BWA Projects
  
  

Project "empowering women in the process of building peace, democracy and conflict resolution"

 This project aimed at empowering women in laying the foundations of peace and stability, creating real and effective solidarity among the organizations of Feminist Movement and finding common denominators  in order to start disseminating culture of peace, rejecting  violence,  fighting terrorism, respecting pluralism in Iraqi community, common coexistence, building social peace, in addition to maintaining the effective role of women in conciliation, national unity and stressing on the principle of citizenship and moving away from the narrow categorical view. Baghdad Women''s Association finished this project which lasted for five months in December 31, 2007 with the support of Kvinna Till Kvinna. BWA prepared a report for monitoring conflicts and violence against women in the surrounding environment, as 21 women, from various ethnic groups, were trained through disseminating between them the awareness of homeland, concepts of citizenship, democracy and conflict. After that the participants were divided into seven groups and those groups distributed questionnaire forms for women who faced violence and helped those women in filling these questionnaires in order to prepare the final report.

Project "building peace through training on conflict resolution and democracy"

In mid-August 2007, Baghdad Women''s Association had completed, in partnership with Al-Amal Organization and with the support of United Nations Office for Project Services UNOPS, the implementation of the project "peace-building for training on conflict resolution and democracy", through aware and educate the participants regarding the following principles: (conflict resolution - non-violent networking - building civic culture and peaceful dialogue – building democracy with youth and women). During the period of the project, BWA organized (6) workshops in Baghdad, attended by approximately (170), male and female, beneficiaries from different ages representing:

·        Employees from governmental institutions, educational cadres, local councils, political parties and

         ministries; such as ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Youth.

·        Members of municipal councils – Al- Sadr City, Al-Baia District and 9 Nissan District.

·        Activists from civil society organizations in the field of human rights and media

3 trainers, in the fields of human rights, law and conflict resolution, participated in training the participants. The subjects of the workshops were: {conflict resolution, human rights in international conventions (particularly the Convention of Eliminating All Forms of Discrimination against Women), Gender (social gender), legal status of Iraqi women (focusing on Personal Status Law No. 188 of in 1959), constitutional amendments including concept of citizenship, national unity, Article 41 of the Constitution, humanitarian security and how to express and speech}.

Project "Role of Women in National Reconciliation"

Due to marginalizing the role of women and excluding them from decision-making centers, Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Role of Women in National Reconciliation" by the support of National Endowment for Democracy NED, from first April 2007 until first of April 2008. This project aimed at disseminating women awareness and maintaining their participation in national reconciliation process through encouraging women activists in order to develop their skills, increase the networking and disseminate human rights education in order to help them to participate actively in taking the social, economic and political decisions. During the implementation of the project 24 training workshops have been held involved in them 360 activist women from different civil society organizations, students and employees from different governmental institutions, to disseminate the awareness in the field of national reconciliation and democracy. The issues raised in the workshops were:  conflict resolution, principles of reconciliation, experiences from other nations, advocacy, dialogue, women''s rights in the Constitution and encouraging their participation in order to strengthening the role of civil society organizations in Iraq. In addition to that there was an awareness campaign, as we used posters and brochures about the role which could be played by women, as we printed and distributed 1000 copy of brochures and posters. Also we printed and distributed 150 booklets, which covered the activities of the workshops and other topics related to democracy and gender.

Women''s rights in Constitution

By the support of UNIFEM, Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Women''s Rights in the Constitution" from August 2006 until March 2007, as it had been held series of workshops about women''s rights in the Constitution, political process, posture of law about violence against women, in addition to rights and freedoms in Iraqi Constitution. Leaflets and questionnaires about the activities of the project were distributed, included; means of political participation and expression of opinions, as most of the participants pointed to the need of raising the awareness about their rights through workshops, seminars and lectures. The main strength point of this project is hosting Assyrians women and reaching their problems, as it had been shown the extent of convergence in visions and ideas among Iraqi women, in general, regardless of their affiliations sectarianism and ethnicity.

Developing leadership skills for women

On March 31, 2006, Baghdad Women''s Association started, by the support of National Endowment for Democracy, NED, implementing the project "Developing leadership Skills for women", as the duration of the project was one year. The objective of the project was developing the skills and the capacities of women leaders, as the number of the participants were 360 and had been held 24 workshops about leadership skills.

Fundamental Principles of Human Rights and their Impact on Iraqis

On the first of April 2006, Baghdad Women''s Association arranged series of workshops under the title "Fundamental Principles of Human Rights and their Impact on Iraqis," by the support of Human Rights Small Grants Fund, HRSGF. The training included staff of Ministry of Human Rights, youth Associations, and women from Municipal Councils. The duration of the project was for one month.

Supporting Women''s rights in the Political Process

On March 31, 2006, Baghdad Women''s Association completed the implementation of the project "Supporting Women''s Rights in the Political Process." The duration of the project was for one year, and it was supported by National Endowment for Democracy.

Constitutional Awareness

By the support of Women for Women International, Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Constitutional Awareness", starting from April 15, 2005. The project lasted for two consecutive months, to train (80) women from various women organizations, governmental employees and women from Municipal Councils.
 

Awareness of personal Status Law and its Relationship to the Constitution

From July 5, 2005 until August 30, 2005 Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Awareness of Personal Status Law and its Relationship to the Constitution" for women of Al-Sadir City by the support of UK Department for International development, DFID.

Women and Democracy

On August, 2005 Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Women and Democracy" by the support of UNIFEM. The duration of the project was for eight weeks.

 
Eradication of Illiteracy for Women

From September 1, 2005 until November 30, 2005, Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Eradication of Illiteracy" for women of Al-Sadir City, by the support of "Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace".

Training women in computer and English language

On December 23, 2005 and by the support of UNIFEM Baghdad Women''s Association established a cultural center for training women in the fields of computer and English language in addition to opening a section to deal with legal issues for women who faced violence.

Eradication of Illiteracy for Women

On September 18, 2004, Baghdad Women''s Association implemented the project "Eradication of Illiteracy for Women," to teach (60) women, living in Al-Istiklal village, reading and writing, as the ages of the participants were 14-45 years old. The project lasted for two consecutive months.