By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, April 25: One of the largest grassroots Tibetan non-governmental organisation in exile, Tibetan Women’s Association elected Tsering Dolma as its new President yesterday on the last day of its 14th General Assembly held here. The cadres of the all women organisation also elected Tenzin Nyima as the new General Secretary for the next three years.
More than 180 members of 37 branches took part in the week-long meeting from 19 to 24 April. According to Tibetan Women’s Association, it boasts 57 branches and more than 16,000 members worldwide.
Addressing the media, the new President Tsering Dolma conveyed, “The Tibetan Women’s Association is dedicated to advancing women’s empowerment within Tibetan communities and aiding the underprivileged. Our primary goal is to put the spotlight on the international platform the plight of Tibetans enduring Chinese occupation atrocities within Tibet.”
Dolma worked as a teacher at Lekshedh-Tsal school in Pokhara, Nepal for more than a decade before joining TWA as a Joint Secretary. She is the founding member of Regional TWA in Jampaling, Nepal and has worked with the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress as an Executive Member. In 2012, she was elected to be the Executive Member of Central TWA from 2012-2015, 2015-2018 and then Vice president from 2021 to 2024.
Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) is one of the earliest and largest grassroots non-governmental organisations of Tibetans in exile. It was originally founded on March 12, 1959, and was established the day after Women’s Uprising Day, when thousands of women protested outside the Potala Palace against the Chinese occupation. Later, hundreds of these women were arrested and brutally tortured and beaten by Chinese troops.
It was re-established in exile under the consideration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 10 September 1984.
