|
Young lesbians in Honduras, Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip, and
Erumanen Menuvu tribal women in the Philippines are among the
courageous recipients of grants from the Global Fund for Women’s June
2009 docket, which totals more than $1.8 million. Many of these women
are living and working in situations that are in the midst of, or
recovering from conflict. Yet, undaunted they strive to promote women’s
political and civic participation.
“When women do not have the ability to live their lives free of violence and exploitation, the few options that do exist for them to exert leadership and be full, equal participants in society are taken away. We are proud that in this docket, these two critical areas of women’s empowerment have been the main focus of our grants,” says Shalini Nataraj, Vice President of Programs.
In this grantmaking cycle, Global Fund has awarded $305,500 to 16 groups in the Americas region.
|
In Honduras, fundamentalism makes it extraordinarily difficult and risky for young lesbian and bisexual women to be open about their sexuality. The Red de Mujeres Jovenes Lesbianas de Honduras not only disperses public health information, but also creates a safe community space. A grant of $10,000 will enable Red de Mujeres to guide twenty young women volunteers to be trainers in the areas of Sexual Health, Reproductive Health and Human rights.
 Located in the landlocked province of Cotobato, on Mindanao, in the Phillipines, KeMeritanan ne Erumanen Menuvu (KeMEN) organizes the Erumanen Menuvu tribal women to stand up for their rights. One of the causes of violence against women in Central Mindaao is continuing conflict between the states’ troopers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
| In this grantmaking cycle, Global Fund has awarded $494,950 to 30 groups in Asia/Oceania. |
Recently, that conflict led to the displacement of thousands of people, and the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. As a result of consultations among women elders of the tribe, the group formed to provide women with tools to protect themselves and to bring men and women together in building peace. A grant of $12,000 will help KeMEN to raise awareness, build peace, and empower tribal women in Cotabato, Mindanao to claim their rights.
| In this grantmaking cycle, Global Fund has awarded $317,800 to 32 groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. |
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and its girls and women, unsurprisingly, have disproportionately less access to health and education services. Retired and active school teachers in Bamako, the capital, started the Association des Femmes Educatrices du Mali [Association of Female Educators of Mali] (AFEM) to provide alternative spaces and forums to promote literacy and human rights training to women and girls in Mali. To date, AFEM has trained over 14,000 migrant women and girls, who typically work as housemaids, to become literate. With a grant of $14,000, AFEM will continue to improve its education and health initiative for migrant girls living in slums; provide literacy classes and equip education centers; establish contraceptive distribution; and train migrant girls in reproductive health and HIV prevention.
 Armenian media, as is Armenian society, is rife with patriarchal stereotypes of women’s roles that portray them as weak and incapable of leadership. In addition, nationalist attitudes are perpetuated through government-controlled media. The 2008 violent conflict between Georgia and Russia was but one manifestation of the continued political instability and polarization in the region.
| In this grantmaking cycle, Global Fund has awarded $435,900 to 29 groups in ECIS. |
Within this context, women’s media groups, such as ProMedia-Gender have stepped up to advocate for peace, tolerance, and gender equality across ethnic and national lines. The group will use a $20,000 grant in this docket to focus its future publications and dialogues on the global economic crisis and its impact on Armenian women and youth.
| In this grantmaking cycle, Global Fund has awarded $271,100 to 16 groups in the MENA region. |
When Israel launched “Operation Cast Lead” last December, a disproportionate number of Palestinian civilians – many women and children – were killed, or severely disabled. With a grant of $18,000, the Palestinian Women’s Information and Media Center (PWIMC) will run several projects that aim to provide psychological support, small project management skills training, as well as raise the confidence level of 50 “marginalized” women who suffered from Israel’s war on Gaza, and lost their husbands, daughters, sons, and homes. The projects’ main objective is to reinsert that group of women into Palestinian society, and help repair the damage that the war has caused to their lives.
About the Global Fund for Women
The Global Fund for Women is the largest grantmaking foundation in the world that focuses exclusively on advancing international women's rights. The Global Fund raises all of the money it gives away from individuals, foundations and corporations. Grants made by the Global Fund expand the choices available to women and girls, securing their efforts to strengthen economic independence, increase access to education and prevent violence. Since 1987, the Global Fund has awarded over $75 million to seed, strengthen and link more than 3900 groups in 169 countries. More information is available in six languages on our web site. Donate to the Global Fund for Women.
For media interviews, contact:
Sande Smith
Director of Communications
E-mail: ssmith[at]globalfundforwomen.org, or Ph: 415-248-4800
Written by Iris Garcia, Program Team and Preeti Shekar, Communications Team
|
