Issue 21 (Fall 2008)

In this Issue

 


Changing Our World: WLP Partner Initiatives for Women’s Rights in Jordan and Nigeria

In this issue we feature the groundbreaking and creative advocacy initiatives conceived by and carried out by our partner organizations in Jordan and Nigeria to see what women on the ground are doing to change the world.

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A Special Report: Movement Building in Iran

On July 26, 2006, Ashraf Kalhori, a 37 year old mother of four, learned that her sentence of death by stoning was about to be carried out. Until that point, the punishment of stoning, which had officially been under a moratorium since 2002, had remained a taboo topic in Iranian public discourse. Ms. Kalhori’s case, however, mobilized a group of lawyers and transnational women’s activists who were concerned that this unmentionable punishment was in fact becoming more commonplace. From this seed, the “Stop Stoning Forever” campaign, and ultimately the work of Women’s Field (Meydaan), a trailblazing website and network of women’s rights activists in Iran, took root.

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Partnership Update: Six Countries Convene to Co-Create Culturally-Adaptable Strategic Planning and Capacity Building Curriculum

WLP Partnership Group Picture From August 30th to September 4th, WLP’s partners from Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, and Palestine gathered in Potomac, Maryland, for a Strategic Planning and Capacity Building Institute. This six-day program provided opportunities for a rich dialogue addressing partners’ expectations and experiences in implementing WLP’s participatory leadership methodology through trainings, advocacy, and organizational development. During the Institute, participants co-created a draft curriculum for organizational strategic planning and capacity building, developed a timetable for carrying out this strategic planning process with individual partner organizations, and undertook an intensive review of WLP's Leading to Choices curriculum and trainings after eight years of its implementation.

Engendering IT Tools: WLP Partners Share ICT Advocacy Strategies

On September 5th, Women’s Learning Partnership presented a panel at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) entitled “Technology for Women’s Rights Advocacy and Democracy Building.” In introducing the event and the panelists, Carl Gershman, President of the NED, pointed to the importance of women’s political participation and the key role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in mobilizing women as voters and leaders. The discussion, moderated by WLP President Mahnaz Afkhami and including panelists Sakena Yacoobi of the Afghan Institute of Learning, Asma Khader of Sisterhood is Global Institute/Jordan, Lina Abou Habib of Collective for Research & Training on Development-Action in Lebanon, and Rakhee Goyal of WLP, addressed the increasingly crucial role of ICTs in the context of advocacy for women’s rights, and how ICTs can be used within a participatory framework.

Profile of a Young Ukrainian Activist: Olena Prykhodko

Olena Prykhodko As the second in our series of Young Women's Learning Partnership profiles, WLP spoke with Olena Prykhodko of Ukraine. Ms. Prykhodko is a member of the Interregional Young Women Leaders Group, which unites girls and young women to promote principles of democracy, equality, and youth leadership in social and political life. She describes her greatest accomplishment as forming a group called the Kharkiv Regional Council of High School Students, which was able to bring youth opinions on child welfare policies to the highest national decision-making level. Ms. Prykhodko, as chair of the group, spoke at a meeting with the president and most senior members of regional and national administration, resulting in stricter policies controlling sales of alcohol and in the construction of free, open air sports areas.

Ms. Prykhodkho interviewed with WLP Program Associate, Siobhan Hayes, to discuss the possibilities for youth participation in politics.

WLP Receives “Gifts from the Universe”

During the month of August, 342 members of the TUT's Adventurers Club donated over $9,000 to Women's Learning Partnership.

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A Warm Welcome to New Faces at WLP International

WLP is pleased to welcome Ms. Inger Elisabeth Prebensen of Norway as our newest Board member. Ms.

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