The next General Assembly of andante will take place in Strasbourg, France, from 15^th to 18^th April 2010. Just as at previous occasions, this Assembly will be composed of Study Days and a Statutory Assembly. The study part will focus on questions such as: ‘How does democracy work in our different countries? How can we, as andante, influence politics and achieve change? How can we undertake lobbying for values? How can we use the European institutions? How can we use our combined to be influential?’ etc.
Early November an invitation letter was sent to the secretariats and the presidents of andante’s member organisations.

For the invitation letter, click here, please.
For the job description/requirements for members of the Coordinating Committee, click here.

13^th to 17^th July 2009 in Hoddesdon, U.K.

Asked for her opinion on the Summer School, Christine Newman, recently elected President of the NBCW, said: “The conference was a great success. It attracted a considerable number of young women as well as those of more mature years and it was delightful to see women of all ages and nationalities working together to develop their media skills and awareness with such obvious enthusiasm and enjoyment”.
Marie-Louise van Wijk-van de Ven (NL), Chair of andante said: “andante recognises the importance of creating opportunities to bring women together from different cultures. We were able to develop our media skills creatively and to use the experience of some of our members in various media projects. The media world needs us and we look forward to making an impact”.

To the press release issued at the end of the Summer School

During the recent conflict in Gaza a group of Israeli and Palestinian women’s organisations were campaigning for peace in their countries. They were also asking for the inclusion of women in any peace negotiations which take place.
Andante sent them a message of support: “We, members of ANDANTE, European Alliance of Catholic Women's Organisations, wish to congratulate you on your statement which calls for peace. Women and children are the main victims of the violence which has been taking place. Women must and should be included in any peace negotiations which will take place.”

To the message of the Israeli and Palestinian women.

The Andante Co-ordinating Committee met on 8^th and 9^th November 2008 in Paris, where it was the first group to use the newly designed conference room of the Action Catholique des Femmes (ACF).
An important item on the agenda was an exchange of information on the Summer School due to take place in July 2009. As a member of the ‘Hardware Group’, Freda Lambert (UK) reported on the preparations so far. As the liaison person between the Co-ordinating Committee and the ‘Software Group’, Maria Raucinova (Slovakia) gave information on the proposed programme and on expert speakers who have shown an interest so far. The Co-ordinating Committee agreed to entrust the Summer School to the expert direction of Jim McDonnell (SIGNIS) and to assign persons to guide the workshops for the various languages. After completion of the curriculum at the Summer School, participants will be provided with a document/certificate specifying its content. Subsequently, they should take upon themselves the role of ‘cascaders’ within their own organisations. Invitations to participate in the Summer School will be sent by the end of November to the Andante member organisations as well as to interested individuals. Once again, the Co-ordinating Committee requests all member organisations most urgently to join in for the fundraising efforts for making the Summer School possible.