The International Women’s Club has been in existence for many years and has brought together women who are in Belgrade temporarily, either as members of the diplomatic community or for business reasons, and a number of local women who may have spent many years living abroad and have come back to live in Serbia and wish to keep those international connections.
The International Women’s Club is about the need to respect diversity through co-operation and peace and harmony and to promote tolerance among people from all nations. I, as an Irish woman, have lived in Serbia for over thirty years but I joined the Club ten years ago. I felt it was a great opportunity to meet interesting women from many other countries and to learn about their cultures and traditions. The Club provides a really wonderful atmosphere of friendliness and also the opportunity to assist vulnerable people who may be in need.
The Club also carries out various fund raining activities culminating in the IWC Bazaar which is held every December with the participation of Embassies, their staff and many volunteers. It is a great opportunity for countries to promote their culture, cuisine, dance and music.
Each country can have a stand and sell products from their respective countries and the public looks forward to this prestigious event every year. The funds raised to provide assistance to those in need and projects can vary from assisting the elderly, children in care, children with special needs, raising awareness of early diagnoses of cancer among women, and gender equality. I, as the president, feel proud to be able to promote women’s interests and to provide a forum where women feel comfortable to meet each other, enjoy themselves and also discuss many issues in a friendly and tolerant atmosphere.
The Club provides a wonderful atmosphere of friendliness and also the opportunity to assist vulnerable people who may be in need
For the last fifteen years I have represented my own country as the Honorary Irish Consul and in that time have strived to create stronger ties between our two countries both economically and culturally. We have just recently celebrated the Irish National Day, St Patrick’s Day where we held the sixth Belgrade Irish Festival and it was another resounding success. It is an opportunity to promote Irish arts globally and we had the pleasure to host Mundy, one of Ireland’s leading musicians. This year’s theme gave us an opportunity to celebrate 100 years of the end of the Great War and provided many interesting lectures on this subject from both local and Irish speakers on “The Forgotten Front, Ireland, Serbia and the Salonika Campaign”.
For all of us who cannot be in Ireland for 17th March, the world turns green from the Great Wall of China, the Sydney Opera House, the Niagara Falls, The Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gate bridge and for the past few years, the Global Greening takes place in Belgrade. With the assistance of the City, many icons of Belgrade go viral around the Globe putting Belgrade on the map of interesting places to visit. We look forward to the future and providing many more opportunities to experience Irish Culture.