About us

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Just as we can hear without listening, we can also see without looking. An Observatory, instead, relies on an attentive gaze that pauses before what it sees and hears deepening into that reality, as if focusing on the eyes of the person in front of it.

The World Women's Observatory (WWO) was created in 2021 by the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations (WUCWO) to give visibility to women, especially the most vulnerable who seem "invisible", in order to inspire and generate changes that favour their integral development.

With the motto "Listening to transform lives", in our projects we listen to women from different cultures, religions and regions of the world, and we encourage dialogue and disseminate their experiences.

GOAL

The goal of the WWO is to give visibility to women, especially the most vulnerable, who seem
“invisible”, both in terms of their suffering and their potential, in order to inspire and generate:

pastoral strategies on the part of the Church,
synergies on the part of civil society NGOs, public
policies on the part of States and
contributions to the international agenda,

which favour the integral human development of women and that of their families, communities and peoples.

WWO SEEKS TO

Eradicate all forms of violence and discrimination against women in order to establish equal rights for men and women in practice;

Apply and promote the principle of solidarity and the cultivation of community ties where the role of women is highlighted;

Generate a culture of care, in which female leadership is historically notorious, as a new form of exercising citizenship.

"Allow women to

have a real and effective impact on the organization, the most important decisions and the direction of communities, while continuing to do so in a way that reflects their womanhood”.

Pope Francis (QA 103)

WE HOPE WITH FAITH THAT:

Country leaders and responsible of international organisations;
media as well as social networks leaders;
leaders and members of civil society organisations;
Presidents of Episcopal Commissions, Bishops of our dioceses, our pastors and every member of the People of God and all persons of good will

find their sphere of action and responsibility to join forces and generate synergies that will allow us women too to develop fully and to exercise our co-responsibility with competence, creativity and resilience.

“The claims of the legitimate rights of women, based on the firm conviction that men and

women have the same dignity, raise profound questions for the Church, whcih challenge

her and that cannot be superficially evaded”.

Pope Francis

The World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations (WUCWO), founded in 1910, is an international organisation that was recognised in 2006 by the Holy See as a Public International Association of the Faithful. It unites the action of 100 Catholic women’s organisations around the world and mixed organisations represented by women. It represents more than 8 million women.

WUCWO is divided into 5 world regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the
Caribbean and North America. It has international representatives at the United Nations (New York and Geneva), UNESCO in Paris, FAO in Rome and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

The Statutes of WUCWO as well as the candidates for the General Presidency and the Ecclesiastical Assistant are approved by the Holy See, through the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

To fulfil its mission, WUCWO:

Promotes the training of women to respond to contemporary challenges.
Promotes awareness and respect for cultural diversity.
Works for the respect of human rights, especially those of women, starting with the fundamental right to life.
Seeks the protection of families, especially their most vulnerable members.
Promotes care for the environment and a healthy planet.
Networks with other international organisations and faith communities.
Represents member organisations before international bodies.
Promotes ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.

Its aim is: “to promote the presence, participation, and co-responsibility of Catholic women in the Church and society in order to enable them to fulfill their mission of evangelisation and to work for human development”.