WIZO was founded
in Great Britain in 1920. The founders of WIZO,
Rebecca Sieff, Dr. Vera Weizmann, Edith Eder, Romana
Goodman and Henrietta Irwell, established Wizo to
serve the needs of women and children in Israel.
Between 1921 to 1933, WIZO focused on developing its work in Palestine and
in the Diaspora. From 1933 and during World
War II we witnessed the annihilation of Jewish
communities in Europe and the dissolution of WIZO
Federations in countries under the Nazi scourge.
This was also the era when 19 new Latin American
WIZO Federations were created. The post war period
was one of resuscitation of WIZO Federations and
groups in Europe.
In 1949, following the establishment of the State
of Israel, the WIZO Head Office was transferred
from London to Israel and Rebecca Sieff was elected
1st President of the World WIZO Movement. She
served as President till 1966. She was followed
by Rosa Ginossar who was elected Chairman of the
World WIZO Executive in 1951 and then President
in 1966. In 1970, Raya Jaglom was elected President
and served in this capacity till 1996. During
her term of office, WIZO was established in the
U.S. in 1982. During this period, WIZO was recognized
by the United Nations as an N.G.O. with consultative
status with Ecosoc and Unicef.
In 1996, Michal Modai was elected President of
World WIZO and today Helena Glaser serves as World
President. Tova Ben Dov is the current Chairman
of World Wizo.
In these 85 years since its establishment WIZO
has created a social welfare network of over 800
institutions that cover the needs of the people
of Israel.
