March for Freedom for Afghan Women and Girls to take place in London
27
November 2022
• March for Freedom for Afghan Women and Girls to take
place in London
• Egypt’s Maram Saied is Global Federation's First
Female Arab Referee
• Morton Family Foundation Donates $30,000 For
Education Of Afghan Women And Girls
• P&G Pakistan Reaffirms Pledge To Mentor 1000
Women Under Million Women Mentors
• All About Autonomy: Single Women Farmers Form
Collective, Become Entrepreneurs
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/march-freedom-afghan-london/d/128499
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March For Freedom For Afghan Women And Girls To Take
Place In London
Women protest near a mosque
in Kabul, calling for their rights to be recognised / AFP via Getty Images
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ARAB NEWS
November 26, 2022
LONDON: Thousands of marchers will descend on London
on Sunday to demand that the UK government create a safe asylum route for
Afghan women and girls at risk, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
Organized by the campaign group Action for
Afghanistan, Sunday’s March for Freedom for Afghan Women and Girls follows MPs’
demands that Foreign Secretary James Cleverly renew the government’s focus on
those left at risk after Britain’s 20-year military endeavour.
“The Afghan relocations and assistance policy isn’t
working, and there isn’t a dedicated route for women and girls,” Liberal
Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain told The Guardian.
“We’ve gotten to the stage where the Afghanistan
situation is in the too-difficult basket and those who supported the UK and
others over the last two decades have been left behind.”
The appeal follows a clampdown by the Taliban on
women’s rights and freedoms, including the banning of girls from secondary
school and the banning of women from parks.
Fawzia Koofi, the Afghan Parliament’s first female
deputy speaker, said six women communicating with those planning the London
march had been arrested in Kabul.
Chamberlain, who coordinated the appeal to Cleverly
with an incoming all-party group, has urged the continuation of aid to
Afghanistan, a consultation mechanism including Afghan stakeholders, and a
dedicated asylum route.
Two resettlement schemes launched in 2021, which
brought 7,000 eligible Afghans to the UK, came under intense scrutiny for
failing to prioritize the most vulnerable, and was described by a House of
Commons committee report as a “betrayal of our allies.”
Zaidi said those left behind in Afghanistan after the
UK withdrawal “need to know people still care … They need to know that allies
like the UK have not completely abandoned them.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson told The Guardian: “We
remain committed to using all our diplomatic and development levers to support
the Afghan people and protect the rights of women and girls.”
Coordinated marches are also set to take place in
Washington DC and four Canadian cities, with organizers saying they are
expecting to see other countries follow suit after the UN said: “In no other
country have women and girls so rapidly disappeared from public life.”
Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2206541/world
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Egypt’s Maram Saied is Global Federation's First
Female Arab Referee
Maram Saied
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Cairo Scene
Nov 27,2022
Egyptian athlete, TV Presenter, and Maram Saied has become the first Arab female
referee in the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB). The
IFBB is an international professional sports governing body for bodybuilding
and fitness, founded in Canada in 1946, that oversees many of the sport's major
international events, mainly the World and Continental Championships.
The Egyptian referee, Maram Saied, received the green
arbitration card for the Fitness Challenge, the most recent game to be added to
the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness's events, from Dr.
Rafael Santonja, president of the organisation. She officially earned the title
while participating in the IFBB world championship recently held in Spain, and
earned a referee title in the IFBB ‘Fitness Challenge’.
Source: Cairo Scene
https://cairoscene.com/Buzz/Egypt-s-Maram-Saied-is-Global-Federation-s-First-Female-Arab-Referee
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Morton Family Foundation Donates $30,000 For Education
Of Afghan Women And Girls
By Brendan Burke
Nov. 26, 2022
The David and Patricia Morton Family Foundation has
donated $30,000 to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan) to
support its educational programs for women and children in Afghanistan,
building on past donations to the national non-profit organization.
“It is wonderful that the foundation is continuing to
support CW4WAfghan,” said Daphne Ingram, chair of the Peterborough chapter.
“This year their $30,000 donation goes to support
online learning through the Darakht-e Danesh Library, which can be accessed
free by everyone including students in hiding or living as refugees in
neighbouring countries.”
Since the Taliban took control of the country over a
year ago, it has decreed that girls cannot attend high school.
Afghanistan is currently the only country on the
planet to officially deny girls the human right to education on the basis of
their gender, according to CW4WAfghan, which calls the policy “gender
apartheid.”
“The situation in Afghanistan is terrible,” Ingram
said. “We must continue to support the women and girls in every way we can.”
In a message to CW4WAfghan, Dr. Patricia Morton said
girls and women of Afghanistan are oppressed under today’s “so extremely
misogynistic Taliban rule.”
The online library offers free and open educational
resources for teachers, students, and anyone with a curious mind who wants to
learn more on a particular subject, says the group’s website.
Source: the Peterborough Examiner.
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P&G Pakistan Reaffirms Pledge To Mentor 1000 Women
Under Million Women Mentors
November 27, 2022
KARACHI-P&G Pakistan has reaffirmed its pledge to
mentor 1000 women under Million Women Mentors (MWM), a premier network and an
initiative of STEMconnector, dedicated to encouraging girls and women around
the world to pursue, persist, and succeed in STEM careers. This renewed
collaboration of P&G Pakistan with MWM programme is aimed at encouraging
women across Pakistan to pursue career goals and leadership opportunities under
the mentorship of senior leaders of P&G. During the pilot, P&G Pakistan
exceeded its target to mentor 500 women from professional circles to benefit
from better projects, access to leadership, advocacy at higher levels, and
mutual support. Adil Farhat, CEO P&G Pakistan, appreciating the initiative
said, “This is something close to my heart and I believe with confidence and
ambition, something women are too often discouraged from when we’re young,
mentors can help reignite that fire and push women to achieve more than we’ve been
told they’re destined for. Being a strong advocate of equality, P&G aims to
enable women to work confidently and become an equal part of the industry
through MWM program. We are aligned on taking many more of such initiatives in
the future that will result in an equitable society for all.”
In the recent years, P&G has bagged the title of
Champion at the OICCI Women Empowerment Awards for two consecutive years. With
its global initiative #WeSeeEqual, P&G aspires to build a world of equal
voice and equal opportunities regardless of gender. The #WeSeeEqual program
demonstrates P&G’s continued commitment to create a more equal world. As
one of the world’s largest advertisers, P&G and its brands continue to
leverage their influential voice in media and advertising to drive further
awareness, tackle gender bias, spark conversations and motivate change. P&G
has also partnered with HOPE and UN Women for women’s skill development and
girls’ education in the country. Moreover, P&G as being a founder member of
the US-Pakistan Women’s Council’s corporate initiative, intent to advance its
gender diversity mission while supporting the US-Pakistan Women’s Council in
its attempts to increase women’s participation in the workforce.
“We are very excited to see that after a successful
pilot program, P&G is doubling the size of their mentoring program in
Pakistan,” said Dr. Jo Webber, CEO STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors. “We
know from research that mentoring programs like this have a dramatic,
life-changing effect on a person’s personal and professional growth, and social
and economic mobility.”
P&G is also a part of CEO Action for Diversity
& Inclusion and works with more than 50 global leaders through the Catalyst
CEO Champions for Change to advance the conversations in the organization.
Source: Nation.Com
https://www.nation.com.pk/27-Nov-2022/p-g-pakistan-reaffirms-pledge-to-mentor-1000-women-under-mwm
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All About Autonomy: Single Women Farmers Form
Collective, Become Entrepreneurs
By Press Trust Of India
27th November, 2022
Vivid orange marigolds, dense purple aubergines and
luminous green cabbages... not just farm produce but the colours of freedom for
the women of Rayagada in Odisha who defied a society unwilling to accept their
status as single women to collectively find independence.
Out to regain control over their lives and break free
of societal shackles, more than 30 widows, divorced or unmarried women formed
the Ekal Naari Sangathan (single women collective) in 2019. It was the starting
point for a profitable business venture that over time included more women, and
the turning point in their lives.
Women working as helpers in farms alongside men is a
common sight across India. But look carefully, hear closely and the difference
is clear.
The women of the tribal Dengasargi village in
Rayagada, who break into song in Kui language, are the main decision makers who
farm, market and sell their produce to earn their livelihood.
The Sangathan began with three acres to grow marigold
as well as vegetables such as bitter gourd, aubergine and cabbage. In the three
years since, the land being cultivated has grown to 40 acres. The women’s
families own land between 0.5 acre to 2 acres on which they grow flowers and
vegetables. The collective sells it in the market. The amount earned goes
directly in their bank accounts every week.
“We had a turnover of Rs 47 lakh last year and this
season we have made Rs 76 lakh. Of this, each woman farmer gets between Rs
80,000-1.5 lakh profit depending upon the size of land they are carrying out
the cultivation on,” said Morepingidhi.
She is a board member of Annapoorna, the collective
formed with the help of the government and NGOs, to sell their produce. There
are 98 women in the company right now.
For these women, most from the Kondha tribe, who
didn’t or couldn’t get married, got divorced or were widowed, the financial
independence has translated to not just autonomy but also respect and equal
status in their families and in society. "We were abused, called names for
stepping out of our homes to farm. But when the money started coming in, our status
not just in society but also in our own family changed,” Morepingidhi told PTI.
The 35-year-old said she could not get married due to
a leg injury and didn’t get a chance to study because of her family’s financial
condition. She worked all her life in a farm where she grew rice and millet,
just enough for the family to survive with nothing left to sell in the market.
Saalmeinpedenti, 40, lost her husband when she was
very young and started working as a daily wager and a domestic help. She
recalls mortgaging a pair of gold earrings 10 times to take a loan to help the
family.
“I joined the collective because it gave me a tiny ray
of hope that my financial situation may improve and that was the best decision
of my life,” she said.
“I initially grew vegetables on my own but it was not
profitable and I did not know how to sell it in the market. I would wake up at
4 am every morning and carry them door to door to sell but it was not yielding
any profit. That is when I decided to join the collective. Now I have bought
gold and I am also getting my house renovated,” Sivai said.
“There is also a proposal with the state government to
open solar cold storage in nearby areas so we can store our produce and sell it
when we get the right price in the market,” she said.
Savita, for instance, who said she got a new way of
life. “Now every house has food on their table which was not the case earlier.”
She said distress migration in their village stopped after the collective was
formed.
It has been a tough journey towards self sufficiency
for the women, many who never received a formal education and struggled to
learn the tricks of the trade.
“We would go to market early in the morning and
observe how crops are sold. We also received help from the government and civil
society organisations like Pradan,” Saalmeinpedenti said.
The tribal women farmers were brought under the
Agriculture Production Cluster (APC) programme led by the Odisha government,
Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation, and Pradan.
Under APC, they received support from various
government departments such as Horticulture, Mission Shakti, Panchayati Raj
& Drinking Water, Women & Child Development, and Odisha Livelihood
Mission to help build their organisation.
“We were not just taught the trade but also how we can
use environmentally friendly insecticides and pesticides in our field made from
cow dung, urine, tamarind and honey,” Saalmeinpedenti said.
Hemant Bag, the block development officer of Rayagada
district, said the important thing is that NGOs and the government joined hands
to empower the women.
“We did not work in silos and made sure that we are
able to fill knowledge gaps wherever required. Most importantly, these women
are doing everything on their own and we are just for their guidance,” he said.
According to Pramathesh Ambasta, chief executive
officer of the BRLF, the organisation is already in discussions with the Odisha
government to expand the scope of the programme.
As their lives improve in many tangible and intangible
ways, the women of Annapoorna say their collective is an inspiration for other
women who want to study and become entrepreneurs and take their business
forward.
Source: Republic World
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/march-freedom-afghan-london/d/128499