International Women's Day Success Stories!

All over Morocco, in Dar Chababs, Nedi Neswis, and even the streets of Rabat, Peace Corps Volunteers and Moroccans celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8th.

Volunteers participated in a wide variety of activities, fairs, and parties to celebrate Moroccan women. The GAD committee developed a variety of toolkits for IWD including toolkits on leadership, citizenship and volunteerism, women’s empowerment, and harassment. Many PCVs were able to use the toolkits and reported back exciting results!

Over the month of February, Tom and Jan Hunter centered their English classes on themes important to women. All of their classes culminated into a week-long IWD program focusing on women’s health, our GAD movie, and Moroccan women leaders. Many women didn't even know about the new female mayor of Marrakech, but they certainly knew about her after their successful celebration.

The Association Oxygene Ouarzazate and Kathy Howell-Burke organized a hugely successful day focusing on violence against women with over 130 people attending! She wrote about the event: “The Director of the Association Oxygene Ouarzazate (with my assistance) facilitated the screening of a 40-minute documentary titled "From Fear to Freedom: Ending Violence Against Women" by the Women's Learning Partnership. The video covered the various forms of violence, the negative impacts, legal and moral support and resources available, and strategies and partnerships to utilize in order to combat and end violence against women. All of these topics were discussed during the periodic pauses in the video and the guided discussion afterwards. What made this video and experience unique was that the documentary presented violence against women as a "Global Issue" not singling-out one country or culture. Also, the women attendees were able to confidentially voice their experiences, concerns, and ideas on how to proceed forward.”

To recognize IWD, Martha Fedorowicz hosted a two-day women’s festival at her Dar Chabab with a female lawyer, a female doctor, and 86 motivated Moroccan women. The women were able to ask the two professionals anonymous questions about their health and legal rights. The festival also included a panel of women speaking about artisanal works, a play on women’s empowerment, a fashion show, an aerobic workout, and even fit in a party! Martha said that, “the women told me afterward that they really appreciated having this opportunity and felt like they learned a lot of new things that no one had told them before… I think the women really appreciated having the opportunity to ask questions anonymously from both a lawyer and a doctor.”

Michael Willis hosted an event on sexual harassment with 25 women using the GAD committee’s sexual harassment toolkit. After a skit about stopping harassment, the women shared their own experiences with sexual harassment, and created a red stop sign collage loudly proclaiming sexual harassment is unacceptable.

In Berkane, Krista Jorstad put together a leadership skills conference for the women of her Nedi Neswi.  Krista and her counterpart “asked them to think about women leaders in their own lives. Because of their age, most picked their mothers. We then did an art activity to make letters for their moms thanking them for their hard work.” The women then made some artwork for their mothers and watched the “You Can Dream” video. Krista was especially impressed with what happened afterwards: “At one point, several of the participants remarked that Berkane has a lot of educational opportunities for women to improve themselves and they would like to put what they have learned to use by giving back to the community.”

Some volunteers found new counterparts through their IWD events. After co-hosting a launch party for a new association, Carrie Thomson found she, “was impressed by how our new contact was motivated to help her fellow women improve their lives.”

Other volunteers enabled women in their sites to be leaders in their

community. Originally, Leslie Dias planned on facilitating a discussion about sexual harassment using the sexual harassment toolkit provided by the GAD committee. When Leslie shared her materials and ambitions the head of the association she was working with said that she wanted to facilitate the discussions on sexual harassment using the GAD toolkit and her own material. Leslie then led an art activity where women wrote about how they felt about sexual harassment and created a chain against sexual harassment using their papers. Leslie writes, “They were all buzzing and super excited when we finished. They said they hadn't done something that productive with that many young girls in a very long time. We are hoping to re-create the event by doing a one-day workshop once a month with a different theme each month. This particular association was amazing, but it happened to coincide with a day the Nedi Neswi was also holding an event, so hopefully the next one can be even bigger and more inclusive!” Leslie’s event was so successful it even made it into the local newspaper.

Over 45 volunteers hosted International Women’s Day events in their sites. Hundreds of women and men learned about health, leadership, harassment, and their rights. With this knowledge Moroccans can empower the future female teachers, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and leaders to take even bolder steps in future International Women’s Days.  

Article about Fatima-Zahra Mansouri, mayor of Marrakesh, now translated to Arabic!

Said Ousaka has provided us with a translated copy of the article included in the International Women's Day toolkit! Already included was the article in French, but we had requests for a copy in Arabic.

You can access the full toolkit here, the translated article in Arabic here, and editable posters about the event here.

The GAD committee hopes you had an amazing International Women's Day and were able to spread a little love to the women you know!

Toolkits to help celebrate IWD in Morocco

Peace Corps and the GAD Committee have teamed up with the Division of Feminine Affairs (a group under the Ministry of Youth and Sports who run the Nedi Neswis) to launch a week dedicated to celebrating women and discussing women's issues! Women's Week will start with an event in Sidi Kacem on March 12 and from March 12-19 PCVs in sites all around Morocco will be holding events to celebrate Moroccan women! 

PCVs around Morocco will be holding events to celebrate Moroccan women! If you need last minute ideas, GAD has several resources available to have an event or use in one of your classes anytime in March!

International Women’s Day Program Guide: 5 toolkit activities focusing on empowerment, sexual harassment, leadership, and volunteerism. Also, we have editable versions of the posters.

·       Honorable Man Toolkit: Excellent activity for men and boys!

·       Women’s Health Instructional Booklet: Available in French, English and Arabic!

You Can Dream Video: Stories of successful Moroccan women, in Arabic with English subtitles. Don't forget to download the discussion questions that go along with the video!

Focus on Women's Health

Joelle Jackson partnered with local women in Taznakht in a workshop titled: Women’s Rejuvenation Conference for the Development and Benefit of the Woman, from February 28-March 2. For three days, approximately 80 women from Taznakht and surrounding villages came to learn about important issues affecting Moroccan women, covering topics such as nutrition, exercise, and self esteem. In addition, Oxygen, a women’s advocate organization from Ouarzazate, presented information on Mudawana and women’s rights. A local doctor also presented information about reproductive health and breast cancer. Jackson hopes that the workshop partcipants will share the information with their mothers, daughters, sisters, and grandmothers in their communities.  

History of International Women's Day

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights" Gloria Steinem

All About International Women’s Day

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910
In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

1913-1914
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Wommen's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.

1918 - 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 and beyond
IWD is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally!! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp

Women's Empowerment Leadership Training

Peace Corps Morocco Volunteer, Kathleen Howell-Burke, has extended her service in order to provide leadership trainings for women throughout Morocco.  She has an upcoming three day Women’s Empowerment Leadership Training, Training of the Trainers (TOT), being held in Rabat in May 2013. Current Peace Corp Volunteers may nominate up to two women to attend this TOT. A total of 25 women are welcome to attend this event. The Rabat TOT will be the second in the series of leadership trainings. Her first TOT will be occurring in Ouarzazate with 25 women participating from the Souss-Massa-Draa Region from February 8th-10th, 2013.

The purpose of this leadership training is help build the capacity of women who are invested in their community.  Ms. Howell-Burke is collaborating with the Association Democratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM).  As she stated, one of the missions of the association is that “no matter what a woman’s position or status, they have the ability to be a leader and make a difference within their community” ADFM is known as the largest NGO in Morocco and has been instrumental in the women’s rights movement in Morocco. If you would like more information on their mission and activities check out their website. All attendees will be reimbursed for transportation, accommodation and meals. If you are a PCV and are interested in nominating women for this event, then you must fill-out the questionnaire and send it to Zagora.PCV@gmail.com.

Aladdin and the Girls

Health volunteer Jonathan Pleban has figured out an innovative way of transforming a timeless children’s story into an opportunity to teach youngsters in his community about gender equality. With audiences ranging from ages 4 through 14, Jonathan has been able to excite and keep children actively participated in discussions regarding the similarities and differences between boys and girls, men and women. Moreover, he has bridged the age-gap, and through a form of peer education, has enlisted the assistance of mature community members to lead the dialogue.  

How has he accomplished this? First he breaks-the-ice, and has his audience watch the animated version of Aladdin. The enchantment and action of the story does nothing less than invigorate and enthuse the children. Once the movie is over, Jonathan uses an unconventional tool for targeting kids; a PowerPoint presentation.  However, by using the images seen in the cartoon as the backdrop, Jonathan is able to keep the interest of his young crowd when addressing gender issues.

Jonathan’s second step is to get older participants involved. He will usually facilitate a session, as the discussion is led by an older member of the village. The educator clarifies information for the children, and answers questions as necessary, becoming inherently familiar with the subject. As the chief audience is fairly young, Jonathan repeats the same presentation once again, after a week or two, either as the main speaker, or using a different peer educator.

Jonathan’s work has shown that gender awareness can be broached at any age, by involving varying age groups!

This is a great opportunity for PCVs to encourage their students to become peer educators themselves, and to improve on their presentation skills.

Find Jonathan’s PowerPoint here to use with your youth group today!