The committee, which was formally established in name during the ISI Beijing Session in August 1995, held its first meetings during the ISI Session in Istanbul, Turkey, in August 1997.

Initially, what had motivated the establishing of such a committee was concern among the ISI leadership over low female representation in the ISI and its Sections. The committee's Terms of Reference, which reflect this concern and deal with a number of factors closely related to it, are:-

1. To promote and strengthen the representation of women statisticians in the ISI and its Sections.
   
   
2. To help in providing opportunities for women members to assume active and visible roles in the ISI and other statistical associations.
   
   
3. To collect information on women in the statistical professions in different countries and to facilitate the flow of information among women statisticians.
   
   
4. To stimulate interest in Statistics among women and encourage women in schools and colleges to study Statistics.
   
   
5. To support the compilation of statistics on women, with a view to generating relevant studies concerning women's roles in the various activities in their countries.