myMADRE

Building an Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women (Video Interview)

In the years since the invasion of Iraq, and as the US lent support to fundamentalist political forces keen on undoing women’s rights, women have been increasingly targeted with violence and death threats.  Together, MADRE and the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) founded the Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women, a network of women’s shelters established to create an escape route for women fleeing violence.

In the video below, MADRE Policy and Communications Director Yifat Susskind and Director of OWFI Yanar Mohammed were interviewed about the Underground Railroad and about the prospects for Iraqi women with the new US Administration.  The interview was featured on GRITtv, hosted by MADRE board member Laura Flanders.

Thank You for Making the Oral Hygiene Campaign a Success!

Thank you so much to everyone who supported the Helping Hands Oral Hygiene Campaign.  It was a great success! The Women Workers’ Committee in Barcenas, Guatemala, was able to conduct a health fair about smart oral hygiene techniques using the materials sent by Helping Hands.  Each participant went home with a bag of toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and some sugar free candy for fun.  There even were toy teeth children could decorate to make the health fair more hands on and exciting.  You can check out pictures of the fair on our Facebook page, MADRE Speaks.

However, there are still children in Barcenas, Guatemala, who need toothbrushes and toothpaste to maintain a healthy smile.  Helping Hands is sending more oral hygiene supplies to the Women Workers' Committee to create more health fairs and to reach out to even more children who need our help.  Please sponsor a smile, and send oral hygiene supplies to children in Guatemala.

Thank you!

Raising the Stakes on the Election in Afghanistan

Above is a segment from Democracy Now.  The transcript is available here.

The vote count has begun following the presidential elections in Afghanistan, a process that is expected to take weeks.  But for Afghan women, the results are already in.

The past months have revealed increasing evidence that women’s human rights are a mere “bargaining chip” in Afghan politics, a fact that has been swept under the rug by an Obama Administration eager to find success in its Afghanistan occupation policy.

Take, for instance, the infamous Shia Personal Status Law made public in April of this year, which legalized marital rape among the Shia population, and included other women’s rights violations.  Spurred by Afghan women’s human rights defenders, who risked their lives and took to the streets in protest against this law, the Obama Administration condemned this legislation and called for its review.

But the version that recently emerged maintains provisions that allow a man to deny his wife food if she does not have sex with him.  This time, the Administration’s condemnations were few and far between.  The date of the elections was approaching, and they feared that re-ignited protests might “disrupt” the electoral proceedings.

Despite reports of violence at polling stations, on public transportation, at police posts and more, Obama was quick to declare today’s election a success.  Despite the fact that the new version of the Shia Personal Status Law restricts the right of women to vote, an Administration invested in proving their policy’s success still saw fit to stamp a seal of approval on the election.

Again and again and again, the elections in Afghanistan have been cast as a test of the Obama Administration’s policy of war escalation and occupation.  The stakes are high.  A new poll has revealed that a majority of people in the US do not think the cost of the war in Afghanistan is worth it.  How long will it be before the Administration realizes the same—and how much damage will have been done in the meantime?

Apply for the MADRE Women's Human Rights Advocacy Fellowship!

This is a quick announcement to let you know that we are now accepting applications for the MADRE Women's Human Rights Advocacy Fellowship.  This is a great opportunity to get involved with MADRE's work to advance women's human rights at the international level, in partnership with our sister organizations.  The position description and application instructions are below.

MADRE is seeking a Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Fellow to help develop and implement a strategy to advance women’s human rights at the international level.  The position requires a 1-year commitment on a part-time schedule and provides a $10,000 stipend as compensation.  This fellowship will be located at MADRE’s office in New York City.  Non-U.S. citizens are welcome to apply.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Represent MADRE at meetings and in coalition work with other NGOs and UN contacts.
• Follow and participate in the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign, the Beijing+15 process, and other UN processes as needed.
• Draft and submit testimony to the UN Human Rights Council.
• Conduct research for publications and program work on gender dimensions of food sovereignty and climate change; women’s health and violence against women; and peace building and women’s political participation.
• Develop and implement a strategy to advance women’s human rights in UN processes.
• Collaborate with MADRE Program and Human Rights Advocacy staff.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrated commitment to women’s human rights and MADRE’s mission.
• Strong understanding of UN system.
• Experience in international human rights advocacy at the UN or other international institution is an asset.

To apply, submit a cover letter, resume and 2-3 references to madre@madre.org.  Include “Women’s Human Rights Advocacy Fellow” in the subject line.  The application deadline is August 31, 2009.

What Does the Election in Afghanistan Mean for Women?

As Afghanistan prepares for this Thursday's presidential election, tension is rising and attacks have increased by 50 percent in the past 10 days.  Meanwhile, NATO spokespeople and some observers in the US, anxious to demonstrate that Obama's policy of war escalation is generating results, are making "optimistic" predictions about the election outcome.

In an op-ed published today, MADRE Policy and Communications Director Yifat Susskind put forward a stark reality: there is little hope for democracy in Afghanistan, as long as women's rights continue to be bargained away by Afghan and US policymakers.

By the time the first ballot is cast in Afghanistan's August 20 election, hopes for a democratic outcome will already be dead. The Obama Administration is billing Afghanistan's second Parliamentary election in 30 years as a milestone in that country's march towards democracy. But there can be no democracy in a place where half the population is considered the property of the other half. That's why some of Afghanistan's toughest, most tenacious pro-democracy activists are women. They understand that democracy is more than a procedural election; women's rights and genuine democracy are interdependent.

[...]

These women are all part of the beleaguered but vibrant Afghan women's movement that confronts both US air strikes and Taliban death threats to secure food, housing, healthcare and education for women and their families, defend women's shelters, hold peace demonstrations, demand women's full participation in public life and fight for interpretations of Islam that support women's rights. No foreign military occupation is going to do this. The US may be able to produce an election in Afghanistan on August 20, but it can't produce a society based on human rights. It's the women of Afghanistan who will secure their own rights and enable genuine democracy in the process.

Over at the Feminist Peace Network, blogger Lucinda Marshall has also been following developments in the lead-up to the Afghan elections.  She shows that, even if women do manage to register to vote, they may never make it to a polling station.  She also reveals yet another example of Afghan women's rights falling by the wayside when competing US priorities arise.

Feel free to share any additional resources on this topic in the comments.

A Visit to Muixil on International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

This past Sunday, August 9, was International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. I'm writing from Guatemala where Natalia Caruso (our Program Coordinator) and I spent Sunday visiting our sister organization Muixil, a group of 350 Ixil Indigenous women affected by the armed conflict in the 80s. 

On Sunday morning, we set out from Guatemala City and drove seven hours to reach El Quiche, where we visited the three communities that make up Muixil: Nebaj, Chajul and Pulay.  It was great being able to see the progress that has been made on their pig farming project. With MADRE support, the women from Muxil have been able to build their idea for a sustainable source of income into a real, functioning farm.

While we were there, the women were very excited about the recent addition of several piglets to the mix. I first fell in love with Guatemala's polka-dot pigs when I visited in 1989, and on this visit, I was thrilled to be able to hold one of the piglets!

We had a wonderful time visiting with the women and discussing their work on the project. I always look forward to visiting our projects in Guatemala, and this trip was no exception.

     

"The Ezra I Knew," by MADRE Supporter Jessi Roemer

On August 16, Israeli peace activist Ezra Nawi will be sentenced and face possible jail time for the "crime" of non-violently resisting the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank.  As we approach this date, MADRE supporter, cantorial soloist and writer Jessi Roemer wrote a piece remembering him from her time in Jerusalem--and she tells you how you can act to support Ezra.

I first knew Ezra Nawi as the man with the roses. He was not a florist. He was a plumber, a gentle Jerusalemite who would show up every Friday at French Square, his rucksack brimming with bouquets of long-stemmed roses. He would cross the moat of Friday traffic to where we stood: 20 or so women, wearing black and holding little hand-shaped signs that read, "Stop the Occupation" in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Smiling, Ezra would slowly circle the low wall on which we perched, stopping to hand a rose to each and every one of us.

Read the rest here.

A video camera was rolling the day that Ezra stood before the bulldozers to stop a home from being destroyed.  You can watch it here:

Sharing the Stories of Women in Baghdad's Shelters

Yanar Mohammed, the founder and head of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), carries a gun in her purse, after receiving death threats for her work.  As the US occupation of Iraq triggered an upsurge in rape, forced prostitution and violence against women, Yanar founded a network of shelters to protect women who would otherwise have nowhere to turn.  The shelters are closely guarded, and few are even aware of their exact locations.

Freelance journalist Anna Badkhen recently traveled to Baghdad where she was one of the first reporters to visit one of these shelters.  In May, we posted an audio slideshow based on her visit, documenting one night in one of the shelters.

Today, the new issue of Ms. Magazine has hit the stands, featuring an article written by Anna about the shelters and titled, “Baghdad Underground.”  As Anna explains in her article:

Saddam Hussein’s regime persecuted political dissidents but allowed women personal rights and freedoms; assaults on women were rare.  But when violence engulfed the country after the U.S. invasion, women became “the easiest targets,” says OWFI member Dalal Juma.  Violence against women is rampant and goes virtually unchecked by Iraq’s new legal system, which is influenced by conservative clerics now dominating the country’s politics, and which follows tribal and Islamic Sharia law more closely than it ever had during Hussein’s harsh but secular rule.

Anna has also provided radio interviews on this topic, sharing the stories of the women she met.  To listen to her interview with PRI’s The World, click here.  Her interview on WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate show is available below:

Sitara Achakzai’s Life in Photos and Audio

We came across this audio slideshow from PRI’s The World, featuring photos and commentary about the life of Sitara Achakzai, an Afghan women’s rights defender and political figure who was assassinated in April.  We featured Sitara Achakzai in our report on Afghan women who have lost their lives to fundamentalist forces, and we encourage you to learn more about her life in the video below.

myMADRE Brings You the Latest

Forced child marriage in Bangladesh causes girls to drop out of school and become pregnant at a stage in their lives when their bodies are not ready to carry a child.

A group of 22 NGOs warns of the need for more aid for humanitarian work in Darfur.  One aid worker comments: "Darfur may appear calmer, but one has to remember that there are fewer reports coming out because they are deeply nervous of how the Sudanese government will react to criticism.”

Local swimming spot acts as children’s playground as well as Gaza City’s sewage dump. Children’s health and lives are at risk as they come into contact with dangerous bacteria, but the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza explains that the local water authority is unable to import parts to repair sewage stations because of the two-year long blockade imposed by Israel.

African civil society calls for more representation in the decision-making processes of the International Monetary Fund.  Although IMF operations are largely focused on Africa, civil society representatives decry the lack of opportunities for participation by African representatives.

Women members of Nepal’s Constituent Assembly (CA) are putting pressure to incorporate specific laws concerning women’s issues in the new constitution.