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WOMEN’S MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY FUND GRANTEES - 2009
ProMedia-Gender
Yerevan, Armenia
ProMedia-Gender was founded in 2006, bringing together nine journalists from print, electronic, and broadcast media, and other specialists interested and experienced in gender-sensitive journalism. The group's journalists and sociologists seek to challenge the gender imbalance in the political sector in Armenia and the misrepresentation of women in the media. Its main activity is the regular publication of the newspaper insert Women and Politics in Russian and Armenian. This publication promotes women in politics, challenges gender stereotypes, educates the public about women's rights, and encourages regional collaboration among women journalists.
Request: To support and strengthen its work, ProMedia-Gender requests Global Fund support to cover operating expenses and the publications of five editions of "Women and Politics" in Russian and Armenian.
Grant amount: $20,000
Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan
Jakarta, Indonesia
Established in 1995 to create a space for feminist writing and reading, Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan (YJP) focuses on women's empowerment through media. The group concentrates its activities on four programs: the bimonthly Women's Journal, the first of its kind in Indonesia; a weekly women's radio program broadcast across the country; educational films on women's issues; and topical book publishing. YJP addresses the trafficking of women and children, gender-based violence, women's political participation, reproductive rights, migrant labor and poverty, the cultivation of male allies in the feminist movement, and women in conflict zones.
Request: YJP requested renewed funding to cover its overhead costs, as all of its other external funding sources are earmarked for specific projects or production costs.
Grant amount: $15,000
Dreamboat Development Theatre Foundation
Calabar, Nigeria
The Dreamboat Development Theatre Foundation was founded in southeastern Nigeria in 1987 with a mission to: 1) use modern theatre techniques, media and art forms to educate and help poor and exploited urban, peri-urban and rural women and adolescent girls in Nigeria attain improved reproductive health and challenge harmful cultural beliefs and practices; 2) eliminate the discriminatory and detrimental effects of traditional gender roles; 3) engender and promote social change and development ideas, values, attitudes and actions among women and girls; and 4) assist women and girls to realize their needs and aspirations for improved well-being, empowerment, gender equality, justice and sustainable development. Dreamboat produces a local television drama based on experiences culled from community members involving issues pertaining to woman's rights, especially her reproductive and sexual rights and health. Among the group's most outstanding accomplishments is the creation of a 39-episode, highly popular TV drama series, "Because I am a Woman," which has been dubbed in all of Nigeria's major languages as well as English.
Request: Dreamboat requests renewal support to: 1) facilitate a nine-month leadership capacity training for 100 women heads of community-based organizations from rural regions; 2) train and form community action groups to respond to violations of human rights; and 3) conduct advocacy with traditional leaders and elected officials on women's rights.
Grant amount: $20,000
Media Women Center for Development and Democracy
Monrovia, Liberia
The Media Women Center for Development and Democracy (MEWOCEDE) was formed in post-war Monrovia, Liberia in 2006 to advocate for women's rights and promote women's participation in the media profession. It advocates for women's rights in national development policies and undertakes community education on gender-based violence prevention. Additionally, MEWOCEDE is engaged in the production of media content through a gender lens as a strategy to inform women of their rights and potential roles in society. The group also documents gender-based violence cases and has created a network of women working in community radio.
Request: MEWOCEDE is requesting support to: 1) train women journalists to be gender aware and increase reporting from a gender perspective; 2) enhance visibility and professionalism of women in community radio; and 3) promote awareness and women's rights among rural women via radio listening clubs.
Grant amount: $8,000
Creative Women Forum
Al Remal, Gaza Strip
Creative Women Forum was established in 2005 by a group of concerned writers and intellectuals, who value creativity and cultural production in society and particularly among women. The Forum aims to promote feminist creativity in all domains, promote the culture of women's rights, foster and support young talent, and provide support to women researchers and artists. It works to promote feminist writing and representation in media, politics, and culture through training, engaging media outlets, and creating journals and other publications. The Forum organizes a monthly lecture series, a yearly conference, and cultural days focusing on classic and popular arts and children's creativity.
Request: The group is requesting funding to cover the expenses of a project that aims to train 15 women and men writers and journalists on writing skills, as well as teach them democratic and human rights values. The project's sub goals include: strengthening the concept of human rights within Palestinian culture and popularizing human rights and democracy in an effort to make them accessible to the general public.
Grant amount: $15,000
femLINKPACIFIC: Media Initiatives for Women
Suva, Fiji
femLINKPACIFIC (femLINK) was founded in September 2000 in response to a civil coup earlier that year. The group was born out of the peace vigil convened by the National Council of Women following the overthrow of the people's coalition government. Its mission is to empower women and communities by giving them a voice to fully participate in decision-making on policies that impact themes such as equality, development, and peace. The group uses myriad forms of media to promote education on women's roles in civic and political life. femLINK develops, produces, and distributes accessible, relevant communication materials while simultaneously working with civil society organizations, the mainstream media, and relevant government agencies to influence gender policies. femLINK's "suitcase radio" programs and community media initiatives raise women's awareness of gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health & sexuality and labor rights. Additional media programs provide women with effective tools for advocacy and attempt to foster community harmony by providing information and opening up safe space for debate.
Request: The group is requesting general GFW support for its Annual General Meeting, its strategic planning process, and salaries.
Grant amount: $18,200
Association of Defence for Women's Rights of Balkh
Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan
Association of Defense for Women's Rights of Balkh (ADWRB), formerly Balkh's Women Defense Council, was formed in 2002 to raise Afghan women's awareness of their constitutional rights and to provide advice, education and occupational development to vulnerable women. The group conducts various seminars for women and men on legal literacy and rights, women's political participation, marriage, and women's human rights under Islam and international law. In 2003, ADWRB established the only women's radio station in Afghanistan, Rabia-i-Balkhi, managed and operated solely by women. ADWRB maintains a resource center predominantly staffed and used by adolescent girls where they can access the internet, browse a library of books on women's rights and other significant topics, and gather information of interest.
Request: The group is requesting support to expand its project "Legal Assistance and Awareness to All" to Baghlan Province. The project aims to improve the access of women who have experienced violence to legal assistance through establishing a legal support center in Baghlan province. In addition to providing legal assistance to women, the center will conduct awareness raising and training for spiritual leaders, school teachers, students, and members of local shuras (councils). The training will focus on the negative consequences of forced marriage, child marriage, and violence against women, among other issues. Through TV and local radio broadcasting, the project will raise awareness of women's human rights among the general public in Baghlan Province.
Grant amount: $22,000
Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women (SPARROW)
Mumbai, Maharastra, India
In 1988, three women who were leaders in the women's studies field and involved in the Indian women's movement founded Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women (SPARROW). The organization aims "to document and archive all aspects of women's existence so that women can be written into history and so that their stories in their own words can be told in order to bring about change in society through change in language and perspectives." Mainly through publications, visual exhibits, workshops, and oral history documentaries, SPARROW documents and shares the "contemporary history of women's lives, women's expressions, and women's struggles." SPARROW tackles issues that detail the personal and public lives of women, past and present, including dowry violence, women's roles in fostering communal harmony, and women's contribution to organizing for labor rights, environmental conservation and indigenous rights.
Request: SPARROW is requesting funding to help cover salaries and stabilize the organization during a period of financial crisis, since one of its key local funders recently pulled its next three years of funding due to a change in funding priorities. In the meantime, SPARROW is trying to build up a corpus fund that will allow it to continue work without breaks in funding. In the future, the organization dreams of building a Museum of Women's History and History of Women, which will be a "unique way of bringing women's history into the public sphere."
Grant amount: $12,000
Mujeres Amazonas
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Founded in 2000 in as the first and only lesbian group in Venezuela, Mujeres Amazonas
[Amazonian Women] now operates as an organization with transnational focus based in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Mujeres Amazonas' mission and goal is to "shape young women in high-risk situations, in different areas of art, with a strong commitment to social change, providing them the necessary tools to be able to take advantage of information and communication technologies." Made up largely of young women, the primary activities of Mujeres Amazonas include workshops and courses in arts, technologies, and vocational and life skills. The group produces art and cinematic works that counter stereotypes of and discrimination against women and address the situations faced by various communities of women in the region, particularly young women, LBTQ women, and women living in high-risk situations. Addressing themes such as STI transmission among lesbians, parenting lesbian daughters, health education for lesbian couples and dealing with domestic violence within lesbian relationship, the group has created an important niche within Venezuela, Guatemala, Peru, and elsewhere in the region. In its first few years of operation in Venezuela, the group launched a virtual magazine, produced a two-act play called "In the Closet," and organized the first Pride Celebration and Congress on Sexual Diversity in Venezuela. Mujeres Amazonas continues to maintain an impressive website (www.amazonasdevenezuela.org) and to conduct an LGBT-focused radio program reaching Spanish-speaking audiences throughout the region.
Request: Mujeres Amazonas is requesting funds for operating support and specifically to allow it to provide stable salaries for its fulltime staff to enable them to dedicate themselves fully to the organization and ensure that the organization can continue its activities sustainably and dedicate more time to training, research, and reflection. In the next year, Amazonas is working to solidify its internal structure and its presence in the daily life of Guatemala City, including organizing regular street theater performances and exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, discussions and workshops, running its media lab, poetry readings, and many other creative and inclusive pursuits. In broadening its reach throughout the region, it hopes to share the work of LBTQ women with a wider audience in the region and provoke reflection on women's human rights in Latin America.
Grant amount: $20,000
ICW LATINA Comunidad Internacional de Mujeres Viviendo con VIH-SIDA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Comunidad Internacional de Mujeres Viviendo con VIH-SIDA (ICW Latina) [International Community of Women Living with HIV-AIDS, Latin America] is part of the larger, multi-regional International Community of Women Living with HIV-AIDS, the only international network led and made up of women living with HIV. The primary objectives of ICW Latina are to advocate so that the voices of HIV positive women are heard in decision-making spaces, to fight for changes that improve their quality of life, and to inform societies about HIV/AIDS and its impact on women. In 2007, ICW led a regional HIV prevention campaign that involved the production and distribution of a CD, "Women for Life," which contained songs written and song by female artists from countries throughout Latin America. The group also produces a trimestral magazine for its 1,700 members based in 17 countries, "No Estas Sola." ICW reports that its strategic, far-reaching communications efforts have led to enhanced visibility and credibility regionally and internationally, which has improved their institutional influence on matters relating to women and HIV/AIDS.
Request: ICW Latina is currently requesting GFW general support to continue its regional activities.
Grant amount: $20,000
Palestinian Women's Information and Media Center
Gaza, Palestine
The Palestinian Women's Information and Media Center (PWIMC) was formed in 2004 as a support system for NGOs and governmental institutions seeking to promote women's affairs and rights in Palestine. It aids women's groups in conducting self-evaluations, publishes its own research and the work of other feminist organizations, hosts symposiums on gender and Palestine with political and NGO representatives, and operates a women's library and database documenting the legal and social status of women to promote positive, gender-focused legislative reform. Last year, the group held a training session to enhance the writing skills of 60 women working in media. The group also launched an internet site under the name of "young writers" to enable the trainees to practice their writing skills. The web site hosted 40 stories, articles, and reports, all written by the young trainees, in order to provide them with exposure, and enable them to gain ?experience in the field of writing.
Request: PWIC is requesting funds to cover the expenses of 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 due to it. The project's main objective, according to PWIMC, is to reinsert that group of women into Palestinian society, and help repair the damage that the war has caused to their lives.
Grant amount: $18,000
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