1970:International Board in Torhout (Belgium): "Women's Education". WUCWO objectives: Promotion of Women. Involvement for a more just society and for a greater participation in the Church.
For this a worldwide programme of education for 4 years, openness to work with others and intensification of work in the regions. There were 17 organisations in Africa, 13 in North America, 29 in South America, 13 in Asia Pacific, 54 in Europe and 4 International. It was also the beginning of regional conferences.
1971 : Pilar Bellosillo is one of the four women (two of whom are religious) invited by the Holy See to the Bishops Synod.
1974 : International Board in Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania): "WUCWO, an agent for change for a more just society". Evaluation, a four years programme. Two options: 1) as regards women (ecumenical if possible) the improvement of spiritual, human and social life. 2) as regards justice, a programme of education for justice and development. Elisabeth Lovatt-Dolan (Ireland) was elected President. About 150 participants.
1975 : International Year of the Woman. First World Conference on Women in Mexico City. Proclamation of the Decade for Women.
1976 : International Study Days at Maria Laach (Germany). Forty six organisations from the five continents took part in this meeting between those held in Dar es-Salaam and Bangalore.
1977 : A Latin American officer wanted to stress the regional dimension as against the international. She caused a large number of organisations in her region to break off, thus depriving them of the support of an organisation like WUCWO to make their opinions known with those of other catholic women in the world.
Following a statement released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith on the admission of women to the priesthood, the WUCWO Board wrote a note which stressed their " desire to maintain dialogue on ministries without being opposed to the hierarchy."
1978 : Elisabeth Lovatt-Dolan, President, spoke in New York during the U.N. Commission on Disarmament.
1979 : General Assembly in Bangalore (India): "Women, Justice, Evangelisation". Elisabeth Lovatt-Dolan was re-elected President. About 160 participants. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was present and spoke.
1980 : Presence at the Second World Conference on Women, which celebrated the mid-point of the Decade of Women in Copenhagen (Denmark).
1983 : General Assembly in Antigonish (Canada): "Woman: Identity - development - new community". Priorities adopted: Spiritual formation; Women and the Church; Education for family life; Sharing decision-making; Justice-Human rights-Peace; Women and work. Eleanor E. Aitken was elected president.
1985 : Celebration of the 75th anniversary in Cologne (Germany). Participation in the Conference for Women, Nairobi (Kenya). In the aforementioned issue of the Newsletter , the President Eleanor E.Aitken mentioned the growing attention paid to our representatives: Alba Zizzamia is president of the CONGO (Conference of NGOs at ECOSOC) and Solange des Gachons Vice-president of the Committee for Continuity of NGOs at UNESCO. In the same issue, Pilar Bellosillo contributes: "In this moment of history, marked by the awakening of feminine awareness in the world, this is the beginning of our liberation. We must encourage and help the "release" from secular oppression. We must "free" the rich potential in each of us. Throughout the whole world, we must give ourselves in the service of this tremendous task of humanising. And for that.what providential opportunities WUCWO gives us !!. We are made in the image of God, together with man.We have the same dignity.Motherhood is just one part of the whole great vocation of women: to realise ourselves fully as human beings."
1987 : General Assembly in Roehampton (England): "Advancement of women - Enrichment for all". About 400 participants. Priorities chosen: Respect for the dignity of the human person; Formation of networks. Commissions: Family; Ecumenism; Development and Cooperation; Human Rights; International. Working groups: Bioethics; Women in the Church. Marie-Thérèse van Heteren-Hogenhuis (The Netherlands) elected President.
1991 : General Assembly in Guadalajara (Mexico): "Women and life: Vision - Reality-Action". About 450 participants. WUCWO priorities: Aids; Violence against women and children, including pornography; Preferential option for the poor; Environment. Marie-Thérèse van Heteren-Hogenhuis re-elected President.
1994 : Presence at the World Conference on Population and Environment in Cairo (Egypt). On this occasion the WUCWO Board made a declaration on WUCWO's position with regard to population and environment in the world.
Synod of African Bishops in Rome. Three African WUCWO Board members were invited and two were called on to speak.
1995 : Presence at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen (Denmark). WUCWO took an important part in the World Conference on Women in Beijing (P.R. of China) as well as in the NGO Forum at Huairou which preceded it. Four WUCWO women, of whom three were Board members, also took part in the official delegations of their country. Another Board member from Nigeria, was part of the official delegation from the Holy See.
The title of the Conference was: Equality, Development, Peace. During the previous Board meeting, declarations had been prepared on all our priorities, and these were widely distributed in Beijing.
1996 : General Assembly of Canberra (Australia): "I made all things new (App.21.5): Women, Reconciliation and Hope". About 700 participants. Priorities voted: Elimination of violence against women; Women and health; Women and decision-making. Maria Eugenia Díaz de Pfennich elected President.
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