ANNUAL REPORT 2011

BE THE

CHANGE.

THEIR LIVES,

IN OUR

HANDS.

Front cover featuring: Top-right: Office Staff with the United Nations Flag on UN DayMiddle photo: Women bamboo weavers in Cambodia, taken by C. AdindamaulaniBottom right: Hand painting by School of the Arts’ students for the STOP Campaign

Published in May 2012Edited and Designed by Catrina Cortes

The Singapore Committee for UN Women is a non-profit organisation working towards women’s empowerment and gender equality in the region. Established in 1999, the organisation functions as a National Committee of United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), headquartered in New York. We support programs that provide women and girls with access to education, healthcare, economic independence and a life free of violence and abuse.

Note on resources: All amounts unless otherwise specified are in Singapore dollars.

CONTENTS

Foreword> Singapore President Tony Tan> Singapore Committee for UN Women President and Executive Director’s Message

About> UN Women> Our Role as Singapore Committee

Campaigns & Programmes> Anti-Sex Trafficking> Foreign Domestic Workers> End Violence Against Women

Activities & Achievements> Public Engagement > Youth Initiatives> School Talks> SNOW 2011> Buy to Save

Partnerships> Project Inspire> Project Endeavor

Impact> Geographical Overview

Our PeopleFinancialsBe Involved

56-7

9

16-20212223-2425

11-121314

26-2728

31

32-333536

FOREWORD

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

Dear friends and supporters of UN Women,

I want to thank you for supporting this commendable effort to empower women and girls in the region. The work of UN Women, reaching out to underprivileged women throughout Asia - to provide women and girls with an education and access to healthcare, to defend them against violence, and to protect them in their communities - is noble and worthy of our support.

Funds raised from UN Women Singapore’s annual SNOW dinners in the past have gone a long way in helping thousands of women in the region, whether those in crisis or in micro enterprises.

Throughout the 12 years UN Women Singapore has been in existence, originally as UNIFEM, the organization has become one of the forefront leaders of thought and action in the area of women’s issues in Singapore and around the region, bringing together academic expertise, governments and embassy staff, the public as well as corporations.

I am happy to support UN Women Singapore in one of my first public engagements as President of Singapore. I encourage you to continue supporting UN Women with your generosity.

With best wishes,

Dr. Tony Tan Keng YamPresidentRepublic of Singapore

Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam

Singapore President Dr. Tony Tan and his wife, Mrs. Mary Tan and The

Singapore Committee for UN Women President, Trina Liang-Lin,

at the SNOW 2011 benefit gala.

5

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

2011 marked the first year of UN Women’s existence globally, and one where we in Singapore still tried to morph our UNIFEM identity into our new UN Women shape. At our headquarters in New York and offices around the world, teams were busy strategizing, goal setting, and fun-draising with bated breath, hoping to fulfill the increased responsibilities and new objectives of UN Women.

The mandate was increased from a focus on developing countries to all countries, from operational development implementation to nor-mative work on shared values and rights. If you consider that women are half of the world’s population, and that they are still treated like second-class citizens in many places in the world, UN Women has quite a daunting task ahead.

On the flipside, the potential of all these currently under-valued, under-educated, under-employed women is enormous! If they realized that they could have a global forum to speak in, a regional platform to act from, and unlimited freedom to actualize their dreams, we believe that many of the problems facing the world today could be significantly eased. Academic studies also support that countries do better when women are involved in decision-making.

This belief is what keeps us persevering here in Singapore. Our young, enthusiastic managers, interns and volunteer teams give our cam-paigns and fundraisers all that they have and more. Sometimes we are an ideas incubator as much as we are a day-to-day not-for-profit op-eration. It is important to note that UN Women Singapore is completely self-funded (i.e not funded by UN Women global or regional offices) and 80% of our funds raised go to supporting programmes in developing countries around the region.

Our supporters and sponsors help us by backing the best ideas and making them possible, and our 15,700 members and social media followers give us the legitimacy that all our hard work truly matters to people in Singapore, the region, and around the world.

Two of our innovations in 2011, developed in close cooperation with one of our main sponsors, MasterCard, was Projects Inspire (a social enterprise competition for youths) and Endeavour (where we take cor-porates to have hands-on experience with UN Women’s development work in the region). To mark the 100th International Women’s Day in March 2011, we launched Project Inspire. This global contest challeng-es youth between the ages 18 and 35, to come up with a five-minute video of their idea to empower disadvantaged women and girls, with a grant prize of USD $25,000.

This contest to date has garnered 14,000 Facebook likes and entries. Last year, ten outstanding finalists were invited to Singapore. They were then trained by our academic partner, INSEAD and global consulting firm, Bain&Company. Their final pitches were made on stage in front of well-regarded experts comprising of C-suite professionals, world-renowned academics, and highly-respected social enterprise activists.

Trina Liang-Lin, President

Pia Bruce, Executive Director

6

Our 2011 winner, Hapinoy, from the Philippines, is a development-oriented distribution network allowing the widespread sari-sari (often women-run) neighborhood stores to stay competitive and access innovative products and services previously out of reach for the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ population. Hapinoy has helped more than 2,000 women entrepreneurs and their fami-ilies, and will be back to tell their story at Project Inspire 2012.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, The Singapore Committee for UN Women held a series of TIP (Trafficking in Persons) Stakeholder Forums bringing together key stakeholders in Singapore and experts from across the Asia-Pacific region to learn from, share and develop concrete measures to address the issue in Singapore. This resulted in the TIP National Action plan that was developed and launched in March 2012. The Forum series was a joint collaboration between UN Women, HOME and The Body Shop, carried out in close consultation with the Singapore Inter-Agency TIP Task Force. The TIP Stakeholder Forum was a series that was a significant milestone in Singapore’s effort to combat human trafficking and foster strong collaboration amongst these key stakeholders.

The campaign partners’ efforts to build evi-dence-based awareness, for example through a situational study on sex trafficking in Singapore, and rallying support from the grassroots up, have been successful. Singapore garnered an amaz-ing 115,000 petitions during the course of last year. Globally, 6.7 million petitions have been collected from over 50 countries. These were presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in late 2011.

In March 2012, UN Women learned that our 7-year long Day Off campaign was to result in a change in Singapore legislation, which grants over 200,000 Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) in Singapore, a mandated day off. Our partners in this campaign were NGOs HOME and TWC2. Through websites, viral marketing, movie screen-ings, school talks, face-to-face public education and publication of joint research, we worked tirelessly to help employers see the benefit of giving domestic workers a rest day.

Apart from specific campaigns, UN Women Sin-gapore also runs a well-regarded public educa-tion programme in secondary schools, tertiary academic institutions, and to the general pub-lic through talks and other media. In 2011, we reached 12,000 members of the public with our message of women’s empowerment.

Our annual gala dinner, SNOW (Say No to the Oppression of Women), was held once again at beautiful Capella Hotel on Sentosa. Our Guest of Honour, President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Mrs. Tan graced us with their presence, as did anti-trafficking CNN Hero 2010 Anuradha Koirala, who also visited us for a week-long whirlwind pub-lic education tour back in May. Thanks to the generosity and commitment of our guests, guest chefs, partners and sponsors, we were able to raise $400,000 for our work to empower women in the Asia-Pacific region. Beneficiaries have already been aided by our funds. Among these, are the 300 women bamboo weavers in Kam-pong Chhnang Cambodia (whom we visited through project Endeavour) and rescued over 2,000 human trafficking victims through the work of Maiti Nepal.

We wrapped up the year with a successful Buy To Save (Women from Violence) weekend-long sale of gently used designer wear at Suntec, raising over $60,000 for the Beautiful People mentoring programme, the Andrew & Grace Home for at-risk young girls and residents of Star Shelter.

We could not have achieved all these without your support and participation. We need you to continue to walk the road with us, to make life better, for women and girls in Singapore and around the world.

With much gratitude,

Trina Liang-LinPresident

&

Pia BruceExecutive Director

ABOUT

The UN flag flies over spring cherry blossoms on the campus of the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva, Switzerland. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré.

8

The creation of UN Women in July 2010 was a historic step to accelerate the Organization’s goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Its creation came about as part of the UN reform agenda, to bring about greater impact worldwide.

The roles of UN Women include, but are not limited to the following:

• To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.

• To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.

• To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

UN WOMEN

We support the general mission of UN Women in developing nations throughout the region by providing funds and support for the following focus areas:

Violence Against Women - to prevent violence against women and girls by empowering groups at risk of violence, including adolescent girls and ethnic minorities and expanding the access of women and girl survivors of violence to ser-vices.

Peace and Security - to address the situation of women in armed conflict and to call for their participation at all levels of decision-making on conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

Leadership and Participation - to give women a voice and visibility by encouraging their leadership in decision making processes that shape their lives, placing great emphasis on public education as a means to encourage both leadership and participation.

Economic Empowerment -to enable women to develop business and entre-preneurial skills to access local, national and global markets. Projects also assist women in gaining access to finance, technology and information.

National Planning and Budgeting - to ensure that the collection and allocation of public resources is carried out in ways that are effective and contribute to the ad-vancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Human Rights - to facilitate the development of national human rights frameworks in line with CEDAW, such as constitutions, laws and policies by putting emphasis on marginalized groups.

Millennium Development Goals - to enable the targets set for 2015 regarding the eight goals adopted by the international community in 2000, focusing especially on the promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women, and the improvement of maternal health.

In order to achieve this mission, we engage with multiple stakeholders (i.e. government, business, media, academic institutions and fellow non-profit organizations) and undertake a wide range of fundraising activities, membership drives and public educa-tion programmes and events.

OUR ROLE AS SINGAPORE COMMITTEE

Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, addresses the General Assembly interactive dialogue on “Fighting Human Trafficking: Partnership

and Innovation to End Violence against Women”.

Pia Bruce, Executive Director of Singapore Committee for UN Women, addressing

members in 2010.

9

CAMPAIGNS & PROGRAMMES

ANTI-SEX TRAFFICKING

FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS

END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

“IT IS DIFFICULT TO THINK OF A CRIME MORE HIDEOUS AND SHOCKING THAN HUMAN TRAFFICKING. YET IT IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING AND LUCRATIVE CRIMES. AND AN ESTIMATED 80 PERCENT OF THOSE TRAFFICKED ARE USED AND ABUSED AS SEXUAL SLAVES.”

— MICHELLE BACHELET, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,UN WOMEN

“DOMESTIC WORKERS ARE THE MOST VISIBLE INVISIBLE WORK FORCE. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US IS CONNECTED TO SOMEBODY WHO WORKED AS A DOMESTIC WORKER, OR WHO DOES TODAY, DO CARE WORK.”

— AI-JEN POO,DOMESTIC WORKER ACTIVIST

“ALL OF US – MEN AND WOMEN, SOLDIERS AND PEACEKEEPERS, CITI-ZENS AND LEADERS – HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.”

— BAN KI-MOON,UN SECRETARY-GENERAL

ANTI-SEX TRAFFICKING

The Body Shop Singapore launched STOP (Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People) in August 2009 intending it to be a three-year global campaign to raise awareness on sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children and young people. Its objective was to raise funds for children who are at risk or exploited by sex trafficking, as well as to inspire those with decision-making power to effect change that can offer children better protection, everywhere. In Singapore, Body Shop partnered with The Singapore Committee for UN Women and fellow NGO HOME, while ECPAT In-ternational was a worldwide partner.

The Singapore Committee for UN Women also released a research report, entitled ‘Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Children and Young People in Singapore’. The qualitative study was first released through an exclusive article in the Straits Times and then shared with relevant local stakeholders. We also held the TIP (Traf-ficking in Persons) Stakeholder Forum series, where 30 members from different communities came together to formulate feedback that would subsequently go into Singapore’s National Action Plan. Other highlights include: seven film screenings, two awareness concerts, school talks and garnering signatures for a worldwide petition. The petition was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2011. The petition sought for the support of the United Nations International Conventions to call all governments to build awareness about the issue.

STOP CAMPAIGN

1

2

3

Concerts – 1,368 people targeted through the me-dium of music, all of whom pledged their support to the campaign

REVIEW OF THE EVENTS HELD FOR THE CAMPAIGN:

The 2011 activities reached the most number of people in comparison to the previous two years and the total number of petitions collected over three years in Singapore was 114,886 and globally, over 6.7 million were collected in 50 countries.

Bloggers Engagement – 25 champions garnered for the cause, dedicated to publicising the campaign through their blogs.

Roadshows (petition kiosk and exhibition) – Over 6,000 petitions collected over 4 days of

enthusiastic campaigning by volunteers

Forum seeding – 6 forums targeted, each of which has thousands of youth browsing through every day

4

Youth Team Events – 1,118 participating youth are now aware that girls their age in other countries face various forms of discriminations and inequalities.

11

ANTI-SEX TRAFFICKING

What began as an online project in support of the STOP campaign grew to become an accomplishment on its own right. This online movement, which targeted the youth, was created to “sound out” against sex trafficking. It showcased the musical talent of local bands, whose songs and lyrics reflected the cause.

Since its launch in 2010, over 12,000 people had visited the website and more than 4,500 people signed the petition, “sounding out” against sex trafficking.

In June 2011, the official SOUND OUT album was launched at Blujaz Café along Bali Lane. Bands had been invited to submit their origi-nal compositions, to reflect the issue of sex trafficking. The album was a compilation of the most popular tracks.

SOUND OUT

1. Sound Out CD design 2. The Sound Out Website 3. Performers at the Sound Out Launch last year

BY THE NUMBERS: More than 12,000 website hits | 4,647 pledges

More than 1,000 fans on Facebook, all of whom diligently follow the updates on articles and other news related to sex trafficking

Over 8,000 minutes airtime listening to anddownloading Sound Out songs, ample time to read up on the resources on trafficking provided!

Total number of people impacted by our anti-sex

trafficking campaign in Singapore: 29,573

1

3

2

12

FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS

Having rest days is an internationally recognised right for workers and has long been established as an employment norm. Singapore however, a nation which employs 206,000 foreign domestic workers (FDW), stood apart by the absence of a regular legislated day off for FDWs. In June 2011, The Sin-gapore Committee for UN Women, alongside other non-gov-ernmental organizations, released a 70-page research paper funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) titled Made to Work: Attitudes towards Granting Regular Days off to Migrant Domestic Workers. The research paper contributed to understanding the mind-set of employers regarding days off for FDWs.

DAY OFF“Approximately 206,000 migrant women are currently employed in Singapore as domestic workers and 1 in 5 Singapore families currently hire one. A day off is critical in creating and maintaining a positive working relationship between employer and employee. It can improve morale and productivity and most importantlyempower the domestic worker as an individual. And with so much focus on the importance of a work life balance for all kinds of workers - the campaign is really only asking people to treat others as they would wish to be treated themselves.”— Above and bottom quoted text, were taken from our Media Re-lease: Mandatory Day Off / 5 March 2012

“WE APPLAUD THE GOVERNMENT ON REQUIRING A REST DAY PER WEEK FOR FOREIGN DOMESTIC

WORKERS (FDWS) RECEIVING OR RENEWING THEIR WORK PERMIT AFTER 1 JAN 2013.

A WEEKLY DAY OFF IS AN INTERNATIONALLY REC-OGNIZED RIGHT FOR WORKERS, AND WE PRAISE MOM FOR CHAMPIONING THIS ISSUE THROUGH

WIDE RANGING CONSULTATIONS CULMINATING IN THE NEW REQUIREMENT. IT IS SIMPLY THE RIGHT THING TO DO, AND A WIN-WIN FOR WORKERS AND

SINGAPOREANS.

THE MOVE WILL HELP SINGAPORE ATTRACT QUALIFIED DOMESTIC WORKERS WHO DO A GREAT

DEAL TO SUPPORT OUR ECONOMIC PROGRESS.”

All efforts since 2008, contributed to successfully changing legislation regarding a weekly rest day, which will officially take effect for FDWs in 2013.

The research paper, “Made to Work” released last year

13

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The Love-In Concert was an initiative by third year Arts Management students at LASALLE College of the Arts, aimed to gather peers with a free concert at Hong Lim Park. Over 400 attendees gathered in March, 2011 in celebration of love, life and peace à la Woodstock, to raise awareness with the Singapore Committee for UN Women on domestic violence.

Musical acts included long time Sound Out! supporters such as For This Cycle and Sean Harrison.

LOVE-IN CONCERT

1. The event poster 2. LaSalle Love-in organizers posing 3. Singapore Committee UN Women member, Corrine Muller at her own booth selling her handmade dolls. 4. Lounging in the grass, the audience enjoying the music. 5.-6. Performers of the concert. 7. Organizers and musicians. 8. Peace!

The number of applications for Personal Protection Order and Domestic Exclusion Orders has decreased ...from 2,692 persons in 2005 to 2,667 persons in 2006. In 2006, 76% of the applicants were abused by spouses while the remaining 24% of the applicants were made up of other family members such as siblings, parents and other relatives. (Source: Family Court of Singapore, 2007).

1

2 3

4 5

6 7 8

14

ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

YOUTH INITIATIVES

SCHOOL TALKS

SNOW 2011

> A SHOW OF HANDS: A VOLUNTEER’S STORY> FILM SCREENINGS> BOOK CLUB> IN-CONVERSATION SERIES

> CAREER DAY FOR GIRLS> THE YOUTH TEAM’S TRAFFICK JAM: SHOP TO STOP

15

BUY TO SAVE

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

“I always tell people I’m a lifelong immigrant. My parents are from China, and their families were refugees to Taiwan in the 1940s. I was born in Taipei and moved to the US when I was 8. I married a Singa-porean and moved here with him in 2005. We now have a 4 year old little boy named Jeremy.” Which of our activities and projects were you involved in in 2011?

In 2011 I chaired the Buy to Save committee. I was also a table host at SNOW 2011 What was your most memorable volunteer experience in 2011?

SNOW! Standing for 5 hours in high heels and a flapper dress (not to mention a cute hat) has never been more exhausting or fun.

How long have you been a member and involved in activities?

I’ve been a member of UNIFEM since 2005, when I first arrived in Singapore from the US. Interestingly, the first event I attended was the very first Buy to Save sale, which was held in our tiny conference room. I still have the skirt that I bought there! What was your first volunteer experience with us like (and when)?

My first volunteer experience with UNIFEM was in 2006, when it seeded a mi-grant women’s organization called Aidha. I joined the inaugural Executive Committee at Aidha to work on branding, communications and marketing.

How has UN Women changed you?

I am much more aware of how I can impact the world around me. The issues we tackle are enormous (e.g. sex trafficking, domestic violence, inequality). But what I’ve realized is that I can have a clear impact from my own personal contributions, and that my efforts are not insignificant just because the problems are so big.

The work that the Singapore Committee for UN Women does, would not be possible without the support and participation of the public. The relationship that we forge with our members, our volunteers and the youth, contributes immensely to the impact that we want to make. Everyone’s involvement gives our organization a stronger, and clearer voice.

A SHOW OF HANDS: A VOLUNTEER’S STORYCHRISTINA LIEW: MEMBER SINCE 2005

... I’VE REALIZED

.... I CAN HAVE A CLEAR IMPACT FROM MY OWN PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONS, AND THAT MY EFFORTS ARE NOT INSIGNIFICANT JUST BECAUSE THE PROBLEMS ARE SO BIG.

“

”

Christina Liew, with her son, Jeremy.

16

(Continued from previous page)

Which of our key issues is most important to you and why?

Domestic violence and girls empowerment. I feel that these two issues are often swept under the rug, not just in the Asian context but everywhere. It is uncomfortable to discuss domestic violence because it has to do with incredibly personal information about your most loved ones. It is a very complex but serious topic, and so hard to seek help for and talk about. The same goes for girls empowerment; people often won’t admit they are biased against girls or favor their sons, but the data shows otherwise in terms of access to education and employment opportunities (in developed and developing countries.)

I spend my time working in women’s issues because I believe we are making the type of progress that will ripple through and change the world. Women are valuable resources for elevating the level of health, education and sustainable economic growth in villages, communities and entire countries around the world. Without the full engagement of women, there is little hope to combat poverty or injustice.

I look at the impact that UN Women Singapore has made on recent events (e.g. a mandatory day off for foreign domestic workers) and I know without a doubt that our work is worthwhile, relevant and necessary. I look forward to continuing the momentum on critical regional issues such as human trafficking and exploitation of underaged girls.

Why work with the Singapore Committee for UN Women?

To be perfectly honest, I haven’t found a lot of organizations that are as well-managed, effective and ego-free as UN Women Singapore. There are many worthy causes, to be sure. Anyone who gives of their time and resources to better the lives of those around them should be commended. But what I find most valuable is how well my time is used, and how much I’ve learned and gained from being a vol-unteer at UN Women Singapore. I’m proud to be affiliated with an organization that is driving transformative change within our society.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

WITHOUT THE FULL ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN, THERE IS LITTLE HOPE TO COMBAT POVERTY OR INJUSTICE.

“

”Christina, always hands on, at the Buy to Save in 2011.

Christina Liew has been newly elected into the Executive Committee, 2012 onwards.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

1,100 audience made aware of the grave situation of victims in other countries through 15 separate screenings of films on trafficking such as Lilya 4Ever, TRADE, Taken, Your Name is Justine and The Day My God Died.

FILM SCREENINGS

Every year, we tackle up to 6 books. We have a dedicated group of members who are always eager to read and discuss how real-world issues are addressed in the literary world.

BOOK CLUB

Thrity Umrigar’s novel is about a wealthy woman and her downtrodden servant.

The Space Between Us offers a revealing look at class and gender roles in modern day Bombay.

Xinan compiled a beautiful collection of women’s voices who bore witness to decades of civil strife, and of halting at-tempts at self-understanding in a painfully restrictive society.

Uwem Akpan stunningly por-trays stories that humanize the perils of poverty and violence.This collection transports read-ers inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia of the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Kathryn Stockett’s novel is about three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—moth-ers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another.

We learn how Maathai’s extraordinary courage and determination helped trans-form Kenya’s government into the democracy in which she now serves as assistant minister for the environment and as a member of Parliament.

Miss Seetoh in the World, is an accurate social commentary about the gender differential that exists in the modern world. This particular novel is set in Singapore and discusses how women have “come a long way” – or if at all.

18

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Our In-Conversation Series was launched in 2009, with an up-close and personal conversation with Dato Ambiga, that year’s recipient of the International Woman of Courage Award.

Since then, we have been inviting inspirational speakers to give us their expert advice and experience on a subject, which are related to our mission and key issues.

IN-CONVERSATION SERIES

Last year, The Singapore Committee for UN Women was very fortunate to have hosted several forums with CNN’s 2010 Hero of the Year, Anuradha Koirala, in partnership with Prospero (a not-for-profit organisation that works to support and promote other NGOs), and Karishma Chanrai, the assitant producer of End/Beginning, a documentary based on the life of Anuradha, commissioned by Channel NewsAsia.

Anuradha Koirala founded Maiti Nepal (see SNOW 2011 on page 23) and advocates for the protection of Nepali women and girls who are at-risk and exposed to violent crimes. During her visit in May 2011, we co-hosted her for several events:

ANURADHA KOIRALA

A Documentary Screening, Panel Discussion, Q&A at United World College

Questions and issues raised by the high school students during the three sessions were insightful, sincere and intelligent and the students raised over $8,000 in cash donations for Maiti Nepal.

Lunch, Documentary Screening and Q&A at UBS

Whilst Ms. Koirala inspired people across the board in Singapore, it was also a two-way process. The live-streamed dialogue session with UBS brought up the importance of transparency and financial mechanisms, which are issues of concern to Maiti Nepal. Says Gerald Chan, CEO of UBS Singapore, “Mrs. Koirala’s strong commitment to saving trafficked victims and combating the ills of such exploitation is an inspiration, mirrored in her care of each rescued survivor as individuals as they rebuild their lives at Maiti Nepal.”

Presentation at Standard Chartered

Anuradha spoke about human trafficking and the important actions at this lunch time talk, organized by the Standard Chartered Women’s Network. The talk left such an impact on the employees that they pledged to establish a sustainable fund to help Maiti Nepal cover all basic necessities.Documentary Screening and Q&A at INSEAD

Both were virtual conferences, reaching audiences in countries across the world simultaneously.

Other engagements included a luncheon with the American Chamber of Commerce, a presentation at Club 21 offices and a tea with the Nepali Society.

Photos courtesy of Bishwo Ram Khadka 1. Anuradha talking to high school students at United World College on 18 May, 2011. 2. At the UBS Conference. 3. Anuradha with the participants of the talk at Standard Chartered. 4. At INSEAD

1

2

3

4

PHOTO BY DIYANA PUTRI ALAN

19

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Siddharth Kara is the award-winning author of Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery, published in 2009. He is one of the world’s foremost experts on modern day slavery and human trafficking. As the first Fellow on Human Trafficking with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Visiting Scientist on Forced Labor at the Harvard School of Public Health, he had a lot to share during his visit here in Singapore. The forum was held on September 15, last year and was or-ganised by business school INSEAD, the Embassy of the United States of America in Singapore and the Singapore Committee for UN Women.

SIDDHARTH KARA

[SEX TRAFFICKING] IS ONE OF THE MOST BRUTAL AND BARBARIC FORMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. NOT ONLY DOES IT INVOLVE TORTURE AND VIOLENCE BUT ALSO MULTIPLE COUNTS OF RAPE -- UP TO 20 TIMES OR MORE A DAY, DAY AFTER DAY, MONTH AFTER MONTH.

“

”— Siddharth Kara, on Sex Trafficking, at theForum held on September 15, 2011.

Siddarth Kara, with Singapore Committee for UN Women member, Katrina Dick, who moderated the discussion.

Veronica Gamez, Executive Director for aidha, a micro-business school for foreign domestic workers, initially a project of UNIFEM Singapore, was established as its own registered charity in 2006. aidha works to build choice and opportunity for their students, by offering them fnancial and business skills. Veronica is dedicated to promoting women’s economic empowerment through education.

VERONICA GAMEZ

SAIMA SALIMAN KAPAPSaima Saliman, a Singapore Committee for UN Women member and clinical psycholo-gist by profession, led a discus-sion on building one’s emo-tional muscles. Salman offered methods and exercises to keep positive emotional responses, and ways to maintain an empowered way of thinking, feeling and behaving.

Teo Yew Chye, founder, chief instructor of KAPAP Academy

Singapore and trained psy-chologist, taught the

atendees of his talk basic self-defense techniques.

OTHER SPEAKERS LAST YEAR INCLUDE:

YOUTH INITIATIVES“Young people represent agents, beneficiaries and victims of major societal changes and are generally confronted by a paradox: to seek to be integrated into an existing order or to serve as a force to transform that order. Young people in all parts of the world, living in countries at different stages of development and in different socio-economic settings, aspire to full par-ticipation in the life of society.” — UN World Programme Action for Youth

CAREER DAY FOR GIRLS

TRAFFICK JAM: SHOP TO STOP

Close to 100 girls from Beautiful People programme (read more on page 24), Pertapis, Andrew & Grace Home, Singapore Girls’ Home and The Tent, participated in our Career Day for Girls. They received first-hand infor-mation on what it takes to launch a successful career in cosmetology, hospitality, food and beverage industry, and photography. The Career Day for Girls featured four practitioners; Ms. Rezani Ramli, make-up artist and found-ing partner of Makeover Magix; Mr. Cheong Hai Poh, Executive Assistant Manager, Conrad Centennial Sin-gapore; Mr. Daniel Heath, Head of Sales and Marketing – PET, SHATEC; and Ms. Steph Tan from Steph Tan photog-raphy.

One participant from Beautiful People shared that this was the opportunity she has been waiting for. ”I am really interested to have a career in the hospitality industry. And I’m really excited about the opportunity to have all my questions answered by the expert.”

The Youth Team’s inaugural event attracted the attendance of 200 youth in Orchard Central. The event raised awareness about sex trafficking in a youth-friendly setting combining socialization, music and shopping. The event featured local bands and booths which sold fashion items, body art and handicrafts. With each pur-chase, pamphlets about Singapore Committee for UN Women, Body Shop and ECPAT’s STOP sex trafficking campaign were distributed and we engaged youth in one-on-one discussions about sex trafficking.

21

SCHOOL TALKS

The Singapore Committee for UN Women’s public education programme hopes to achieve an increased consciousness about women’s issues among school and college-going children and youth. Often, a part of the school talk also ties in with ongoing campaigns and activities of the National Committee. This results in synergy with students volunteering to participate in other UN Women events. The talks, which are conducted by UN Women staff and long-time volun-teers, can be tailor made to each school, however the school talks in 2011 emphasized the realities of domestic violence and sex trafficking. A variety of methods are used to engage the students and encour-age inquisitive behavior such as informational talks, videos, games, open forums and question and answer sessions.

Feedback of such talks have been positive. Says a Cedar Girls Secondary School student, “It was very informative and interesting. The best thing for us was that such a big NGO was welcoming stu-dents to volunteer, which is really a golden opportunity.” While an-other student from Singapore Polytechnic says, “[The talk] influenced people to discuss personal experiences and in a safe and open environment. It has not only spread awareness, but has also inspired people to take action...The talk left the room reflective and introspec-tive... [we] realized that it’s time to be the change we want to see in the members of society.”

OVER 6,000 STUDENTS REACHED IN 2011,INSPIRED TO DO THEIR PART.

NUMBER OF STUDENTS REACHED: 6,076NUMBER OF SCHOOLS INVOLVED: 19

University Level Schools include: Singapore Management University, National University of Singapore, SP Jain College of Management, National University of Malaysia and Innovations in Technical Education College Central

Other Schools: International School of Singapore, Singapore American School, United World College, Overseas Family School, Anglo Chinese Independent School, Methodist Girls School, Cedar Girls Secondary School, Raffles Girls’ School Temasek Junior College, Jurong Junior College, Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore School of the Arts, Raffles Institute for Experiental Learning, UNESCO-NIE Centre for Arts Research in Education.

22

SNOW 2011SNOW (Say No to the Oppression of Women) gala benefit dinner is our flagship fundraiser and it has been a key contribution to our portfolio of programmes since 2005. The evening comprises of entertain-ment, gastronomic delights and a chance for guests to bring home coveted art pieces, lifestyle experiences or fashion items, through auction and raffle draws. SNOW has always been strongly supported by socially conscious men and women, who believe in our cause.

SNOW galas have raised more than a million since its inception and have been funding UN Women initiatives for women’s welfare in Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand as well as our partners’ initiatives in the Mekong region and Nepal. To this day, more than 5,000 women and their families have benefited from SNOW funds.

The Bamboo Project is a community-based livelihood programme, which builds the capacity of women bamboo weavers, traders and entrepre-neurs from 300 families through training, product development and marketing. It has also strengthened the capacity of Women’s Development Center and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to advocate for the allocation of funds for women’s economic opportunities.

Maiti Nepal, was founded by Ms. Anuradha Koirala, which protects Nepali girls and women from crimes like domestic violence, sex trafficking, child prostitution, child labor.

In 2011, our theme for SNOW was based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel the “Great Gatsby”. The men were encouraged to be “dapper” and women to dress in “flapper”, reflecting the 1920s culture and manner of dressing. Our guests certainly did so, while enjoying the arts and entertainment of the evening, as well as the cuisine of Adam Thomas, Lee Ben-nett, Dorin Schuster, Marco Pedrelli and Michael Han. Our guest of honour was then, newly elected Singapore president, Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, who came with his wife, Ms. Mary Tan. We were also honoured to have CNN’s 2010 Hero of the Year winner, Ms. Anuradha Koi-rala, as our guest speaker. It was our most successful SNOW event yet, having raised almost $400,000. Proceeds from SNOW 2011 went to The Bamboo Project in Cambodia as well as Maiti Nepal.

MORE ABOUT 2011’S BENEFICIARIES:

23

SNOW 2011

All photographs from SNOW 2011 were taken by Adrian Thoo and Ingur Dellevoet.

BUY TO SAVE

BUY TO SAVEThe 2011 Singapore Commitee for UN Women Buy to Save sale was held on December 3 and 4 at Suntec City Convention Centre. This is the fifth year, in which we hosted this event, where pre-loved designer fashion, accessories and handbags donated by our generous supporters were made available for sale to the public. More than 400 people attended this two-day event, resulting in new Singapore Committee for UN Women membership enrollments.

Our Buy to Save events have raised more than $250,000 since 2009. Last year, we raised more than $60,000 which directly benefitted women and girls from the Beautiful People mentoring pro-gramme as well as the Andrew & Grace Home for at-risk girls and residents at Star Shelter.

A total of 40 volunteers graciously gave their time to serve as part of the organizing committee, collection drive and during the two-day event, including 20 employees from our title sponsor MasterCard.

Under MasterCard’s own initiative, “Purchase with Purpose”, an additional $2 was donated for every transaction made at Buy to Save with a MasterCard card.

My Beautiful Life is a 100-hour mentoring and ca-reer guidance programme by Beautiful People. We aim to fund the attendance of 50 girls per year, from Buy To Save proceeds.

In 2011, Beautiful People launched the BP Club, which is a platform to keep Beautiful People graduates connected to the community through service learning projects, and developing their skills to be young mentors to the other girls who are still in the homes. The life-.skills coaching programme is called “My Beauti-ful Life”. It is year-long and provides mentoring and career guidance to equip participants with knowledge and practical skills that will help them in securing a job and living a well bal-anced life. The programme modules include: self-development, employment, financial edu-cation and job exposure/internship opportunity.

SCHOLARSHIP FOR GIRLS

The Singapore Committee for UN Women is looking to continue to support this initiative with cost projection of $7,500 per year.

25

PARTNERSHIPS

“ALONE WE CAN DO SO LITTLE; TOGETHER WE CAN DO SO MUCH.”— HELEN KELLER, AMERICAN AUTHOR AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST

PARTNERSHIPS

PROJECT INSPIREProject Inspire is a global socioentrepreneurial competition, which was inaugurated in the same month of the centennial celebration of International Women’s Day, last year in 2011. The Singapore Committee for UN Women, in collaboration with MasterCard, offered socially-inspired 18 to 35 year-olds the chance to implement their life-changing idea to empower women and girls in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. It is a digital and social media driven initiative, which aims to connect and inspire young people across the globe to fulfil their visions of a better world for women and girls.

Participants were invited to pitch their ideas in 5 minutes, with a chance to win a US$25,000 grant. The grant will be used to bring to life the win-ning idea through education, skills training, financial inclusion or social entrepreneurship. Special recognition was given to the best Financial Literacy/Livelihood proposal as well as the Most Creative Community Outreach project, both of which were awarded a US$10,000 grant.

in collaboration with

THE WINNERS OF PROJECT INSPIRE

GRAND PRIZE US$25,000 WINNER

Project: The Hapinoy ProgramTeam: Paolo Benigno Aquino IV

(right), Michelle Pabalan, Mark Ruiz (Philippines)

Who the project helps: Women micro-entrepreneurs in Southern

Luzon,Philippines

FINANCIAL LITERACY/LIVELIHOOD US$10,000 GRANT

WINNERProject: UPLift Initiative

Team: Mark Cox (left), Jennifer Jones, Nobel (Thailand)

Who the project helps: Oppressed Burmese women migrants and their

families in Thailand

MOST CREATIVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH US$10,000

GRANT WINNERProject: Painting the Road to Empowerment

Team: Madhura Dutta (left), Moyna Chitrakar, Imran Chitrakar (India)

Who the project helps: Women and girls in Chandipur Village, India

27

supported by

PARTNERSHIPS

PROJECT INSPIRE BY THE NUMBERS:

The three winning teams from Project Inspire 2011 have been working on implementing their winning ideas, improving the lives of more than 1,800 women and their family members in the Philippines, Thailand and India.

450 pitch proposal entries from youth representing 50 different countries from Africa to Asia to Middle East, the Americas & Pacific Islands

More than 50,000 supporters from 117 countries worldwide have visited the website

15,600+ views on the Project Inspire YouTube Channel

More than 2,000 Facebook users signed up as Project Inspire members, received milestone updates of the project and participated in the community dialogue on women empowerment

Front row L-R: Stephanie Woollard (Australia), Genevieve Radnan (Australia), Nadya Fadila (Indone-sia), Erika Saturay (Philippines), Paolo Aquino IV (Philippines), Mark Cox (USA), Odella Ofori (Ghana)Second row L-R: Gary Lee (Singapore), Madhura Dutta (India), Carne Tan (Singapore)

PARTNERSHIPS

PROJECT ENDEAVOURIn our mission to cultivate working partnerships with the private sector, The Singapore Committee of UN Women was proud to launch its signature project called Endeavour, in collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide, in July, last year.

Project Endeavour takes a group of socially-con-scious individuals on humanitarian journeys to learn first-hand about women’s social issues and the challenges they face. Participants visit local non-profits, attend inspirational talks with human rights experts, participate in field work and inter-act with local advocates on social issues.

Project Inspire’s maiden voyage to Cambodia took participants to the heart of Kampong Chhnang province in July 2011. We were proud to have a group of impassioned MasterCard employees as our pioneer batch of volunteers to partake in “Endeavour Cambodia”. These dedicated individuals took time off, both from their professional and personal lives, spreading the message of hope and the spirit of participation. Additionally, they had also decided among themselves to coordi-nate a collection of clothing items and toys to share with the Kampong Chhnang community.

On top of being taught how to weave bamboo products, delegates were given a chance to appreciate the history, craft and culture behind bamboo weaving. Another group of delegates helped by making the environment around the community hall a safer place to play and work for both children and adults, while another spent some time teaching children how to make arts and crafts.

The Singapore Committee for UN Women is grateful to have had a number of esteemed individuals grace our expedition as well. By lev-eraging on UN Women Cambodia’s extensive network, H.E. Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi (Minister of Women’s Affairs), Ms Bunchhit Veasna (Director for the Economic Development Department) and Ms Wenny Kusuma, (Country Director for UN Women Cambodia) enlightened the partici-pants with first-hand stories of the predicament of Cambodian women.

H.E. Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi expounded on the brutal plight of the women in Cambodia while elaborating further on the complexities behind the structural and cultural discrimination against women. H.E. also explained the measures that her department had taken to address the root causes and their accomplishments in this area.

Endeavour’s success is due to the contribution and dedication of our core partners, namely: MasterCard Worldwide, UN Women Cambodia, The Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia, The Women’s Development Centre in Kampong Chhnang, CCW and PDI.

“The MasterCard team which visited Kampung Channg was provided a wonderful experience,” says Georgette Tan, Group Head, Communica-tions, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide. “UN Women ensured that every aspect of the service trip was meticu-lously covered, and we’ve all been inspired to come back to spend more time with the Kam-pong Channg community.”

Should your organization be interested in experiencing “Endeavour” with the Singapore Committee for UN Women, please feel free to contact Mellisa Chong at mellisa.chong@unifem.org.sg.

29

IMPACT

30

OUR IMPACT SINCE 1999: A GEOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW

1. Singapore - 29,573 individuals helped to STOP/Sound Out Against Sex Traffick-ing last year

We have been providing public educa-tion on issues within our domain relevant in Singapore (e.g. a Day Off for foreign domestic workers, STOP/Sound Out Against Sex Trafficking, Help Anna/End Violence Against Women) as well as multi-stakeholder engagement (in busi-ness, government, media, other non-profits as well as secondary and tertiary academic institutions).

2. Timor Leste (2004) - Provided medical care

3. Aceh (2009) - Micro-loans established and facilitated women’s access to justice

4. Cambodia (2007) & 5. Nepal (2011) - Provided post-trafficking rehabilitation

2

3

4

5

6. Thailand (1999) - Educated women and girls regarding our focus areas in order to create attitude change

6

7. Vietnam (1998) - Provided girls access to educational and livelihood programmes

7

OUR PEOPLE

32

UN Women/Ryan Brown

UN Women/Ashutosh Negi

OUR PEOPLEPANEL OF ADVISORSAmbassador Prof. Tommy Koh, ex-officioAmbassador Prof. Chan Heng CheeDr Kanwaljit Soin, founding presidentDr Aline WongDr. Anamah TanProf. Koh Tai AnnDr. Jennifer Lee, ex-officioMs. Tisa Ng, ex-officioMs. Audrey ChinMs. Melissa Kwee, ex-officioMs. Claire Chiang

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEPresident: Ms Trina Liang-LinVice President: Ms. Claudine LimHonorary Secretary: Ms. Audrey HoTreasurer: Ms. Debra SoonMembers: Ms. Saleemah IsmailMs. Georgette TanMs. Sheela ParakkalMs. Jacqueline LohMs. Christina LiewMs. Sharon TanMs. Melissa Hyak

OFFICE STAFFExecutive Director: Pia BruceGeneral Manager: Mellisa ChongProgramme Managers: Camilla AdindamaulaniMrinalini Venkatachalam

TO OUR OVER 15,700 ACTIVE SUPPORTERS

Our supporters include: members, individual volunteers and donors, corporate sponsors and partners, along with their employees, our friends and followers on our social networking sites.

We are extremely grateful to you. You know who you are. This number grows each year, and we truly appreciate your participation.

INTERNSValentina AriasCatrina CortesYasmeen KassimLara Yim

PAST INTERNS & ASSOCIATESMarisse Reyes Sylvia KohSyafiqah OmarSara Shaaban

OUR CORPORATE PARTNERSA big thank you to our corporate partners who have been working closely with us on our projects. We hope to continue to strengthen our relationship with you: MasterCard, INSEAD, Club 21, The Body Shop, Santa Fe, Charles & Keith, and Capella Singapore.

FINANCIALS

34

UNIFEM ANNUAL REPORT 2011

Singapore Committee for UN Women Statement of Income and Expenditure For the year ended 31 December 2011

(in Singapore dollars) 2011

INCOME

Grants for programs and campaigns:Grant for STOP sex trafficking campaign 19,351Grant for Day off campaign 1,511Patron for regional UN Women projects 25,000Project Inspire 20,000The Endeavour series 25,000

Donations received 11,200Fund raising events 508,787Merchandize sales 99,695Membership income 10,627Sub-total 721,171

Interest income 281Other Income 2,477Sub-total 2,758Total income 723,929

EXPENDITURE

Program & campaign expensesSTOP sex trafficking campaign 27,312Day off campaign 304Patron for regional UN Women projects 30,186Project Inspire 18,658The Endeavour series 11,976Women and leadership (IWD) 1,500Other public education 3,003

Fundraising events expenses 143,124Merchandize costs 44,641Sub-total 280,704

Remittance to UNIFEM beneficiaries 127,219General expenses 270,354Sub-total 397,573

Total expenditures 678,277

Net income for 2011 45,652

Singapore Committee for UN Women Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2011

(in Singapore dollars) 2011

ASSETS

Non-current assets Property, plant, and equipment 5,797Total non-current assets 5,797

Current assets Cash on hand and bank balances 263,054 Fixed deposits with bank 55,940 Other receivables 72,253Total current assets 391,247

Total assets 2011 397,044

FUNDS AND LIABILITIES

Current liabilities Other payables 35,629Total liabilities 35,629

General fund 361,415

Total funds and liabilities 2011 397,044

BE INVOLVED

36

Find us on Facebook!Facebook.com/UNWomenSingapore

Follow us on Twitter!Twitter.com/UNWomenSG

It’s never too late to start effecting change! Be part of our network of helping hands and

together, we can make the world more just for our women and children.

Subscribe to our mailing list and receive updates at:

www.unwomen-nc.org.sg

Singapore Committee for UN Women2 Nassim RoadSingapore 258370Tel: (+65) 6238 6763Fax: (+65) 6238 6762E-mail: admin@unifem.org.sg