Biking for Women’s Rights: Donor Catherine Hardee

Next month, Catherine Hardee, a donor who found out about the Global Fund at our 20th anniversary gala last year, will embark on the Tour d’Afrique – a four month bike race that traverses the African continent from Cairo to Cape Town. Catherine will race a total of 7,500 miles, about 75 miles a day, ending her journey in in Cape Town on May 15th.  In her inspiring blog, Catherine notes that ‘”competing in the Tour d’Afrique is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  In addition to challenging myself to finish the race, I am also challenging myself to raise $2 for every mile I ride–a total of $15,000 for the Global Fund for Women.”  Read Catherine’s blog and also find out how you can support Catherine’s cause

Celebrating 30 Years of CEDAW: From San Francisco to Sao Paulo

Feminist Youth of Sao Paulo, a GFW grantee since 2005 working on a wide range of issues including youth advocacy of CEDAW

Today, San Francisco celebrates a decade of passing of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW. CEDAW has enabled women’s rights activists to hold their governments accountable since its inception 30 years ago at the UN. As noted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the need for an increased women’s role in creating a world of peace and equality is greater than ever.

To date 186 countries have ratified CEDAW. The U.S., Somalia, Sudan and Iran are among the few that have refused. Since the Beijing forum, CEDAW has served as a benchmark in the push for gendered human rights and advocacy with democratic and communist governments alike. CEDAW assumes additional importance as we approach the Beijing+15 forum in March next year.

For the Global Fund for Women, an organization based in one of those countries that haven’t ratified CEDAW, it is humbling to note that many of the groups we support explicitly work in promoting awareness on this invaluable tool – both among women and governments and transnational networks:

The Hmong Women’s Network of Thailand promotes awareness on CEDAW among the Hmong ethnic group of Chinese women in Chiang Mai. Feminist Youth of Sao Paulo, a young women’s group that we have supported since 2005 enables young women in Sao Paulo to be involved in pushing for CEDAW advocacy in Brazil.

On the 30th anniversary of CEDAW this month, we also heard from our Arab sisters – Karama, a GFW grantee in Egypt that organizes V-Day in Cairo and works to end violence against Egyptian women shared a press release about how they are commemorating CEDAW together with the League of Arab States and UNIFEM.

A way you can support women’s human rights globally is by supporting the Global Fund for Women as a holiday gift. And sign up for our e-bulletin so you can stay tuned of Beijing+15 updates from us in the New Year.

Women’s Voices: Drowned Out in the Climate Change Talks?

by Preeti Mangala Shekar

Climate change is profoundly affecting women, especially in many parts of the global south where natural resources like water, food and fuel are scarce. But the situation is dire on many islands, such as in Fiji, where many communities have evacuation plans because sea levels are rising at alarming rates. Last week, I interviewed Noelene Nabulivou with Women’s Action for Change, a grantee partner in Fiji that has been organizing on climate change in the Pacific. (Scroll to 40 mins)

Yet gender is one of the least prioritized views amid the volumes of blogs and organizing around the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen (COP15). The closest official analyses was the recent UNFPA report on how climate change will impact women; though its lens focused more on population impact with nominal feminist perspective.

But another heart-warming fact (pun unintended!) is that strong women are leading the protests at Copenhagen, like Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist who recently spoke at a summit protest. Some of the most interesting conversations in Copenhagen are indeed happening outside of the formal COP15 talks, such as the People’s Assembly on Climate Change. Civil society groups, including women’s groups, will vote to ratify a “People’s Protocol on Climate Change.”

Women, as caretakers of mother nature and growers of food, have sounded the alarm bells for decades. At the Global Fund, we’ve known for some time how women fare in the aftermath of environmental disasters, such as tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. We have been supporting women’s groups working on ecological sustainability, like the Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre in the Niger Delta whose “Make Gas Flares History” campaign has raised awareness of the lethal oil extraction practices. They’re also holding a local conference on climate change to parallel the governmental talks in Copenhagen. Also in Kenya, Thika is using its second grant from the Global Fund to train communities to implement rainwater harvesting, water management, and solar cooking technologies. And in the Pacific, women’s groups supported by the Global Fund have been leading local actions as part of the 350.org movement to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

We ignore women’s voices in this crucial debate at our peril!!

Other cool resources on Women and Climate Change:

Madre

WEDO’s resources on Climate Change

Read two recent GFW blog posts on Climate Change:
Climate Change And the Women’s Movement: Wise Lessons for the Future

Climate Change is a Women’s Rights Issue: Women in Fiji Organize!

Ragpickers comprising 85% women organize in Copenhagen

16 Days Campaign Spotlight: Zene na delu [Women at Work], Belgrade, Serbia

By Neida Lazo

More than 20 percent of women in Serbia – one in every five – is a victim of physical violence at some point during her lifetime. Women’s rights activists in Serbia have diligently campaigned for years to address this staggering statistic. Since 1991, when the first SOS women’s crisis hotline was established, women’s groups have helped to secure a 2002 law criminalizing domestic violence, which was revised three years later to secure better legal protections and options for women survivors of abuse. These changes in the legal treatment of gender-based violence has encouraged greater public awareness of the issue. As a result, increasing numbers of women have summoned the courage to report abusive acts. Read more

16 Days Campaign Spotlight: Ekasi Women’s Arts Ensemble, South Africa

I look at an ant and I see myself…endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit. I look at a stream and I see myself… flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth and, one day, disappear.”
—Miriam Makeba (1932-2008), South African singer, songwriter and civil rights activist also known as Mama Afrika

South Africa’s history of government-sanctioned oppression and brutality has fostered a climate of violence. Coupled with cultural norms and traditions that reinforce male dominance, violation of women’s rights to security and bodily integrity within their homes, in schools and within the wider society is commonplace.

Seeking change, young women in the sprawling township of Soweto in Johannesburg formed Ekasi Women’s Art Ensemble (Ekasi) in 2003 to address the threat of and lived violence that touch their lives daily. Read More

16 Days Campaign Spotlight: KAFA, Lebanon

On the occasion of the 16 Days Campaign, find out about a group from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, working to end violence against women.

Based in Beirut, Global Fund grantee partner KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation is a shining example of a feminist organization that addresses gender based violence at multiple levels. Using three key strategies of providing critical relief and support, raising consciousness/awareness, and promoting advocacy, KAFA consistently struggles to achieve its vision of a world free from violence and exploitation of women and children. KAFA was founded in 2005 by a group of committed activists and professionals with a long history of working on women’s rights in Lebanon.

KAFA fills a critical need for Lebanese women to access safe spaces and resources to resist domestic violence and abuse. Its workshops and seminars bring together a diverse constituency of social workers, specialist doctors, therapists, and others to provide vital resources and support for women and children to resist violence. KAFA operates a helpline and a ‘Listening and Counseling Center,’ which provides a wide-range of services: legal support and consultation, psycho-social support, safe shelter, court representation, and referral services. Read More

From Kawangware to Xi’an: Reflections On World AIDS Day

By Caitlin Stanton

In 2004 in Kawangware, Kenya, I met a woman, Mrs. Njeri, and her ten-year old daughter Emily. Mrs. Njeri had AIDS and Emily had dropped out of school to care for her mother. A community organization supported by the Global Fund for Women, Bridgeway Trust, had reached out to the struggling family. They helped Mrs. Njeri access medical treatment, housing, and counseling. They helped her to launch a small used-clothing stall, and enrolled Emily in a special counseling program they ran for kids whose parents have AIDS. When I met Mrs. Njeri that year, she was soft-spoken, and seemed overwhelmed by the challenges she faced, but thankful for the support she’d found at Bridgeway.

Unlike the vast majority of aid agencies operating in Nairobi, which base their headquarters in a “safe” part of the city or safely ensconced in a gated UN compound, Bridgeway Trust bases its one and only office directly in Kawangware, one of Nairobi’s poorest slums. This act of solidarity with the local community also promotes the leadership of community members within the organization and helps build trust­ – essential to Bridgeway’s successful work with HIV+ individuals.

In 2007, I was fortunate to visit Bridgeway again. I was amazed yet again to have the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Njeri. I was amazed, could this be the same woman? Now a respected leader in her community, she spoke passionately and confidently about the changes she had made in her life. She now runs a small self-help group for other HIV+ women and is a vocal advocate to end discrimination against those living with AIDS. She is a tailor and creates beautiful school uniforms for children affected by AIDS to wear to school. Her daughter Emily was enrolled in secondary school and was doing great. However, AIDS had taken its toll and as her spirit had grown and strengthened, her body had become quite frail. She told me that she knew she might not have so many years left, but that she wanted to live them to the fullest and to do all she could for her community in that time.

On November 17^th of this year, Funders Concerned About AIDS released its report US Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS in 2008. According to this report, the Global Fund for Women ranks among the top 10 supporters of work on HIV/AIDS internationally.

This same report highlights GFW’s long-time partnership with the Legal Aid Division of the Shaanxi Women’s Federation, a women-led initiative in Xi’an, China. Like Bridgeway, the hallmarks of Shaanxi’s success are in its solidarity and respect for the communities in which it works. After their own research predicted an explosion in both migration patterns and HIV infection rates in Shaanxi province, the Division listened to the community and reprioritized their efforts on HIV/AIDS awareness. This led them to undertake a range of HIV/AIDS prevention programs for migrant workers, including an innovative program to train labor recruiters, often the last “point of contact” for women from rural Shaanxi province migrating to factory jobs in China’s cities, to provide information to the women on safe sex and the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

December 1^st is World AIDS Day. On this day, we remember the approximately 2 million women, men, and children that lose their lives to AIDS each year and honor the courageous work being done around the world by groups like Bridgeway and the Legal Aid Division of the Shaanxi Women’s Federation, and by HIV positive individuals themselves, to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, research new treatments, advocate for access to healthcare, and support and care for those impacted by the disease.

Caitlin Stanton is part of the development team at the Global Fund for Women.

Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres [Peaceful Way of Women], Colombia

By Cassandra Sutherland

For five decades, guerrillas, paramilitaries, narco-traffickers and the government have waged armed conflict in Colombia. They have caused 40,000 deaths, tens of thousands of “disappearances,” and innumerable human rights violations. According to reports from women’s rights groups, every two days a Colombian woman dies from “political” causes and every two weeks another Colombian female falls victim to forced disappearance. All parties to the conflict have been reported for using rape and torture among their tools of war. Women have been forced to observe war crimes committed against their families and have been murdered, mutilated and sexually exploited. According to the UNDP, two-thirds of women in Colombia are survivors of either physical or allied forms of violence.

Members of Ruta Pacifica take to the streets to protest increasing acts of violence against women.

Women survivors further suffer due to widespread public attitudes that assign blame to victims, which is, tragically, a common practice surrounding gender-based violence. According to one gang rape survivor, “You have to keep quiet. If you talk, people say you asked for it.” For women survivors of violence, groups like Alianza Ruta Pacifica de Las Mujeres (Peaceful Way of Women) offer healing by restoring women’s dignity, raising survivors’ voices and working to ensure justice. Since 1996, Ruta Pacifica, a network of women’s groups from across Colombia, has addressed mounting and serious human rights abuses perpetrated upon women. Advocating non-violence, the group strengthens and unites women’s groups to promote humanitarian law and peacefully protest the continued violence and lawlessness.

In 1996, Ruta Pacifica gathered over 2000 women in the first nationwide, women-led nonviolent protest of the civil unrest. Women emerged from traumatized silence, marching together with signs that read, “Armed actors rape women to humiliate men,” exposing the convoluted strategy of terrorizing women as a deliberate tactic of war. Since this first march, Ruta Pacifica has fearlessly organized women countrywide to resist violence, annually commemorating the International Day to End Violence Against Women (November 25th). Their efforts earned them the 2001 New Millennium Peace Prize for Women from the UN Trust Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

A recent Global Fund grant supported Ruta Pacifica to lobby the government of Colombia to declare violence against women a humanitarian crisis as well as a serious human rights violation. Ruta Pacifica exemplifies the power of courageous, women-led social and peaceful resistance to prolonged political and social violence. Their success depends in part on the Global Fund’s ability to assure consistent funding for marginalized women’s groups and to unite women’s social justice movements so that, together, we might restore all girls’ and women’s rights to bodily integrity and security.

Cool Link:
Ruta Pacifica on YouTube

 

 

Author Cassandra Sutherland is a student at University of San Francisco and is an intern at the Global Fund for Women

Snapshots: How Rural Indian Women Are Carving Their Future

We are excited to announce a new donor travel program at the Global Fund for Women!  In partnership with Elevate Destinations, we plan to conduct two trips per year to visit grantee partners in countries around the world.  This November, we traveled with a  small group of donor partners on a pilot trip to the south of India.  Over the next couple weeks, we will be sharing first-person accounts from the staff and donor partners who went on the trip. Our first publicly announced trip will take place in the Spring of 2010 to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – details to come.  For more information, please contact Heather Masaki at hmasaki@globalfundforwomen.org.

By Crystal Haling

Streets of Plenty

Bangalore is unbelievable. People, people, people. Construction everywhere and perhaps destruction too. Everything is half torn down, or half built – hard to tell which. Cars, buses, rickshaws, cows and motorbikes. This place screams capitalistic progress. I’ve never imagined traffic like this. Day and night, all senses assaulted while walking in damp muggy air, definitely very Bladerunner. Modern meets ancient masala.

But early morning we board the bus for the Kolar District which is about 3 hours and 75 years away from Bangalore. I am excited to meet the women of Grameena Mahila Okkuta (or GMO as they call themselves). This women’s

Listening to stories

self-help organization,  has 8,500 members of more than 500 rural self-help groups in 240 villages in this extremely poor region of India. We are greeted at noon by a gorgeous group of women who have waited excitedly for our arrival since early morning.

It is impossible for a black woman visiting India not to notice skin color. Most of these women look like they could be relatives of mine. Dark, beautiful skin–impossible to tell their ages.

GMO’s membership is 83% Dalits (historically referred to as untouchables) and other minorities. Indian TV, street signs and ads have 0% images of these women.

This is not an aid organization; it’s a rights based advocacy group. They are fighting for their rights in their marriages, in their villages, in this country where progress often means ignoring communities where communal land ownership and ancient farming practices aren’t just quaint ideals, but mean the difference between starvation and sustenance

One woman told us of their lives before joining GMO “We were ruled by men. We were totally oppressed.” But not anymore. What they have achieved: more than 200 women now own land in their own names; they have become members of their local villages’ school, leadership and

sanitation committees; 3 of the women we met are local elected officials. These women are not literate. Married off sometime after age 12 or 13.

As these women stood and shared their stories, this villages’ first elected woman council member said, “I am illiterate but I perform well because I don’t take bribes. Thanks to GMO we have no fear to talk to anyone.”

Boys, and especially girls, are excited to show us their school in this little village.

What impresses me most, aside from their courage, is their deep analysis of why their villages are poor. Their primary issues are water and land rights, which they see as linked to women’s rights and human rights. Women as keepers of ancient culture and participants in defining progress.

Crystal Haling is a supporter of the Global Fund for Women who was part of the pilot donor trip to south India.

Bloggers Remember TEDIndia: The Good, the Bad and the Quirky

Guest Blog by Gaurav Mishra from Global Voices

When the legendary TED conference came down to India, Indian bloggers were understandably excited. In the run up to TEDIndia, a few Indian bloggers got together to interview TEDIndia fellows and Geetha Krishnan put together a compilation of the TEDIndia fellow interviews.

During the conference, the TED blog fed the excitement by posting session-wise roundups (session 1, session 2, session 3, session 4, session 5, session 6, session 7, session 8, session 9) and reactions to the most popular talks (Hans Rosling, Devdutt Pattanaik, Tony Hsieh, Scott Cook, Pranav Mistry, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Shukla Bose, Anil Gupta, Kavita Ramdas, Sunitha Krishnan, Sidi Goma, Ramachandra Budihal, Ananda Shankar Jayant, Kiran Sethi, Eve Ensler, His Holiness the Karmapa, Shashi Tharoor) and even did a roundup of reactions to the conference. Read More about what other guest bloggers felt about TED India.

Guest Blog by Gaurav Mishra, from Global Voices Online.