We are very happy to
bring you details about the creation of the URI Women’s Initiative, a pilot
program initiated in March 2013.
In 2012, long-time URI
leader Elana Rozenman contacted us about formalizing a Women’s Initiative for
URI. To assess how this might work and the particular needs of CCs that focus
on uplifting the conditions of women and support the role of women in
peacebuilding, interviews were conducted with 19 Cooperation
Circles. These CCs recommended the creation of a women’s program to build
the capacity of women and girl-focused CCs, to advocate for women’s rights,
develop new opportunities for women’s economic empowerment and increase women’s
leadership in keeping with URI’s Principle 8: We practice equitable
participation of women and men in all aspects of the URI.
This year, 2013, the
Women’s Initiative will focus on India, Pakistan, the Middle East and North
Africa and the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and South Sudan). The following four
women were appointed to coordinate the work of the Women’s Initiative:
A resident of Kampala,
Uganda, Despina Namwembe is the URI Regional Coordinator for the
Great Lakes Sub Region of Africa. Many of the women Despina has talked with are
either living in conflict situations or are still grappling with post-conflict
challenges. These women have little access or control over basic resources such
as finances, education, and healthcare and land ownership and many are dealing
with the aftermath of sexual violence. While a number of URI’s women-focused
Cooperation Circles have taken steps to address these issues, they have so far
lacked the resources and opportunity to communicate with each other, share best
practices and create a synergy to ensure that their voices about social
injustices will be heard. Building such a platform is one of the primary goals
of the Great Lakes Women’s Initiative. To begin, Despina met with women’s
organizations in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo in May
2013 to hear their stories and develop a deeper understanding of their needs (for
the full report, click here.)This month she will be traveling to Kenya and
South Sudan and in the future she hopes to visit countries in South and West
Africa. Despina is also launching a mentorship program for girls to address the
growing rate of high school dropouts among girls and will work cross-regionally
to identify mentors.
Qutub Jehan
Kidwai, a resident of Mumbai, India, is URI’s coordinator for the west
zone of India. There, the rise of non-inclusive social, religious, political
and economic systems has led to violations of human rights, and women’s rights
in particular. The Women’s Initiative will address this problem by giving
greater visibility and urgency to women’s issues, offering women solidarity and
a united platform from which to bring about change. Qutub is inviting
representatives from women-led CCs in India to form a national network to
strengthen and galvanize the work of URI women in India. She plans to focus on
establishing programs for income generation. Additionally, she is working on
empowering women through a campaign to make them aware of their legal and
social rights, addressing the practice and impacts of girl/child killing and
building partnerships with groups on policy change at the government level. To
read an interview with Qutub, clickhere.
A resident of Amman,
Jordan, Nour is the Women’s Initiative’s newest coordinator. She recently
participated in a year-long leadership program of the Amman Human Rights
Studies Center and Finn Church Aid (FCA). She will apply the knowledge and
experience she gained to develop programs that address issues such as violence
against women, sexual harassment, women’s rights, gender equity and early
marriage in rural areas. For the first phase of the Women’s Initiative, CCs in
Jordan will focus their energy and resources on a long-term program that helps
impoverished divorced widows improve their economic circumstances. They will be
offered tools to build their self-confidence and start a small home business.
Nour will also be travelling to Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco
to meet with other Cooperation Circles that work with women to assess their
needs.
Sr. Sabina lives in
Faisalabad, Pakistan and has served as the coordinator of URI’s Women’s Desk in
Pakistan for the past five years where she has focused on uplifting the
conditions for women. Although women contribute in all spheres of life, their
civic engagement is very limited. The Women’s Desk works with women on issues
of illiteracy, poor health, and high rates of domestic and
religiously-motivated violence as some of the most pressing issues for
Pakistani women. Through the Women's Initiative, Sr. Sabina will expand upon
the work she does has done for many years - provide counseling to women,
lecture extensively about the importance of educating girls, expand her
vocational center and hire teachers to offer English language, computer and
sewing skills, giving them the potential to earn money. She is researching the
idea of conducting a women’s leadership program to give Pakistani women a
greater awareness of their worth and dignity, emphasize the importance of
education, and identify the legal rights available to support women.
We are grateful to
Elana and all those who participated in the interviews and to the Global
Council for their support of this important work. We will send periodic updates
on URI Women’s Initiative throughout the year. You are also welcome to follow
the progress and be inspired by the work of similar organizations on our
Facebook page - URI Women's Initiative.
Warmly,
Debra Bernstein,
Associate Executive Director
Michelle Clark,
Special Projects Manager
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