September 7th, 2005

Outreach Trip to the Middle East and North Africa

Global Fund president and CEO, Kavita Ramdas, and program officer for the Middle East and North Africa, Zeina Zaatari discuss the Global Fund's outreach trip to the Middle East and hurricane Katrina.

Kavita: Hurricane Katrina - Reactions and Response We have seen the devastating pictures, heard about relief efforts, and can't help but draw parallels to the Tsunami. It's hard to believe, but barely 8 months have passed since the Tsunami in Southeast Asia. Over 50 grantee groups were affected. In both cases, we see that class, race, and privilege play such an important role. Women and children are particularly vulnerable. In response to Hurricane Katrina, the Global Fund has made a solidarity grant to the Ms. Foundation. While we don't traditionally make grants in the U.S., we feel this is an incredibly important statement. (For more information, see our Hurricane Relief Efforts.) We also have been moved by the responses from grantees around the world. Even from a region like the Middle East, which has faced so much conflict, we have received an outpouring of warmth and solidarity from groups, such as one grantee in Palestine, who wrote to us today offering condolences. Middle East Outreach

We are trying to expand our outreach and grantmaking to the region. Zeina, Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa, has been one of the key architects of our three-year initiative to build and strengthen our work there. Zeina, who is from Lebanon, led our outreach trip to the Middle East.
The objective was to be present, listen to and meet with grantees and potential grantees. We wanted to hear what women saw as their own priorities, issues, and needs in the region. We also wanted to host our board meeting there. Our board chair, Jacqueline Pitanguy was instrumental in making this happen. We wanted to make a statement by going to the region and making the commitment to truly listening. We traveled to 9 countries including Egypt with 29 people, primarily the board and staff members. We are now incorporating the lessons we learned into our grantmaking.
 
Zeina Zaatari will now discuss the challenges and "lessons learned" from the Middle East and North Africa Outreach Trip.

Zeina: We split into several groups of smaller delegations. The group that went to Turkey, for example, was able to visit several key sites. They met with Kurdish groups in the North, in addition to our more visible grantees in Istanbul. We had groups go to: Morocco, Palestine and Israel (headed by Kavita), Lebanon and Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain (headed by Zeina).

After the trips, we reconvened in Cairo. (Again, for more information, please read our interview with Abigail Disney.) Main Objectives One of our principal objectives was to reconnect with past grantees. We visited with several grantee groups in each location to get a sense of the main issues, obstacles, and challenges in both their specific work and the region at large. We also made connections with new groups. We were able to make our first-ever grant in Bahrain. Particularly in Yemen and Bahrain, we were able to learn so much about new groups and issues. We are now reassessing what this means for our work and criteria. We have established better and more sustainable links to the groups on the ground. Groups saw our effort to establish trust. Women could see our commitment to truly build a stronger movement and, most importantly, bring their voices back here. They almost all invariably said, "Yes, your money and support is important, but more important for us is that you create a venue for us to take our own voices back to the public." In major policy and media portrayals, women are often either not present or seen as helpless victims. What was striking for us was to see women working at every level, from the universities, to schools, to law. They wanted their voices to be heard. On a concrete level, we are seeing increased numbers of proposals. We have received proposals from 14 additional new groups who we met on the trip. It is also important to note that an outreach trip like this creates a ripple effect. Word of mouth is already expanding our network.

At the same time, we have been able to grow our advisory council, by strengthening relationships with several key people who work at the grassroots. Main Issues from the Trip The trip showed us even more, how diverse the region truly is. The relationship between religion and state, government structures, regional and cultural issues, and historical legacies are incredibly varied around the region. For example, in Bahrain, women wanted to establish laws that talked about family life, whereas in Morocco they were trying to move laws out of family laws and into more civil laws. In Bahrain, they wanted to write down the family laws that are currently passed down subjectively and locally, in order to make more widespread change in the long run. Government structure also varied immensely. For example, Yemen is increasingly repressive. We met female journalists who felt they could no longer speak their voices at all. The group Female Journalists Without Borders has applied for a grant. In the few short months since we met this group, the government has tried to revoke their rights to organize. Variations within the region have shown us even more how important it is to look at the specific context.

Q&A:

We hear so much about the conflicts and hardships. Were there moments of "inspiration" or hope for you on the trip?

Kavita: When we came back together in Cairo, everyone shared their experiences. For me, the trip to Palestine and Israel was both difficult and inspiring. These women have managed to hold the highest level of humanity and dignity. I remember walking on the beach with one of our soon-to-be advisors in Gaza. The first thing she said was, "We have to go walk on the beach." There was a sense of life, and possibility... and fun. Q: I'm a little skeptical about the focus on the political. I wonder if you could speak more about work under the radar screen [i.e. not within law] that might not be as visible from the outside.

Zeina: I met a group in Yemen that focused on tradition and folklore and artifacts. In Yemen, which is increasingly repressive, the North-South divide masks a complex history. Yemen, which used to be two separate countries, has gone through unification and civil war, leaving the more conservative north in power. The government is now making sweeping reforms that erase much of the country's culture. In a country with a very rich and divided history, the government is promoting particular dress. Most women are now wearing the black full-covering garb, a severe departure from the regional colorful outfits that once celebrated these differences. The great group we met goes to rural areas and collects, videotapes, and otherwise documents the variations in dress, songs, and rituals. They are focusing on women's roles within these varied histories. They have recently worked on reviving a ritual that used to take place in the capital. Townships would place a huge wooden swing in the central square before pilgrimage to Mecca. Upon return, men and women would sing songs and swing. This group has revived and created a space where women can once again sing in public and actually play. This is very obvious to us that it's about replenishing women's value and role in public space.

What have you seen since the pullout from Gaza? And what responses have you heard from grantees?

Zeina: Women are happy about the development and do see it as a positive step. However, there are a lot of concerns, locally and nationally. Many settlements are being moved into the West Bank, so while people are happy for their own towns, we see a deep concern for questions of the nation.

Aren't there enormous business opportunities and places for growth?

Zeina: Well, it is not clear yet. Access to the Gaza Strip is still limited to one point or to Egypt. Gaza is still a large prison. Before 2000, many people worked in and out of the strip. It will still be policed in the land, sea and air by Israel. It is still very soon to give hopeful signs to the future.

Kavita: We have been working with an advisor to come visit the U.S. for a meeting. Trying to get her out of Gaza has been an incredibly sobering experience. For Zeina and myself, simply the practicalities of how you get out of Gaza shed light on the situation. You have a passport that no government recognizes. She would have had to get out to Cairo and get a direct flight to the U.S. because no European government would let her stay without a visa for even the few hours it would take for a layover. I use this as a metaphor. There is simply no infrastructure of state. Women end up playing a dual role, where non-governmental organizations are taking on the burden of providing what government would and should normally provide. I am afraid that it will get worse before it gets better for women.

I first wanted to commend you for having the courage to go into an arena that has been hostile to the U.S. and to women. I was wondering if it was challenging personally and as visitors?

Kavita: This was the first board meeting in which there was 100% participation. This turnout reiterated to me that we are committed to strengthening our work in this region. The commitment by the board and staff of the Global Fund is to make this an integral part of our work. We were always welcome. Women invited us into their homes and took great lengths to show us their work. We were always with local guides, and I never felt unsafe. The freedom that the Global Fund has comes because we are not dependent on government funding. We can honestly present our work because there are so many people like you who care and support us.

Zeina: Yes, everywhere we went, people asked where we got our funding. It was important to be able to say that individuals in the U.S. provide the support and are truly behind the work we are doing. Without your support, this work would not be possible. Thank you.     

Global Fund for Women Assesses Needs of Women in North Africa and Middle East

Building Networks To Strengthen Women's Rights

Laqiya: The Association for the Improvement of the Status of Women