LATEST NEWS
- Details
- By Lee Boeke Burke
In November, Lee, Renee and Karen from ICUUW met on Zoom with Rev. Jessa, Coordinator of the UU Women’s Association (UUWA) Philippines, Prescila (Precy), President of the UUWA, and Rev. Arman, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines (UUCP) Church Administrator.
The purpose of the call was to hear about UUWA activities and to explore ways we can develop our connections with each other. We were also concerned about the impact the recent Super Typhoon Tino on Negros Island congregations and their activities. We learned that several of the congregations in the northern part of Negros Island had been hard hit by the typhoon and congregants sustained property damage and damage to their crops, but no injuries were reported. For the most part the roads are now passable and should pose no problems for youth traveling to Dumaguete for the Youth Conference in the days before Christmas.
- Details
- By Bartha Mária Zsuzsánna, President of MUNOSZ and Secretary of ICUUW
It is a joy to be together in person. After much correspondence, phone calls, and computer work, we were finally able to meet in person at our annual general meeting held on September 27. On this occasion, our Women's Association enjoyed the warm hospitality of the Budapest Unitarian Church. The male members of the local council cooked, and the young people served, in a charming manner. So we, the women, were able to meet peacefully in the sanctuary.
- Details
- By ICUUW Membership Engagement Team
In this year of strategic reorganization, positioning ICUUW for even greater growth and impact, the Membership Engagement Team (previously known as the Membership Committee) has been focusing a lot of energy on creating warm and inspiring ways to invite our current and potential members into a deeper understanding of who we are as an organization and as individuals.
- Details
- By Rev. Denise Tracy
In my younger middle school years, my English teacher asked us if we wanted to have a pen pal from another country. I did. I was paired with a girl my age, 13, from Australia. We wrote back and forth for several years. I learned about her life and she learned about mine. As high school approached both our lives got busy and we stopped writing. Since that time, I have wanted to have an international circle of friends. Like-minded women whom I might get to know. With whom I might exchange ideas and learn how we are alike and how we are different.
- Details
- By Gail Sandlin
According to the latest report from the United Nations' report State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2025), an estimated 8.2 percent of the global population, about 673 million people, experienced hunger in 2024, marking a slight decline from previous years yet leaving millions still in urgent need. Nearly 60 percent of those affected are women and girls, who face systemic inequalities that increase their vulnerability to food insecurity. In many cultures, women eat last and least while bearing caregiving responsibilities, despite having limited access to resources and opportunities that could enhance household food security. Addressing this global crisis requires gender-responsive policies and empowering women as central agents in the fight to end hunger and malnutrition.
What Is Food Insecurity?
- Details
- By Gail Sandlin
Mountains and glaciers: Water towers
The UN issued its latest report addressing solutions to help us simultaneously mitigate and adapt to rapid changes in our frozen water resources. The report highlights the urgent threats posed by glacier and snowpack retreat to women’s livelihoods, health and rights – especially to mountain and downstream communities. Some of the key findings in this report include: water collection burden, health and sanitation risks, food security threats and increased disaster vulnerability.
- Details
- By Cindy Piester
Two and a half years ago the severity of the climate crisis was weighing heavily on me. I had recently returned from Egypt where I had been able to participate as a delegate-observer at COP 27, a trip made possible by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. The Convention of the Parties (COP) and its international efforts were failing to meet even the most basic climate goals. I travelled to New York to meet with other ICUUW members, and meeting fellow ICUUW member Carmen from Bolivia, brought comfort and hope. Much younger than I, she, too, had recently returned from COP 27, and after a dozen or more UN Climate Conferences she kept showing up.
- Details
- By Rev Justine Magara
Hello Unitarian Universalists, colleagues from around the world. I am Justine Magara from Kenya. I'm the Minister of Kisii North Unitarian Congregation and Maasai Unitarian Universalist community. I live in Ngong, Kajiado West, where I serve the Maasai Unitarian Universalist community.
Many people have asked about our Unitarian Universalist faith, how it landed in Kenya, and I'm giving you a brief history on how the Unitarian Universalist faith landed in Kenya and how it has been doing since it was first introduced up to now.
- Details
- By ICUUW Staff
The Unitarian Church Jowai has a beautiful choir. ICUUW Board member Elgiva Shullai’s sister sings in the soprano section and one of her nieces is an alto.
- Details
- By Tina Huesing, ICUUW President, Germany/USA
Dear members and friends,
Our organization is networked with other women’s organizations. We were in touch with the women in the Philippines earlier in the year and sent greetings to their meeting. We had our annual meeting in June, UNOSZ, the women’s organization in Romania, just had its annual meeting, and MUNOSZ, the Hungarian women’s organization, will have their annual meeting later this month. Seng Kynthei, the women’s wing of the Unitarians in Northeast India, celebrates the anniversary of the founding of Unitarianism in their region, and in preparation led Sunday services and organized other praise and worship, sermons and music. There is so much to explore and discover.
These connections are made one woman at a time. Women connect with women because they are curious about each other. And they learn from each other, inspire each other, and help each other. We explore commonalities and cultural differences in how we live our lives, how we live our faith, and how we each are active in making the world a better place for us and everyone else. It is good to be in the company of women.
- Details
- By Karen Kortsch, USA
Our Marketing Director, Gretchen Ohmann, and I traveled to Baltimore to attend the UUA General Assembly as exhibitors for ICUUW. Our organization rented a booth in the exhibit hall, and with the help of several of our dedicated volunteers, spread the word about what ICUUW is doing to make life better for women and girls around the world.
Thanks to Beth, Julie, Vicki, and Geri for being our ambassadors. We made a lot of new contacts and had many people sign up for our newsletter. Many thanks to Gretchen, who designed our banner and other promotional materials along with setting up a raffle and doing the publicity around that. We made the most of our time at GA as there will not be another in-person assembly until 2027.
- Details
- By Tina Huesing, Germany/USA
ICUUW member Siro Wildah Kwamboka, a women's ministry leader in Nairobi, Kenya, is working in her local community on a food sustainability project. She shared a presentation and a video with us that we shared with the larger UU community at our stand in the exhibit hall of the UUA General Assembly in Baltimore. Siro and her minister Justine Magara also provided us with beautiful objects from Kenya that we raffled off. (ICUUW Raffle at GA)
- Details
- By Tina Huesing, Germany/USA
Over forty members from eleven countries took time to attend our annual meeting in June. That was a great showing for a business meeting. Thank you to each and every one of you who attended and with your attendance expressed your interest in our organization. Annual business meetings are just dry business with reports and elections, aren’t they? Well, this one wasn’t!
First, we heard from Reverend Rosemary Newberry who shared with us why she became a sustaining member in our organization. She attended our fourth convocation last year and realized “how much immense good was being done” by us through our members. And even though she currently doesn’t have the time to become an active volunteer, she supports us with a monthly donation so we can continue the good work we are doing. Reverend Rosemary summarized it well when she said our organization needs members with time to do the work, talent to do it well, and money to work on our goal of connecting women to advance women’s leadership and self-determination.