvantage when competing for positions or adapting to a new country.

CHART B: COMPARING RESULTS OBTAINED BY IFBPW AND UN NGOS

Please contact me directly for more information: Womenonthemove@nfbpwc.org

Nermin K. Ahmad
Chair Women on the Move
2024-2026