Issue 14 (March)

WLP Launches New Website

WLP is proud to announce the launch of a new learning portal and eCommunity at http://learningpartnership.org. 

Special features include:

• Profiles and updates on each of our 18 partner organizations in the Global South
• Culture-specific leadership training manuals in 14 languages
• Multimedia materials on leadership and empowerment, ICT capacity building, culture of peace, women's human rights and political participation
• In-depth information on Claiming Equal Citizenship: The Campaign for Arab Women's Right to Nationality
• Latest WLP news from our online newsletter eNews and our events calendar
• Informational resources for women's rights activists, particularly from Muslim-majority societies
• Extensive information about WLP  

WLP Convenes Prototype Arabic eCourse with Partners from Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine

From September 5-October 21, 2005, a group of 14 experienced leadership trainers from WLP partners in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine participated in a five-week prototype Arabic eCourse (online distance learning course) on participatory leadership to test and adapt the Arabic curriculum in preparation for a full eCourse in 2006. WLP trained partners from Morocco and Lebanon to act as facilitators for the upcoming course, focusing on the use of technology for advocacy and the interactive, problem-solving methodology that guides the course. At the end of the prototype Arabic eCourse the group strategized on ways to ensure maximum impact for the full eCourse in 2006. They decided to build on the strengths of the curriculum and innovative approach by recruiting a diverse group of committed participants and providing strong technical support to ensure participant comfort during their first online learning experience.

Women Leaders Intercultural Forum Plans for September Conference

On February 3, 2006, WLP attended a planning meeting for a new social justice network—the Women Leaders Intercultural Forum (WLIF)—dedicated to augmenting women's ability to increase the enjoyment of human security in their communities, their countries and across the world. WLIF is a joint project of Columbia University, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, Women's Learning Partnership, Council of Women World Leaders, Markkula Center for Ethics at Santa Clara University, and the United Nations Population Fund. WLIF emphasizes the importance of intercultural, intergenerational dialogue and aims to mobilize women leaders at the highest levels in the fields of politics, economics, the arts, and the media to improve the status of women. The WLIF initiative is a five-year program of annual meetings that will begin on September 24-26, 2006, when the inaugural conference will be held at Columbia University in New York. Women from the Muslim world, the Americas and Europe will join together to make progress on four themes central to women's lives across the globe: violence against women, the economic empowerment of women, women and migration and women's relationship with culture. In subsequent meetings, women from all regions and cultures will be represented, and the topics chosen for discussion and action will shift as they reflect current events and the needs and interests of women everywhere.    Read more about WLIF.

Order Now: Persian Edition of the Leading to Choices Multimedia Curriculum 

After extensive work with Iranian activists, expert translators, and an experienced production team, WLP is happy to announce the release of the Persian edition of Leading to Choices: A Multimedia Curriculum for Leadership Learning. The first culture-specific adaptation of the Multimedia Curriculum, the Persian edition is tailored for human rights and democracy activists, educators, women leaders, and facilitators working with Persian speaking communities in Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran, and the Persian diaspora. WLP has trained a group of women from Iran to use the Multimedia Curriculum effectively at a National Institute for Women's Leadership and Training of Trainers and will continue to disseminate the curriculum at future Institutes. The curriculum is based on a concept of participatory leadership that enables women and men to develop skills to prevent conflict, share power, and build coalitions to promote human rights, social justice, and peace. The package provides interactive, scenario-based activities and illustrative examples of how to create participatory and democratic learning environments, how to implement successful advocacy campaigns, and how to develop compelling messages for target audiences. Women's Learning Partnership collaboratively developed the English language prototype curriculum and materials with women's rights activists and our partner organizations in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, and Uzbekistan.  Order now.

Guide to Equality in the Family in the Maghreb Makes an Impact

The first volume in WLP's Translation Series Guide to Equality in the Family in the Maghreb has made a significant impact since its October 2005 release. The Guide outlines a process that relates meaningful reform of family law to women’s capability to make deliberate and thoughtful choices  The Guide has been the subject of discussion at four activist and academic panels/conferences since its October 2005 release: "Democratizing the Middle East?" at Tufts University in Boston on January 27, 2006; "The Islam Tradition, Gender Equality and Effective Development" at the Interaction meeting at the Women's Democratic Club in Washington DC on January 27, 2006; "Violence Against Women: A Human Security Perspective" at the Middle East Studies Association Annual Conference in Washington DC on November 21, 2005; and "A Shared Vision for Change: Women and Legislative Reform in Muslim-Majority Societies" at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington DC on November 17, 2005.  The Guide is both a unique advocacy tool and an excellent reference guide for work on family law and is currently being used by Malaysian NGOs in their work on legislative reform.  Order now.