Brit named new head of the International Council of Jewish Women

A London osteopath has been inaugurated as the new president of the International Council of Jewish Women at the historic organisation’s quadrennial convention in Sydney, Australia.

Penelope Conway from Winchmore Hill in north London has been chosen to lead the ICJW for the next four years, voted in by colleagues from the UK, US, France, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Bosnia, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Canada, South Africa, Colombia and Cuba.

ICJW is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with consultative status at the United Nations and has affiliates in 35 countries around the world.

Conway, who was President of the British Osteopathic Association, has been involved in the UK affiliate since 1973.

She is the third British woman to lead the ICJW in its 100-year history and said her task over the next four years was to extend the organisation’s reach to include more Jewish women in Jewish communities around the world.

She said: “Among the issues that I hope to champion during my Presidency are women’s health concerns, particularly for older women; equality of educational opportunities; the inadequate representation of women in communal leadership roles; the on-going travesty of human trafficking; and the growing institutional anti-Semitism that we are witnessing throughout the world.”

She added: “I am looking forward to working with an international team of highly motivated women who want to make a difference on all of these issues.”