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English
Issue 8 (July)
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
This month we lost a courageous and inspiring leader. Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo was an activist, a scientist, a scholar, a socialist, a practicing Roman Catholic, and the only woman ever to serve as Prime Minister of Portugal. She held several ministerial posts and served as Portugal's Ambassador to UNESCO and a member of the European Parliament. Maria was a widely read writer who brought a feminist perspective to a range of issues from economics to religion. She maintained close ties to civil society organizations, especially feminist groups. We served consecutively as President of the Sisterhood is Global Institute and continued our collaboration in the years following as Co-Chairs of the Commission on Globalization. She helped me during the process of founding the Women's Learning Partnership as I worked with partners and colleagues to conceptualize our leadership program. I was proud to call her my friend. Maria's wisdom, dedication, and courage will be missed by the women's movements across the world. Her memory will be an inspiration to all who knew her.
Maria's life and work will live on in the struggles and aspirations of others. During the week of her passing I was in Beirut, Lebanon to participate in the meeting of the UN regional conference on Beijing+10 for Western Asia organized by ESCWA. Governmental and non-governmental delegations from countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia recounted their achievements during the decade since Beijing and the challenges they face in the years to come. Maria would have been proud and pleased to see that women, some of whom had not had the right to vote when she became Prime Minister in 1979, now hold significant government portfolios and work closely with non-governmental activists to overcome extraordinary impediments to change not only the status of women in their countries, but the very nature of socio-political and economic interaction in their region. Her wisdom and her example will be missed.
In this issue of Women's Learning Partnership's eNews we are pleased to report on the success of our recent week-long technology institute in Kabul, Afghanistan, "Information Technology Training for Women's Empowerment and Capacity Building," and to announce our newest publication, the Hausa edition of the "Leading To Choices" leadership training handbook.
Warmest Regards,
Mahnaz Afkhami
President
Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace
In this Issue
- Articles
- Latest News
Latest News
Arab Regional Conference Ten Years After Beijing
Members of WLP’s network participated in the Arab Regional Conference Ten Years After Beijing organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) July 8-10, 2004 in Beirut, Lebanon. Under the theme "Call for Peace," the aim of the conference was to assess the gains made for the advancement of Arab women since the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action, and to strategize on how to overcome the major obstacles to achieving equality in light of the instability and armed conflict that continues to threaten human security in the region. Among the accomplishments highlighted at the conference were the establishment of the Arab Organization for Women, the implementation of quota systems for women parliamentarians, and the ratification of CEDAW by 12 Arab countries. WLP President, Mahnaz Afkhami, chaired the session on civil society in which NGO leaders and government ministers discussed the role of women in civic, political, social, and economic development. WLP International Advisory Council Members, Zahira Kamal, Minister of Women’s Affairs (Palestine), Asma Khader, Minister of State and Government Spokesperson (Jordan), and Bouthaina Shaaban, Minister of Expatriates (Syrian Arab Republic), led delegations from their respective countries at the conference. WLP board member Afaf Mahfouz participated in the drafting committee for the conference's concluding document. Get facts and figures about women’s political participation in the Arab region.
WLP Partner Awarded 2004 Women’s Rights Prize
WLP Partner and President of Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), Sakena Yacoobi, was awarded the 2004 Women’s Rights Prize of the Peter Gruber Foundation for her courageous efforts to advance women’s rights and opportunities for girls in Afghanistan and in refugee camps in Pakistan. Under the Taliban regime, AIL ran underground schools and hospitals for women and girls. Today, AIL provides training to thousands of women and girls in literacy, ICTs, health, and human rights, and runs many mobile health clinics throughout the region. Congratulations Sakena!
New: Hausa Edition of WLP’s Leadership Handbook
This month WLP published the Hausa edition (Jagoranci Zuwa Zabi) of WLP’s leadership training manual Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women, for use in Nigeria and other areas of East Africa. The manual was translated, adapted, and tested by WLP's partner in Nigeria, BAOAB for Women's Human Rights, in a series of training workshops that focused on conflict prevention, consensus building, and inter-communal cooperation. For more information, or to order your copy of the Hausa Leading to Choices visit WLP’s online store.
"Clash or Consensus" Human Security Conference Papers Now Online
Papers presented at WLP’s international conference "Clash or Consensus: Gender and Human Security in a Globalized World," held in Washington, DC in October, are now available online. The papers discuss human security in relation to development, human rights, religious fundamentalisms, democratic governance, and post-conflict reconstruction. Presentations include the opening address by Mary Robinson, opening remarks by WLP President, Mahnaz Afkhami, and papers by Amneh Badran, Nadereh Chamlou, Marian Wright Edelman, Najma Heptulla, Mishka Mourani, Kumi Naidoo, Kathleen Peratis, Jacqueline Pitanguy, Attiya Inayatullah, Aruna Rao, and Madhavi Sunder. Read papers or listen to the proceedings online.
Job Opportunity: WLP Program Associate Women’s Learning Partnership
(WLP) is seeking a Program Associate who will be responsible for assisting with administrating WLP’s projects and print material development. The Program Associate is responsible for liaising with WLP’s partner organizations in Afghanistan, Cameroon, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe; assisting with the production of leadership training handbooks and other training tools; and gathering program results and preparing reports, among other duties. Qualifications include a dedication to women’s empowerment and at least two years professional experience in international development or human rights. Foreign language skills in Arabic and/or French are preferred. The position is based at WLP headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland (in the Washington DC metro area). For a full job description or to view application procedures click here.
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Issue 8 (July) )
Leadership Workshops in Morocco and Nigeria Create Hope for Social Change
Approximately 65 women, and some men participated in two leadership training workshops conducted by WLP's Moroccan partner, L'Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM) in Taza and Ouarzazat between April and July 2004. The workshops were conducted using both the French and Maghreby-Arabic editions of the Leading to Choices leadership training manual.
In the remote northeastern town of Taza, twenty-five women and five men, participated in the training workshop, the majority of whom were representatives of organizations involved with economic development, social services, education, poverty eradication, women's rights advocacy, and improving women's health.
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Morocco | Nigeria | Jagoranci Zuwa Zabi: Daftarin Horar Da Mata Akan Jagoranci (Leading to Choices Hausa Edition) | Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women (English Edition) | Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women (Maghreby-Arabic Edition) | Montrer Le Chemin: Guide d'Entraînement des Femmes au Leadership (Leading to Choices French Edition) | Issue 8 (July) | Workshops )
IT Training for Women's Empowerment and Capacity-Building in Afghanistan
The sound of clicking keyboards filled the room as more than 20 women and men worked intently in a tiny packed computer lab in Kabul. The class was part of an eight-day Information Technology Training Institute entitled "Information Technology Training for Women's Empowerment and Capacity-Building," organized and implemented by the Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), in cooperation with the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), May 18-25, 2004 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
