Empowering Women

Thanks to you generous contributions at the 2017 Annual Iftar Dinner. The beneficiary of the event was Women for Women International. For 24 years, in countries affected bywar and conflict, Women for Women International (WfWI) has served almost 500,000 women. They offer a year-long program to the most marginalized women so the women can learn to earn and save money, improve health and well-being, influence decisions in their home and community, and connect to networks for support. The Syrian civil war has resulted in mass displacement regarded by many as the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Women for Women has been active in the Middle East since 2003 and began delivering women’s empowerment projects for Syrian refugee women in November 2014. Since then, WfWI has supported Syrian women to overcome severe emotional trauma, learn about their rights, acquire new business and vocational skills, and form networks for support and advocacy.

We raised $16,000 at the event, which allowed WfWI to collect the funds needed to expand their program in Jordan. As a result WfWI is supporting a local Jordanian organization: Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) to launch a new project: Empowering Women Through Civic Engagement in Mafraq . This project will target 70% Syrians, and 30% host community women above the age of 16 who are at risk or may have experienced Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). The project has two main components, the first one will increase access to protection services for Syrian refugee and host community women in order to enhance prevention and response to gender-based violence in Jordan. As part of that, the project will provide: Legal and rights awareness sessions, free legal aid services, and psychosocial support sessions. The second component will focus on empowering women to become more engaged in their communities and feel more confident to voice the issues they are facing, including GBV, through civic engagement. To accomplish that, the project will provide civic engagement training and as a follow up to the training the project will support the participants in implementing group community-based initiatives. The initiatives will focus on prevention and response to SGBV. The proposed project will be implemented in the Mafraq Governorate in Jordan, located 80 kilometers from Amman and close to the Syrian and Iraqi borders. In addition to women, the project will also target key community members and service providers within the target communities to raise awareness on women’s rights and SGBV prevention and response. ARDD estimates a direct target number of 300 beneficiaries.

Total project cost: $ 50,000. SAWA’s contribution: $ 16,000, WfWI’s contribution: $ 34,000.

This project is expected to begin in July 1 and be implemented over 6 months. WfWI will provide a summary report at the end of the project.