Have you taken the time to consider this year’s six short-listed resolutions? You only have until the end of January to make sure your voice is heard!
The November/December issue of WI Life contained summaries of each of the resolutions. In case you’ve misplaced your magazine in the frenzy of Christmas, here are some links to briefing notes to help you make your decision.
1. Alleviating loneliness
This meeting calls on every WI and the NFWI to work alongside health and social care providers and their local community to raise awareness of the causes and impacts of loneliness, thus ensuring better identification of lonely people in order to be able to offer them the appropriate assistance and support.
– You can access the full briefing notes for this resolution here.
– Click here to watch a Victoria Derbyshire report discussing the BBC documentary ‘The Age of Loneliness’ and featuring individuals who took part in the programme.
2. FGM: More Awareness for More Action
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in the UK for over 30 years and the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 made it illegal to aid, abet or procure the carrying out of FGM abroad. However, there have been no successful prosecutions of those involved. The NFWI calls on the government to improve efforts to measure and disclose the prevalence of FGM in the UK and to take further action to help secure more successful prosecutions of those involved in this abusive practice and thereby advance the health of women who have suffered or may be at risk of suffering FGM.
– You can access the full briefing notes for this resolution here.
– Click here to see an NHS video discussing FGM, including what it is, how to stop it and the scale of the issue in the UK.
3. Equal access for all who need specialised maternal mental health services
There is presently an acute shortage of quality specialised maternal mental health services, meaning that many vulnerable women, their babies, and families face a postcode lottery of perinatal mental health support. The NFWI calls on NHS commissioners to prioritise the development of specialised perinatal mental health support services so that pregnant and postnatal women, their babies, and families are able to access the support they need.
– You can access the full briefing notes for this resolution here.
– If you would like to learn more about post-partum illnesses and see how a mother and baby unit functions click here to watch the a clip fro the BBC documentary My Baby, Psychosis, and Me.
4. Provision of appropriate welfare and safe spaces for women and children in refugee camps
Millions of women and children are fleeing conflict and disaster around the world, finding themselves at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation in refugee camps. This meeting calls on all WI members and the NFWI to raise awareness of the risks facing women and children refugees and push for action to ensure they have access to safe places to eat and sleep, to get the care they need and space to learn and play.
– You can access the full briefing notes for this resolution here.
5. Supporting women’s refuges
Many women and children rely on refuges to escape violence and abusive relationships, but in recent years refuges have faced significant cuts to their services. The NFWI calls upon the Government to safeguard refuges and increase service provision in areas without adequate support.
– You can access the full briefing notes for this resolution here.
– Click here to watch a brief video depicting three survivors sharing their stories of domestic violence, and explaining how refuges saved their lives.
6. Plastic Soup: Keep microplastic fibres out of our oceans
Microplastic fibres are shed from synthetic clothing with every wash and are the main
contributors to microplastic contamination of the oceans. The NFWI calls on Government and industry to research and develop innovative solutions to this problem in order to stop the accumulation of microplastic fibres in our oceans.
– You can access the full briefing notes for this resolution here.
– Click here to see a video clip produced by The EU Mermaids Project which gives an overview of the microfibres problem.
Now all you have to do is print a copy of the 2017 Resolution Selection Form and fill it in to select the one you would most like to go forward for further discussion and final voting at the Annual Meeting in June 2017. Once your form is filled in, please post it to Chy Noweth (Chy Noweth an Conteth, Truro Business Park, Threemilestone, Truro TR4 9NH) to reach the office no later than 31 January.
For more information about any of the short-listed resolutions, see the NFWI website.