The World Young Women’s Christian Association (World YWCA ) is a global network of women leading social and economic change in 125 countries worldwide. It advocates for peace, justice, health, human dignity, freedom and environment, and has been at the forefront of raising the status of women since its foundation in 1894 with the motto ‘By Love Serve One Another’.
YWCA of Ernakulam started on 26th October 1926; Mrs. Varghese of Cochin brought together a group of caring and conscientious women for a prayer meeting. The purpose was to find proper accommodation for students and working women in the city. Soon after, the YWCA Hostel was born, in a rented house, with five students as residents. The participants probably did not even suspect how epoch-making this little get- together was. It has planted the first seeds of a great social movement that later came to be known as ‘YWCA of Ernakulam’.