THE Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), the umbrella body for women's groups here, celebrates its 30th anniversary with a gala dinner next Wednesday.

About 400 guests, including its patron, Mrs S R Nathan, will attend the celebration-cum-fund-raising event.

As part of the celebrations, two women will be inducted to its Wall of Fame, set up in 2005 to honour women who are pioneers in their fields and whose efforts have improved the lives of women here.

The council declined to identify the two latest inductees, but said their names will be announced at the dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel. Seven women had been honoured in previous years. They are:

• War heroine Elizabeth Choy, Singapore's first woman legislator nominated to the Legislative Council in 1951.

• Women's rights pioneer Shirin Fozdar, who initiated setting up the Syariah Court.

• Political activist Chan Choy Siong, who campaigned for the Women's Charter and was a People's Action Party MP from 1959 to 1970.

• Entrepreneur and philanthropist Hajjah Fatimah.

• Missionary Maria Dyer, who set up the Chinese Girls' School, which later became St Margaret's Secondary.

• Social activist Seow Peck Leng, who stood for the Singapore People's Alliance and was the only woman opposition member elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1959.

• SCWO founding member and first president Julie Tan.

The council, which serves as the coordinating body of women's groups and represents them on the national front, hopes the dinner will raise half the $500,000 it has targeted for a new service fund.

The fund will be used to finance its services to help women in need and promote women's rights, among other things. It will be launched at the dinner together with a commemorative journal.

Founded in March 1980, the council now counts 51 groups as members. These span various fields of interest, from business to sport.

The council is headed by president Ann Tan, 47, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and has an 11-member board.

It is represented on the committee that reviews Singapore's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - a United Nations international law agreement that Singapore signed in 1995.

The non-profit group also runs Star Shelter, which provides refuge for women and children who are victims of family violence.

Its other key initiatives include the IT Hub, which offers skills upgrading for women, and Maintenance Support Central, a planned drop-in centre to assist claimants in the enforcement of maintenance orders.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.