2007 Activities

In 2007, the International Women's Program worked as a global grantmaking program, in cooperation with the Soros foundations network, by identifying and supporting women’s rights organizations in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, with a focus on engendering transitional justice, multiple discrimination against women, sustaining regional networks, and resource mobilization.

The following briefs describe some of the International Women's Program activities and achievements in 2007.

Capacity-Building of Women’s Organizations Demanding Justice

The International Women's Program supported the Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice to convene the Forum on Justice for Women in Kampala, Uganda—bringing together over 120 women most affected by conflicts (in northern Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Central African Republic, with additional participants from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Burundi) currently receiving International Criminal Court attention. The Forum provided learning opportunities for women’s organizations to use ICC jurisprudence to advocate for women’s human rights domestically.

The program also funded the Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange to bring together a diverse group of women from countries emerging from armed conflict to participate in a training institute in Liberia. The institute increased their capacity to document women’s rights violations in conflict zones, advocate for compensation, and ensure victims’ cases are brought before the judicial system.

Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have experienced rape and other forms of sexual violence by armed groups in the conflict. The International Women's Program awarded grants to AJEDI-Ka and Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement Intégral to strengthen the capacity and leadership potential of demobilized girl soldiers and other women affected by war in the DRC, to ensure justice for victims of violence, and to support medical, psychological, and legal programs for victims with the aim of challenging the culture of impunity related to sexual violence. The program also sponsored a former girl solider from the DRC to speak at the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2007, to bring attention to the impact of conflict on girls.

Investigation of Crimes Against Minority Women by Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

In consultation with the Open Society Justice Initiative and with co-funding from OSI’s Southeast Asia Initiative, the International Women's Program supported the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which documents grave human rights abuses that occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime. The grant enabled the center to investigate and record testimonies of Cham Muslim women survivors—the first effort to document minority women’s experiences under the Khmer Rouge. The testimonies will be published in Khmer and English, and used for promoting justice and reconciliation for Cham women, genocide education in the country, and for raising awareness about Cham women’s experiences among organizations that document genocide globally.

Advancing the Rights of Lesbians in South Africa

South Africa is the fifth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and set an international precedent in its post-apartheid constitution outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, homosexuality remains taboo, and lesbians continue to be vulnerable to violence in their communities. In 2007, the International Women's Program supported the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, in Johannesburg, to advance the rights and address the needs of black lesbians. Through its Lesbian Action Research Project, the forum will document and analyze lesbian realities and rights violations, and carry out a nationwide mass-media campaign to advance their rights.

Helping Women Disabled by Landmines in Cambodia

Landmines are among the leading causes of disability in Cambodia, particularly affecting women in poor, rural communities. The International Women's Program supported the Working Group for Weapons Reduction to meet the needs of women disabled by landmines in the country. The group aims to bring government attention to disabled women’s human rights and strengthen community efforts to eliminate discrimination against disabled women.

Protecting Human Rights for "Untouchables" in Nepal

The fundamental human rights of Dalits, or “untouchables,” are ignored in much of South Asia, where they experience triple discrimination on the basis of class, caste, and gender. The disproportionate impact of Nepal’s ongoing conflict on Dalit women has yet to receive sufficient attention, as they continue to be victims of systematic abuse, torture, sexual violence and killing. The International Women's Program supported one of Nepal’s leading NGOs, the Feminist Dalit Organization, in promoting Dalit women's human rights and combating caste and gender discrimination. The organization's plans include launching a public education campaign on discrimination and violence against Dalit women, filing petitions on cases of violence against Dalit women in district administration offices and providing legal support to victims, and organizing rights-based trainings for women’s NGOs on Nepal’s legal provisions and remedies.

Combating Violence Against Women in the Middle East & North Africa

In partnership with OSI’s Middle East & North Africa Initiative, the program co-funded V-Day Karama, a network of NGOs from nine countries that are developing anti-violence strategies particular to women in the region and working to elevate the status of Arab women as leaders and experts. Karama advocates on the causes and effects of violence across areas such as health, politics, education, religion, law and the judicial system, and media.

In Jordan, Karama members submitted the country’s first UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women shadow report, committing the government to criminalizing domestic violence within the next two years. In addition, the International Women's Program funded KAFA Violence & Exploitation, a Karama member in Lebanon, which seeks to mitigate violence against women and children through advocacy; raising awareness; providing social and legal services; and encouraging debate among religious leaders, women’s NGOs, and others. Their projects include working to amend discriminatory "personal status codes" against women and children.

Reproductive Health and Rights in Central & Eastern Europe

In 2007, the International Women's Program funded ASTRA, the Federation for Women and Family Planning, to support youth initiatives encouraging a new generation of activists on sexual and reproductive rights and health issues.

The ASTRA youth network worked to elaborate recommendations on sex education aimed at national governments’ health/education ministers in Central and Eastern Europe. The campaign targeted youth in response to the damaging effects of abstinence-only sex education and ineffective HIV/AIDS prevention programs.

View a complete list of 2007 grants.