University Women’s Association of Delhi (UWAD)
The University Women's Association of Delhi (uwadelhi@2007@gmail.com) is a member of the Indian Federation of University Women's Associations (www.ifuwa.org.in) founded in 1920, which was affiliated to the International Federation of University Women now re-named as Graduate Women International (gwi@graduate women.org) in 1921.
IFUWA co-ordinates the activities of all the UWAs, across India in various States. Presently the Headquarter is in Kolkata, for a term of three years. extended through consensus.
The first University Women's Association was established in India in 1913, with branches in Bombay, Calcutta and Lahore and it was called the Association of British University Women in India. In 1915 the Bombay Presidency Women Graduates Union came into existence and is the oldest UWA in India.
GWI, the recently adopted name is an international NGO of more than 180,000 members. Its members comprise women university graduates from 81 countries around the world. It was founded in 1919 by Virginia Gildersleeve with Caroline Spurgeon, both from the United States, and Rose Sidgwick from Great Britain, after the First World War, to promote international understanding and peace. International Federation of University Women as it was known originally was amongst the first group of women's non- governmental organizations to be admitted to official consultative status UNESCO,ILO and other specialized agencies of the United Nations, in 1947.
UWAD was registered as a non-profit voluntary organization on 11 March, 1950. The founder members of UWAD were eminent women who had distinguished themselves in education and public life. The first President of UWAD was Dr Bina Chatterjee, then Assistant Educational Advisor to the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The Principals of Indraprastha College, Lady Irwin College and Miranda House of the University of Delhi have been past presidents strengthening the Association under their leadership. From its inception in 1950, the aim of UWAD has been the upliftment of women in all spheres of life through education and empowerment.