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Thank you to everyone who joined us this Mother's Day to put their principles into action!
We sold Mother's Day baskets filled with gifts from our sister organizations and alternative gifts like a month's supply of prenatal vitamins for pregnant women. Many of you honored the special women in your life with a donation that supports our life-saving work with our sister organizations worldwide and that brings your values to life.
The support we raised will help women worldwide as they fight to demand their rights, protect their communities and create a future free of violence and discrimination. We are so proud to partner with our sister organizations in building a better future for all--and it wouldn't be possible without you.
Thank you!
Every day here at MADRE, we hear incredible stories of the commitment of women and girls to build better lives for themselves, for their families and for communities worldwide. We hear them from our sister organizations, and we hear them from the many MADRE supporters – like you – who make our work possible.
On this Mother’s Day, I have to share one story with you, about a six-year-old girl named Mora. We recently heard from her mother Violeta, a longtime MADRE supporter, who shared with us an example of how our commitment to change the world is passed down through the generations.
Mora had learned about the devastation triggered by the earthquake in Haiti and about the dangerous conditions that girls like her and their families were forced to confront. Like her mother, she was determined to show her support.
She took a cardboard box and placed it near the door of her home. With small strips of blue tape, she attached a label that said “Put money for Haiti. Thank you. Plese do it for Haiti.” When people entered, she insisted that they contribute, and she sent the money that she raised to MADRE to help support our work with Haitian women and families.
Thank you, Mora! And thank you, Violeta, for all of your support and for telling us about your incredible daughter!
You can get involved, too! Follow Mora’s example and start your own collection drive for MADRE’s Helping Hands program today.
This past March, some 300 Indigenous women from Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela took part in the 6th Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Americas (ECMIA). To reflect on the meeting, the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) spoke to two participants, Cecilia Velasque and Tania Pariona Tarqui, about the importance of meetings like this in their ability to strengthen women's leadership and increase communication amongst Indigenous women in grassroots organizations.
Indigenous women in the Americas face higher incidences of illiteracy, a lack of culturally appropriate health services, exclusion from decision-making spaces, inequity and lack of opportunities to participate in political and economic processes, as well as a lack of access and control over land. Despite the fact that Indigenous Peoples account for a large percentage of the population of the region, few laws serve to bolster or protect Indigenous rights, and they are largely ignored or excluded by the decision-making politicians. Furthermore, while across the region there has been an increase in laws in favor of women, these laws fail to address issues specific to Indigenous women, like those mentioned above.
However, Indigenous women are organizing to strengthen their rights. As Velasque stressed, "In recent years efforts have been made by women themselves to present proposals. Street actions, sit-ins and demonstrations have been organized to achieve, among others, quota laws, the Free Maternity and Childhood Care Law (Ecuador) and culturally appropriate birth care." Tania Pariona Tarqui also reflected on the use of international efforts, like the Beijing Platform for Action, in bolstering Indigenous women's rights in the region.
To read AWID's full coverage of the ECIMA meeting, click here. To learn about MADRE's work with Indigenous women in the Americas, read about our partnerships with Muixil in Guatemala, Wangki Tangni and CADPI in Nicaragua, K'inal Antzetik in Mexico, CHIRAPAQ in Peru, and the International Indigenous Women's Forum.
Happy International Midwives Day!
In communities around the world, midwives provide crucial care to women and help to ensure that all mothers are guaranteed the right to a safe birth. At MADRE, we have been proud to partner with Midwives for Peace, a grassroots group of Palestinian and Israeli midwives who have joined together to promote peace and women's health.
In honor of this day, MADRE also received the statement below from the organization Circle of Health International (COHI). COHI works around the globe to provide quality reproductive, maternal and infant care to women in crisis settings. After the earthquake in Haiti, MADRE supported COHI's work to provide urgent care to pregnant displaced Haitian women. In their statement, they tell the story of two Haitian midwives:
COHI would like to take this moment to thank ALL of the midwives we've worked with over the years. We have worked with some of the strongest, most compassionate, most dedicated, and most talented midwives in these past seven years, and we wish each and every one of you the greatest success with your calling. On this special day, COHI wants to highlight our two midwives working in Fond Parisien, Haiti.
I am constantly amazed at the dedication and determination of our two Haitian midwives - Ms. Lapaix and Ms. Michele. These two ladies work tirelessly to ensure the women living in and around Fond Parisien have 24/7 access to quality reproductive, maternal, and newborn care. During my last trip, I watched as they joyfully handed a healthy newborn to its mother, while at the same time comforting and mourning with a mother who had just lost her child. While this situation is not the norm, it does highlight the need for continued community outreach and education, as this labor complication could have been identified and possibly prevented if the mother had come to the clinic earlier. It is the dedication of these two women that has made COHI's Haiti program as successful as it is - both in providing direct patient care and also in community education and outreach. I am honored to work with both of these amazing women, and each time I return home I realize I've left a piece of my heart with them in Haiti. Mesi anpil!!!
Rachel Bedenbaugh, Haiti Program Manager
For more information on COHI and their inspirational work, visit their website here.
Thank you so much to everyone who voted for MADRE in the Gender Justice Awards! We were nominated for our international advocacy to combat sexual violence in Haiti’s displacement camps. The voting ended last week, and we will let you know when we find out the results.
Our work to end the epidemic of sexual violence in the displacement camps continues. I am in Haiti this week, working with our partners at KOFAVIV to advance this effort. Here is a little background on this campaign and some information about where we go from here.
At the beginning of the year, we announced a landmark decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to grant a petition submitted by MADRE and our partners in October 2010. The Commission’s decision set legally binding obligations on the Haitian government to address sexual violence in the camps. We need to make sure that such important decisions don’t remain obscured by legal jargon that makes it hard to understand what all this really means for the women of Haiti.
Here is a Q & A to clarify a few key components about the petition, the Commission’s decision, and its significance:
1. What is the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights?
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is a human rights body dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights within the Americas.
2. What does the Commission do?
Among other responsibilities, part of the Commission’s duties is to analyze and investigate petitions presented to the agency that attest that human rights violations were committed by a State, or that a State failed to act in the prevention of a human rights violation.
3. What is the petition for precautionary measures?
In October 2010, MADRE and a group of attorneys and advocates submitted a petition to the Commission that called on them to require that the government of Haiti and the international community take immediate action to prevent sexual violence in Haiti’s displacement camps. The petition was submitted on behalf of 13 women and girls, but it called urgent attention to the threats facing all women and girls living in the camps. In January 2011, the Commission granted the request! It issued a set of legally binding obligations to the Haitian government to address the epidemic of sexual violence.
The Commission called for these concrete steps:
1. Ensure medical and psychological care to rape survivors;
2. Install lighting and implement effective security measures in 22 displacement camps;
3. Ensure that public officials are trained to respond appropriately to incidents of sexual violence;
4. Create special units within law enforcement to investigate violence against women and girls; and
5. Guarantee access for grassroots women’s groups in planning and policy-making to address sexual violence.
4. What is so significant about the Commission’s decision?
The Commission’s decision obligates the Haitian government and the international community to take seriously the threat of sexual violence against women and to take concrete steps to end this crisis.
The Commission enacted other landmark moves. In past decisions by the Commission, governments were only held responsible for rape committed by state actors, yet the Commission expanded on this precedent. It held the Haitian government responsible for violations committed by private individuals.
Furthermore, while the petition was submitted specifically on behalf of Haitian women and girls living in 22 displacement camps, it also made explicit reference to the severe human rights violations impacting Haitian women and girls in all displacement camps who had experienced or were under threat of sexual violence.
A legal precedent has been set, bolstering the recognition of the right to be free from sexual violence. For communities under siege around the world, this decision has created new possibilities to demand attention and legal protection.
5. What’s next?
Now we need to take the Commission’s decision and use it to build real protections for Haitian women and girls. MADRE is working with our sister organization in Haiti, KOFAVIV, and organization founded by and for rape survivors. Strategizing together, we are working with government representatives and international agencies to create a plan to implement the five steps listed above.
Find out more about KOFAVIV and MADRE’s work in Haiti by clicking here.
Last week, I visited the organization Women for Afghan Women to meet Bibi Aisha. Bibi is a 20-year old Afghan woman, who was married off at the age of 12 to an abusive Taliban fighter. MADRE first told Bibi's story in May of 2010, as one of several Afghan women whose stories tell of terrible brutality...but also of survival. Bibi was one of the women for whom MADRE activated our Afghan Women's Survival Fund to help her receive emergency shelter.
Today, Bibi is in the United States, working with Women for Afghan Women, learning English and making plans to start her own small business to generate income.
We had heard that Bibi excels at making bead jewelry. We also know that she loves to sew. With materials donated to MADRE’s Helping Hands program, I brought Bibi fabric, spools of thread, and beads. Bibi’s face immediately lit up when I handed her the gifts. It was wonderful to see what a powerful impact our Helping Hands program makes in the lives of the women we reach.
Thank you to our donors, who make this extremely valuable work possible.
Bibi Aisha is an amazingly courageous and resilient woman. She is an inspiration for women worldwide, and we wish her a speedy recovery and the best of health.
Want to give the women in your life a truly special Mother's Day gift this year? Purchase an alternative gift through MADRE, or make a donation in honor of someone special. Today is the last day to place your order and ensure that the gift is delivered by Mother's Day!
Click on the links below to purchase an alternative gift, or click here to donate.
One-Month Supply of Prenatal Supplements
Safe Birthing Kit for a Palestinian Midwife
This morning, when my family heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, my 10-year-old son immediately asked, "So are all the US soldiers going to leave Afghanistan now?" If that logic is clear to a fourth grader, it should certainly be the primary question of the peace movement today.
Now that Obama’s main rationale for waging war in Pakistan and Afghanistan is gone, what does he propose? And what should be the demands of the peace movement for finally ending this war in a way that holds the US accountable to the devastation it has caused and that maximizes human rights guarantees for Afghans, particularly women?
Nearly ten years ago, after the attacks of September 11, MADRE released this statement, calling for justice not vengeance and committing to continue to play a leadership role in creating a progressive response to the crisis. That commitment continues to guide us.
Interested in getting the special woman in your life a Mother's Day gift that is more than just your standard flowers? Honor her, and all women, with a donation to MADRE. When you donate to MADRE for Mother's Day, your donation goes towards enhancing women's rights around the globe - by combating violence, protecting women's health, promoting economic and environmental justice and building peace by equipping women to become leaders in their communities. So this Mother's Day, give a gift that won't be forgotten, and secure a better future for women and girls worldwide.
Click here to donate.
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