In 1978, a group of Women Leaders, led by Ms Caroline Lam of the Business & Professional Women's Association mooted the idea of an Umbrella Body to unite the many small women's organisations. 

On the 15th November 1978, a meeting of the Pro Tem committee took place and several names were considered, including, "Singapore Women's Federation" and Bureau of Women's Affairs.

On the 30th April 1979, at a meeting called by Mrs S.C. Tang, Executive Director of the Singapore Council of Social Service, the floor nominated a pro tem committee, comprising Mrs Julie Tan (Chairperson) Mrs Caroline Lam (Chairperson), Mrs. Anamah Tan, Mrs Seow Peck Leng, Mrs Maureen Tan, Mrs Mary Ho and Mrs Tan Bee Choo's Representative. The Constitution was drawn up by the committee which was then sent to twenty four women's organisations and the Registrar of Societies in October 1979. The name that was finally approved by the Registrar was "Singapore Council of Women's Organisations".

The constitution spells out the role SCWO will play as the national coordinating body for women's organisations in Singapore. SCWO's mission is to actively INFORM, ADVOCATE and EDUCATE and work towards the goal of advancing the status of women and being the voice for women in Singapore.

On the 6th February 1980, the First Executive Board was elected, headed by Ms Julie Tan as the first President of SCWO.

On 1st March 1980, Senior Minister of State for Education and Acting Minister for Social Affairs Dr. Ahmad Mattar officiated at the inauguration of SCWO.

Publications, studies, workshops and forums have formed an important part of the SCWO's activities right from the very beginning, and continue today.

1980–1990 The Initial Years

In the first decade, we embarked on a series of Forums, Conferences and Seminars to educate women on their rights, focusing on three key issues:

1) The Woman's Charter
2) Violence against Women
3) Women in the Workplace and Nation

Three Resource Books for women were published: 1) "Family Law and You" in Mandarin and English 2) "Men, Women and Violence" in English, Malay, Tamil and Mandarin and 3) "Report on Survey of Married Women in Public Housing".

SCWO's voice went beyond the shores with it being a part of the Asean Confederation of Women's Organisations (ACWO) and during the term 1988-1990, Dr. Anamah Tan, President of SCWO was appointed ACWO President. 

1991-1999 Rising of a Star

With women actively participating in the economy they were often faced with the burden of building a career and yet at the same time the sole responsibility of managing the household.  Our main focus then was to educate women on Work Life Harmony, and many of our activities revolved around this topic. 

The book "Voices & Choices" about women's contributions in society and different professions was launched by Mr Wee Kim Wee, President of the Republic of Singapore to highlight the role women play in today’s economy.

Recognising that gender stereotypes and roles are formed during the early years; SCWO made a submission to Dr. Tay Eng Soon, Senior Minister of State for Education – proposing a modification of the Home Economics Course conducted by MOE into a "Life Skills" course for Sec 1 & 2 students of both sexes. Subsequently, in 1994, Dr. Seet Ai Mee. Acting Minister for Community Development announced that schoolboys at lower secondary level be required to study Home Economics from 1994.

In 1996, SCWO worked closely with the police and other agencies to submit recommendations for the changes to the Women's Charter.  Amendments to the Women's Charter were passed giving more teeth to the laws against domestic violence, extending protection to members of the family other than the spouse and children as well as widening the definition of violence to include mental abuse.  It also made it easer for Victims to obtain personal protection orders (PPO's) and made the breach of such PPO's a sizeable offence, among other provisions.

In 1997, with the assistance of MCD and with the support of the Ministry of Finance, and the National Council of Social Service, SCWO obtained a 30-year lease on 96 Waterloo Street.  The Board led by Dr. Anamah Tan, then, worked very hard to raise the $1.8 million to build the Centre.  On 18th May 1997 a ground-breaking ceremony of the SCWO Centre was officiated by Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Minister of Community Development and Dr. Wee Kim Wee, Former President of the Republic of Singapore.  The Secretariat moved in on 9th Jan 99.

A Crisis Shelter was set up in 1999, and was called "Star Shelter" (a name suggested by Mr Ong Teng Cheong).  The Shelter provides temporary refuge for women and their children who are victims of family violence.

In September 1995, The Beijing Platform for Action, a world conference on women was held to eradicate discriminating against women.  SCWO participated in the conference and we chose three priorities to work on:

1) Economic Empowerment of Women
2) Stop Family Violence
3) Women and Health – Health & the Healthy Lifestyle.

2000 – 2010

In 2000, SCWO CENTRE officially opened by Mrs S.R. Nathan, Chief Patron of SCWO. The Bonny Hicks Education & Training Centre was also launched followed by the setting up of the IT Hub in 2001.

As an ageing population, particularly women, was an issue, SCWO together with Tsao Foundation and AWARE worked on several Public Forums on Women & Ageing and a Focus Group Discussion on Women & Ageing - Dialogue on Ageing.

The resulting AWARE/TSAO Report; "Beyond Youth: Women Growing Older and Poorer" was the catalyst to the formation of "WINGS" (Women's Initiative for Ageing Successfully) - a collaboration between SCWO and Tsao Foundation in 2006. WINGS was set up to empower older women to take personal responsibility for their health, wealth and happiness.

SCWO's work towards ending discrimination against women continued with her participation in CEDAW (Convention of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). Several closed door sessions with the Interministerial Committee and member organisations have been held throughout the years on the report and progress of the government in working in line with CEDAW to end discrimination towards women in Singapore.  SCWO presented CEDAW Shadow Report in 2007 at the 39th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women held at the UN Headquarters, New York, USA. 

Violence against Women continued to be on SCWO's agenda and in 2004, SCWO and AWARE participated in a nation wide Campaign "Help Stop Violence in the Home" an initiative of The BodyShop. The campaign raised awareness of violence in the home and empowered some women to take charge of their lives and live a life free from violence. The BodyShop donated a significant sum to start a "Rebuilding Lives" fund. The Fund assists residents of our shelter to rebuild their lives outside the shelter, with an interest free loan that can be repaid only when they can.

In 2006, SCWO installed the "Wall of Fame" to recognise women who have contributed to Singapore and the Women's Movement.  Mrs Shirin Fozdar, Mdm Chan Choy Siong, Mrs Elizabeth Choy, Mrs Seow Peck Leng, Hajjah Fatimah, Mrs Maria Dyer and Mrs Julie Tan were the first women to be installed on the Wall of Fame.

In 2005, to commemorate SCWO's 25th Anniversary, "HerStory" highlighting Women's contributions to Singapore.

In 2006, the "Women's Register" was initiated to provide an on-line database of women who would like to be appointed to leadership positions in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

SCWO continued to engage the government to improve the lives of women in Singapore not just during the CEDAW sessions but in Dialogues with Women Members of Parliament led by Minister of State for Finance and Transport Mrs Lim Hwee Hua in October 2006. 

In April 2008, Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports held a dialogue session with SCWO to understand pertinent issues affecting Singapore women including maternity leave.

Also in 2008, SCWO & CASE held a Beauty Forum to examine the ethical component of beauty and slimming advertisements and marketing, as attention to the way women should look was causing pressure among girls and women to fit into a mould.


In 2009, recognizing the need, we embarked on a study, proposal and forum to improve the system of enforcement of maintenance orders. The Taskforce examined the issue of how non-compliance of maintenance orders and the subsequent filing of enforcement of maintenance orders had impacted the lives of not only the complainant but also the lives of the children.

On the international level, SCWO hosted the Pan Pacific South East Asia Women's Association (PPSEAWA) 22nd International Conference. We also participated in the 10 Year Review of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), and was part of the organising committee of the 14th APEC WLN hosted by Singapore.

In 2009 SCWO started a Service Fund, which was granted IPC status, to encourage donors to support its programmes, and saw the birth of a new logo.

The Presidents (1980 – 2012)