Women's Refugee Commission - Women's Refugee Commission - Blog

Women Are a Critical Part of Immigration Reform: Let's Include Them This Time

dianaq@wrcommission.org (Michelle Brané) — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:24:35 +0000

On April 17, we at the Women's Refugee Commission (WRC) welcomed the introduction of S. 744, the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013." For those of us who are veterans of the immigration reform efforts of 2006 and 2007, this day marked a long-awaited return to a serious national conversation about our immigration system. But April 17 also represented a major step forward for the protection of immigrant women's rights -- something we at the WRC have been working towards for more than 15 years.

Read the full article on Huffington Post here.

Meet Dhana Lama, Program Coordinator

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Stephanie Selekman) — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:52:12 +0000

Periodically, we’ll be featuring interviews with members of our staff talking about how they got into the field and what inspires them. Here we highlight Dhana Lama, Program Coordinator. Dhana supports the entire staff of the Women’s Refugee Commission with a wide range of administrative and logistical services, ensuring that operations run flawlessly.

Interview by Stephanie Selekman

A Tribute to Catherine O'Neill from the 2013 Voices of Courage awards luncheon

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Thu, 09 May 2013 00:03:39 +0000

A Tribute to Catherine O'Neill, Delivered by Jurate Kazickas

There was, quite simply, no one like Catherine.No one with her combination of intelligence, savviness, connections, compassion, brashness and passion.

More than 20 years ago, visiting refugee camps as an IRC board member, she saw with her own eyes the plight of young girls and women, how their specific needs were slighted or ignored, despite the fact that they were 80 percent of the displaced population.

Voices of Courage Honoree Atim Caroline Ogwang: Acceptance Speech

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:29:09 +0000

Voices of Courage Honoree Dabaho Hassan Maow: Acceptance Speech

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Fri, 03 May 2013 05:25:59 +0000

An Interview With Our 2013 Voices of Courage Honoree Atim Caroline Ogwang

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:31:43 +0000

Born in what is now South Sudan, Atim Caroline Ogwang lost her hearing when she was five when explosives left by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels detonated when she was picking fruit. She is currently human rights, sign language and gender officer of a nonprofit organization called the Southern Sudan Deaf Development Concern (SSDDC). At SSDDC, Atim Caroline promotes and advocates for deaf girls’ education, organizes deaf women to work towards self-reliance and capacity-building and calls for the full inclusion and participation of women with disabilities in international development programs. Among Atim Caroline’s many talents, she advocates through a performance art called deaf story telling with music.

Where were you born? Tell us about your family.

Soon after I was born in South Sudan, my family became refugees in Uganda. There are eight children in our family – three girls and five boys. I am number seven. I lost both of my parents in the war by the time I turned 10 years old. I was left in the care of my teenage sisters and brothers, all trying to survive in a very harsh environment.

An Interview With Our 2013 Voices of Courage Honoree Dahabo Hassan Maow

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:54:47 +0000

Orphaned as an infant in Somalia, Dahabo Hassan Maow lost her leg after she was caught in crossfire at age 14. Unable to access sufficient assistance at the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya, she was eventually referred to Heshima Kenya, an organization that supports unaccompanied refugee youth in Nairobi. Dahabo helped create the Maisha Collective, an entrepreneurship-training program designed to help vulnerable girls—many who have disabilities of their own—earn and save money. She resettled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2010, which is home to over 50 percent of the U.S. Somali population. Dahabo is a role model for the potential of persons with disabilities to lead full lives.

Where were you born? Tell us about your family.

I was born in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. I never knew my parents or if I have sisters and brothers. I was an orphan from the time I was a small baby. My mother’s friend raised me.

A Mother In A Refugee Camp

dianaq@wrcommission.org (Diana Quick) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:20:08 +0000

Last week, the world received the sad news that Chinua Achebe, the great Nigerian writer and poet, had passed away. The Women’s Refugee Commission’s Geneva Representative, Rachael Reilly, remembers one of his poems, “A Mother in a Refugee Camp,” that had a profound impact on her as an 18-year-old in England. Rachael has devoted her professional career to advancing the rights of refugees, particularly women and girls. As she wrote us the other day, “In a way, it all started with Chinua Achebe’s poem.” We are honored to share that poem with our friends and supporters.

A Mother In A Refugee Camp

No Madonna and Child could touch
Her tenderness for a son
She soon would have to forget. . . .

Formidable Challenges and New Opportunities: Syrian Refugees with Disabilities

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:00:18 +0000

Earlier this month, the number of Syrian refugees passed the 1 million mark. According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) there are now more than 375,000 Syrian refugees in neighboring Lebanon.

In any refugee crisis, persons with disabilities face significant challenges accessing vital humanitarian assistance programs. Emma Pearce, the Women’s Refugee Commission’s senior program officer for our disabilities initiative, is in Lebanon this month at the request of UNHCR to provide program advice and support.

During field visits with Handicap International and UNCHR’s community services team, Emma met people with newly acquired impairments as a result of injuries from the conflict in Syria. Agencies report seeing increasing numbers of refugees with new disabilities due to war injuries, and are coordinating with each other and Lebanese health services to provide medical care and rehabilitation. Emma also met with persons with developmental delays, hearing and vision impairments and their families – and noted that many are living in collective shelters that they share with other families, renting rooms in buildings still under construction or living in tented settlements.

UN Conference Reaffirms the Right of Women and Girls to Live Free of Violence. But Not Without a Fight

dianaq@wrcommission.org (Elizabeth Cafferty, Senior Advocacy Officer) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:27:49 +0000

Turtle Bay, the small neighborhood of New York that is home to the United Nations, is much quieter this week. Over the weekend, the last of the more than 6,000 advocates who were in New York for the United Nations’ annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) returned home.

This year’s CSW was the largest gathering ever assembled to address violence against women and girls, the theme of this year’s meeting. Some advocates, especially those who were unable to stay the full two weeks and see the meeting through to its conclusion, left weary and discouraged. It’s not that these advocates, of which I was one tired of hearing women’s stories, or failed to be inspired by the millions of women, girls—and increasingly boys and men—from South Sudan to Burma who are working to eradicate gender-based violence. These civil society activists, parliamentarians and others who spoke are models of how to work in extremely challenging conditions to end human rights abuses and gender inequality. Their efforts on behalf of the most vulnerable, including girls, those with disabilities and migrant and displaced women, moved everyone who heard them.

UN Report Highlights Displaced Women and Girls’ Risk for Sexual Violence, Demands Greater Action to Help Survivors

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Elizabeth Cafferty) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 02:53:15 +0000

Today the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative (SRSG) for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, released her annual report on sexual violence perpetrated in conflict and post-conflict situations. And while I reminded myself that it is major step for this office to exist, and this report to be issued at the request of the Security Council itself, I could not help but be depressed and disturbed as I read it.

Read the AlertNet Article here.

The Power of Prevention: Tools to Help End Violence against Women and Girls in Crises

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Sarah Costa) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 04:17:39 +0000

This year, as we mark International Women's Day (March 8), we have some major milestones to celebrate. Just last week, for example, the U.S. House and Senate approved the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which assists victims of domestic and sexual violence. And yesterday, President Obama signed the Act into law. This is a great victory for women in the United States.

Read the full article on Huffigton Post.

The Power of Prevention: Investing in Safe and Effective Livelihood Programs for Displaced Women

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Sarah Costa) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 04:10:48 +0000

At the opening of the 57^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations last Monday, the chair of the Commission spoke in clear and succinct language about this year’s theme—eliminating and preventing all forms of violence against women and girls. As the chair put it, “The current situation of violence against women and girls is unacceptable. Together we can find the solutions and bring about change.”

Read the full article on AlertNet.

The Power of Prevention—Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in Crises

EmilyS@wrcommission.org (Emily Shrair) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:31:50 +0000

The two young girls were looking for firewood when the insurgents attacked them. They had left the refugee camp at six in the morning and begun their trek through the desert in search of scraps of wood or roots that could be used as fuel; firewood rations distributed by the United Nations had long been used up, and in the camp, no fuel meant no food. Five miles and several hours later, the two thirteen-year-olds had found only a few small sticks, hardly enough to keep a fire going. As a last resort, they knelt in the dirt near the shriveled stump of a tree, digging with their hands in search of hidden roots, littering the small patch of earth around them with holes. When they saw the five soldiers approaching, they tried to run away, but the men were too fast.