The Mothers' Union Today
As a global movement of women (and men), the Mothers' Union supports local churches with the prayers and activities of its branch members, local communities through social outreach projects and is an internatinoal campaigning charity. Particularly concerned with the plight of women in the world, its projects include literacy and development, parenting, micro finance and campaigning against violence against women and the trafficking of women. The Mothers' Union is part of Make Poverty History and the Jubilee Debt Coalition. Within the UK it has successfully lobbied government to introduce the Right to request flexible working for all parents, and internationally it speaks out on issues of gender equality through its representative status at the United Nations.
Of its 4 million, approximately 1.9 million Mothers' Union members are from Indian dioceses (from the formerly independent churchwomen's organisations of the Church of North India and the Church of South India, which affiliated with the Mothers' Union in 2001 and 2003 respectively). A further 1.3 million Mothers' Union members are in African dioceses, with the largest membership, 680,000, in Tanzania. Membership within the United Kingdom is around 93,000 and has seen rapid declines from 122,000 in 2003 and more than 222,000 in 1993.
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