ASIA HAPSARI Kabupaten Deli Serdang, Indonesia Very few women-centered media sources exist within Indonesia, a country whose political, social and cultural policies remain ingrained with patriarchy and religious conservatism. Women’s involvement in civic and political life is discouraged, and their voices are all but silent in mainstream media. For more than a decade, the women of HAPSARI have been fighting to change this oppressive environment through media projects and other strategies. Himpunan Serikat Perempuan Indonesia (HAPSARI) was formed in 1990 by a group of women in Northern Sumatera to raise awareness of women’s human rights. In 2003, HAPSARI utilized its first grant from the Global Fund to establish a radio program that focused on expanding women’s civil and political participation. Talk shows on women’s political rights offer women the opportunity to empower themselves by sharing their experiences and life stories and learning to participate or design their own radio programs. Soon after launching its radio program, the organization created an independent theater group that performs plays showcasing stories about violations of women’s rights that occur every day in Indonesia. In the aftermath of the 2005 tsunami, the group developed a recovery program for women survivors of the tsunami, using theater and other tools to connect with and counsel women heads of households who were widowed by the tsunami. Through its traveling theater performances, HAPSARI hopes to illuminate the challenges faced by rural women while offering a space for dialogue between theater members and women in the fishing communities on how to address these challenges. HAPSARI now looks to GFW to support its newest program entitled, “Political Empowerment for Women through the Development of Alternative Media.” The three principal aims of this program are to; (a) increase awareness, support and respect for women’s political rights; (b) develop strategies and models for alternative approaches for strengthening women’s rights through radio and theater; and (c) increase women’s access to information on their rights and strengthen their role in contribution towards media campaigns on women’s political rights. The Global Fund was pleased to provide a renewal grant of $10,000 to HAPSARI in 2006-2007. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Northern Uganda Women Communicators Organisation Gulu, Uganda Northern Uganda Women Communicators Organization (NUWCO) was formed in 2001 to raise awareness about the negative impact of armed conflict on children, women, and households. NUWCO’s work is particularly important given the group’s location in the war-torn north of the country, where women have been significantly affected by all sides of the 20-year conflict. Thousands of girls and women have been abducted and conscripted into the Lord’s Resistance Army’s rebel forces for forced labor and sexual slavery. Many women have lost their homes and live in internally-displaced persons camps along with the1.6 million persons who have been displaced since the conflict began, with little to no access to shelter, food, contraception and other health services, proper sanitation, or education. These women are at high risk for sexual assault, domestic violence, and HIV/AIDS. The situation in Northern Uganda has been severely neglected by the media and has hence been dubbed by Doctors Without Borders as one of the world’s top 10 most under-reported humanitarian stories. NUWCO works to change this by fostering “more effective information management and media reporting about the impact of the conflict in Northern Uganda on the children, women, and other disadvantaged groups.” Over the past six years, NUWCO has become an active force for women in Northern Uganda, training women journalists and rural women in peace building, conflict management, and reporting. The group’s other activities include documenting the situation of women impacted directly by the war, publishing and disseminating information, advocating and lobbying for effective policies at both the national and district levels, networking, and building capacity for NUWCO members and other women’s groups. On International Women’s Day in 2006, the group aired a radio talk show on the role of women in the reconciliation of the war-torn region of Northern Uganda and visited women affected by the war in prisons, hospitals, and IDP camps. During the most recent elections in February 2006, the first multi-party election in over 20 years, NUWCO provided civic education and election monitoring, including monitoring and analyzing media coverage. NUWCO received a $6,500 grant from the Global Fund to establish a media Resource Center that will “train women journalists to access information from the Internet” and empower them to produce quality news. The group writes, “The Internet Center will also offer training in advocacy, networking, and rights-based reporting.” Through these efforts, the group hopes to strengthen local women’s capacity, widen networks of women’s organizations, promote peace-building, and improve the quality of information both to and from their community. Omega Television Lusaka, Zambia In Lusaka, Zambia, Omega Television links the public, particularly women and marginalized groups, with policy makers by way of media. In a country where one in every six adults are estimated to be HIV-positive, Omega Television’s emphasis on combating sexual abuse and violence as a means of preventing new infections in women is crucial. The AIDS pandemic has already created an estimated 600,000 orphans in Zambia, and orphan girls are often sexually abused by their guardians. Faced with this reality, many girls opt to live on the streets with other children in similar circumstances. However, the streets are not safe and the young girls find themselves exchanging sexual favors for food, clothes and money. Due to their subordinate status, married women are unable to negotiate safer sex with their partners. Omega Television notes that, “Most interventions designed to stem the spread of HIV infection have centered around the use of condoms and abstinence and do not take note of the deep cultural complexity of Zambian life which renders futile any such attempts to curb the spread of the infection.” In 2006, Omega Television was one of the groups that lobbied for the inclusion of gender rights in Zambia’s new Constitution, which is to be approved in 2008. In collaboration with Human Rights Watch, Omega Television documented a report on “Suffering in Silence,” which highlights the cycle of abuse faced by young orphaned girls. As a result of the report, the office of the President wrote to Human Rights Watch stating that following his review of the report on sexual abuse of girls in Zambia and how this exposes them to HIV infection, he has ordered the establishment of an inter-ministerial program on the sexual abuse of girls. Omega Television received $8,000 from the Global Fund, enabling them to purchase equipment to produce documentaries on violence against women, HIV/AIDS, and orphans in rural communities. According to the group, the documentaries will sensitize and create a greater awareness of the magnitude of the problems, with the ultimate aim of compelling the government to take action. EUROPE AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES CURE Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Eleven years after the Balkan war formally ended, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the other six independent Balkan states continue on the path to recovery from the political, economic, and humanitarian toll of the war. BiH’s 4 million citizens are sharply divided based on national, religious and ethnic identity. Forty five percent of people are unemployed, a third of all citizens live on the verge of poverty, and around 70 percent of young people are trying to flee the country. At the same time, young people returning to the country after growing up in exile are bringing with them media savvy, new forms of expression, and a fresh perspective on feminism. This year, the Global Fund made a first-time grant to CURE, a promising group of young feminists raising awareness about gender inequality in the difficult conditions of post-war Sarajevo. CURE started in 2004 as an informal group of young human rights activists organizing feminist art events, producing audio, video, and digital materials for social change causes, and conducting research sparking public dialogue on democracy. CURE is planning to create a “multi-faceted, self-sustainable, multi-media center for a women’s movement revival” that will include an online directory of women’s NGOs, electronic networking tools, and a survey of the training and P.R. needs of women’s NGOs. In 2006, CURE organized PitchWise, the first festival of women’s art in BiH. The festival, featuring ten visual art exhibitions, six music shows, six stage performances, and a number of literary and film events and workshops, lasted three days and was attended by 400 participants. A wide range of feminist and women’s rights themes, from sexuality to the women’s activist history, were explored and discussed by activists and artists across generations. CURE used a $17,500 Global Fund grant to organize the 2007 PitchWise festival, held September 6-12, 2007 in Sarajevo. One of the Global Fund’s regional advisors enthusiastically endorses CURE, saying: “I love CURE! [The group] has done the most creative program imaginable, incorporating arts and culture that promote social change into lively programs that attract crowds of young people, both men and women. And in Bosnia! [The founders and members] are in their twenties and bring a fresh and durable voice to feminism in this millennium.” MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Women, Media and Development (TAM) Bethlehem, Palestine Women, Media and Development (TAM) was established in 2004 in the West Bank by a group of media professionals who saw "a lack of consideration for women and gender issues in media coverage in Palestine." They created TAM to facilitate the self-empowerment of women through raising awareness about gender equality and women's rights, as well as to strengthen the role of women in producing media and improving the representation of women in Palestinian media. The group's activities include conducting capacity building trainings on gender issues for media professionals, producing TV programs on women's issues, and training non-media professionals in video production. TAM sees media as a critical tool for social change, stating, "There is a great opportunity to use media as a tool to give women a voice, a face, and complete representation of their lives." According to the group, Palestine has the highest rate of internet users in the Arab world. In addition, a UNICEF survey in 2000 found that the Palestinian population ranks among the highest worldwide in terms of rates of television viewing. Particularly due to unemployment, curfews, and closures, 84 percent of the population watches the 60 local television stations (as well as satellites). As a result, media plays a large role in shaping public perceptions of women, their rights, and gender roles. TAM’s mission and projects directly address the use of media and internet to promote and enhance the image of women, create room for dialogue on many “taboo” issues relating to gender, and promote more networking between women’s organizations and individuals. TAM’s primary program is the participatory media trainings (PVT) that teach movie-making and production with a gender sensitive approach. PVT is for individuals who have never touched a camera, talked in front of a camera, or made a movie. The training seeks to use video as a tool to develop individuals’ self confidence and creative expression, while addressing topics such as human rights, democracy, and women’s rights. Several films produced in recent trainings have been broadcast on local TV stations in the West Bank, and TAM is now looking to expand the PVT program to involve youth in media training. TAM also conducts trainings for media professionals on “concepts such as gender, democracy, and human rights, and how to incorporate these concepts in their field of work.” The training focuses on film-making techniques, such as editing and directing, with the goal of producing gender sensitive material. The group is beginning to work on a Women’s Oral History project to create short films on the history of Palestine through the personal stories of women, in order to raise awareness on women’s issues, create positive female role models, and offer women “a real voice to share their story, difficulties, and concerns to the whole society.” TAM is using a $20,000 grant from the Global Fund to create a website for women artists, writers, activists, and journalists that will serve as a tool to link Palestinian women from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to “express their voice through their creativity” with a focus on gender and women. The website will also serve as an online database of resources on women’s issues nationally and internationally, and will encourage networking within Palestine and abroad. LATIN AMERICA Fundación Voz Propia—Alas de Mariposa Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica Fundación Voz Própia - Alas de Mariposa [Own Voice Foundation – Wings of the Butterfly] is a Costa Rican organization that promotes art and culture recognizing women’s overlooked contributions to history. The group’s main objective is to implement the “Wings of the Butterfly” project, which seeks to empower new generations of feminists to continue the struggle for gender equality and social justice. "Wings of the Butterfly" is a musical theatre show based on Maria Suarez’ book entitled "Women on the Edge of Paradigmatic Change." The title of the work is based on a feminist interpretation of the butterfly effect of the Chaos Theory that states that everything is so interconnected and so fragile to the influences of those connections, that the smallest action in any one place can have an immense effect somewhere else. This re-conceptualization of the butterfly effect is documented in this artistic project through the symbolic experiences of the African American civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, when she refused to vacate her seat on the bus to a white person during the segregationist era in the southern United States. Leading the artistic production is the case of "Lucy", one of the oldest skeletons ever found, who tells us that there is a lost paradigm, and describes what could likely have happened during the transition from matrilineal societies to patriarchy and the consequences of that paradigmatic shift for humanity and the planet. These women and many others have triggered further debates in science and their societies, creating science from their own experiences. By connecting, through art, the stories of women who change the world with the testimonies and knowledge of the women and men that will participate in the theatre show, the group wants to legitimize women’s ways of knowing and linking the knowledge that they are contributing today, with that of women everywhere and at anytime in history. To complement the theatre production, Fundación Voz Propia is organizing workshops for women to become acquainted with the women portrayed in the show; creating an Advisory Group comprised of feminists that will help to internationalize the project incorporating their own experiences; and documenting stories of contemporary feminists and their experiences in struggling for their rights. In January 2007, author and producers Guadalupe Urbina and María Suárez Toro were selected by the Foundation GAEA as resident artists to work together on writing the theatrical production, Wings of the Butterfly, based on the recent doctoral dissertation of Suárez. The shared award consisted of funding for two months as Sea Change Resident Artists in Provincetown, Massachusetts. During their residency, the prizewinners’ time was dedicated to their artistic work on the theater production. The scholarship also allowed them to further develop the theoretical foundation and methodology of their work, as well as to have the time and opportunity to share with other artists from around the world. The Global Fund awarded Fundacion Voz Propia a grant of $15,000 to cover operational expenses of the theatrical production.