June 2007 e-newsletter
Inter Pares' E-Newsletter
Weaving Solidarity with Sudanese Women
In this e-newsletter:
- Letter of Introduction
- Excerpts from:
- Weaving Solidarity with Sudanese Women
- Her Story: An Interview with Neimat Kuku Mohamed
- Daring to Dream: Celebrating the Gender Centre's 10th Anniversary
- Sudan at a Glance
- Video: Interviews with Sudanese Women Activists
- Update on attacks against Inter Pares' counterparts in Guatemala
- Update from the Campaign "Ban Terminator in Canada"
- Photo Essay: "Searching for Justice in Guatemala"
Links
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June, 2007
Dear friends,
Despite the militarization and long-standing armed conflicts that have deeply affected the daily lives of Sudanese women, our colleagues from the Gender Centre for Research and Training in Khartoum are courageously working to promote women's rights and gender equality. As 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the Gender Centre, Inter Pares honours and celebrates this inspirational group of people with our June Bulletin, entitled Weaving Solidarity with Sudanese Women.
I recently visited our Gender Centre colleagues in Sudan, and in this Bulletin I share with you the many conversations I had with the dedicated Sudanese women and men who are working to build a peaceful and equitable future for all. Years of repression have contributed to the isolation of Sudanese civil society, which makes their international relationships, including the one with Inter Pares, all the more meaningful. Your donations have helped sustain our relationship with the Gender Centre over the years.
When we nurture solidarity between those working for social justice around the world, we strengthen our connections and learn from each other. Talking to one another about our hopes and fears, sharing our histories of activism, and together confronting our challenges help to create a strong basis for collective action. It is a source of great inspiration to hear about women's courageous struggles for change in the world we share.
With your support, Inter Pares continues to accompany and nurture the efforts of women and men all over the world for peace and justice. We hope that the determination of these extraordinary people will inspire you to reaffirm your commitment to our work. As usual, if you have questions or comments, we invite you to share them with us.
Sincerely,
Caroline Boudreau
P.S. Please send in your gift today, so that together we can continue to promote women's rights and a peaceful future for all.
Weaving Solidarity with Sudanese Women
In March 2005, the World March of Women began a global journey which took them from Brazil to Burkina Faso and many countries in between to share the Women's Global Charter for Humanity. In each country, women illustrated their vision of an ideal world on a piece of cloth that was eventually sewn into a Global Solidarity Quilt. The quilt was displayed at the World Social Forum in Kenya in January 2007. Inter Pares' counterpart in Sudan, the Gender Centre for Research and Training, participated in making the Sudanese component of the quilt. During a recent visit to Sudan, staff member Caroline Boudreau talked to Sudanese women about their participation in the quilt-making, and their wider struggle to build relationships of mutual support and solidarity. Below, we share an excerpt from Caroline's travel journal.
Click here to read the rest of this article
Visit our web site at www.interpares.ca/en/publications/video/interviews.php to view video excerpts of the interview with Omaima El-Mardi.
Her Story: An Interview with Neimat Kuku Mohamed
Neimat Kuku Mohamed is the Research Coordinator at the Gender Centre, and is one of its six founding members. Here she shares with Caroline Boudreau her story of working for social change in Sudan.
Neimat, you have always been proud to call yourself an activist. What inspired you to become so involved in community issues?
By the time I entered university, the commitment to the struggle for human rights and democracy was already part of who I was. I was also quite independent and went on my own to study at the faculty of agriculture at Zagazig University in rural eastern Egypt. There I worked with small farmers, getting to know their daily struggles.
When I returned to Sudan in 1981, I immediately joined the Sudanese Women's Union (SWU) and the Agriculturist Trade Union (ATU). This was when structural adjustment programs imposed by the World Bank were beginning in Sudan, affecting all aspects of Sudanese society, from education policies to small-scale farming.
Click here to read the rest of this article
Visit our web site at www.interpares.ca/en/publications/video/interviews.php to view video excerpts of the interview with Neimat Kuku Mohamed.
Daring to Dream: Celebrating the Gender Centre's 10th Anniversary
"Since we created the Gender Centre in 1997, we have never prevented ourselves from working on sensitive issues such as sexual violence against women or engaging with policy-makers to promote women's rights, because these are the very reasons why we came together." Asha, Neimat, Omaima, Ahmed, Mariam and other colleagues speak passionately about their history as they prepare for a series of special events to mark the Gender Centre's 10th anniversary.
Click here to read the rest of this article
Sudan at a Glance
To understand some of the complex realities of Sudan, here are some key facts about a country located at many geographic, cultural and social crossroads.
Geography
- Sudan, the largest country in Africa, has an area of 2,500,000 km².
- It borders nine other countries and the Red Sea.
- Its capital, Khartoum, lies at the confluence of two rivers, the Blue and the White Nile.
- Its climate ranges from a dry desert in the north to a wet, lush south.
Click here to read the rest of this article
Video: Interviews with Sudanese Women Activists
During her visit to Sudan in February 2007, Inter Pares staff member, Caroline Boudreau, spoke with Neimat Kuku Mohamed and Omaima El-Mardi from the Gender Centre for Research and Training, about their experience as Sudanese women activists. Please click here to view excerpts from these interviews.
Update on attacks against Inter Pares' counterparts in Guatemala
Many of you are aware that several of Inter Pares' local counterparts in Guatemala working on the issue of sexual violence in armed conflict have been attacked and intimidated over the past year, including Project Counselling Service (PCS). When the violence escalated in mid-May, we e-mailed you asking for your support. Many of you have notified us that you have contacted the Canadian and Guatemalan authorities expressing your concern for the safety of our colleagues. For an update on this situation, please click here.
Update from the Campaign "Ban Terminator in Canada"
As a member of the Canadian Ban Terminator Steering Committee, Inter Pares invites you to demonstrate your support to Bill C-448 to ban "Terminator technology" - seeds genetically engineered to be sterile after first harvest. On May 31, 2007, this bill was tabled by Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko, Agriculture Critic for the New Democratic Party, with support from Bloc Québécois' André Bellavance. It is now vital to tell to the Prime Minister and your Member of Parliament that you want them to support this bill. For more information, click here.
Photo Essay: Searching for Justice in Guatemala
Click here to view the photo essay "Searching for Justice in Guatemala", which features photographs and excerpts from the travel journal of Samantha McGavin, who along with Alison Crosby, travelled to Guatemala, and learned more about women's struggles to rebuild their communities and society after war.
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Inter Pares
221 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6P1
Phone (1-613) 563-4801 or (1-866) 563-4801 (toll free) Fax (1-613) 594-4704
With the support of thousands of Canadians, Inter Pares works in Canada and around the world with social change organizations who share the analysis that poverty and injustice are caused by inequities within and among nations, and who are working to promote peace, and social and economic justice in their communities and societies. Charitable registration number (BN) 11897 1100 RR000 1.
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