International Women Leaders gather in Budapest

170 women of Soroptimist International of Europe (SIE) will gather in Budapest from 13th to 15th July for their Annual Governors’ Meeting. They belong to the world’s largest women’s service-organization with 90.000 women in 126 countries working in different professions.

The meeting will take place in the Grand Hotel Palace (Corinthia Hotel). It is the German President of SIE, Kathy Kaaf, who has chosen Budapest for historic reasons. “It was the Hungarians who opened the fence in Sopron in 1989 and let the East-Germans flee to Austria. This was the beginning of the fall of the Wall in Berlin”, says Kathy Kaaf and stresses how grateful she is towards the Hungarian people.

As a global network of their members, Soroptimists are committed to improving the living conditions of women and girls. The Soroptimist club in Budapest is happy to welcome Soroptimists from 58 countries to this meeting. The club had already existed before World War II and now consists of 21 members. It was re-chartered in 1991 with more than 400 Soroptimists from all over the world coming to Budapest for this event.

The President of Soroptimist Club Budapest is Erzsébet Varsányi. The club has been highly involved in providing aid for the victims of the Red Toxic Sludge disaster in Devecser. With the help of Soroptimists from all over Europe they contributed to building a music school and cultural center in Devecser.

Besides heavy work during the Governors’ meeting the group of Soroptimists will enjoy their gala dinner at the Gundel’s with music by eight young Hungarian musicians playing tango, czardas, and walz.