Spotlight Campaign

I will be sharing some of this information at the rehearsal Thursday, but thought I would send it on to each of you in detail so you know where the remainder of the proceeds from our production will be going (10%) as well as in case you'd like to research the organisations themselves.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!!!

The list below is organizations that will be beneficiaries of this year's V-Day Spotlight on Women in Conflict Zones.

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HAITI
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AFASDA - Association Femmes Soleil d' Haiti - AFASDA is a locally based (Cap Haitien) solely volunteer organization that networks and raises awareness about violence facing women. A primary focus of AFASDA's work is on providing assistance not available elsewhere to women who suffer political rape (Haiti).

URAMEL - Unite de Recherche at d'action Medico - Legale - URAMEL is an organization of legal and medical professionals working voluntarily to promote a better administration of justice though the understanding of forensic medicine and how it can impact cases of abuse towards women.

ENFOFANM - Organisation de Defense des Droits des Femmes - ENFOFANM (Info-Women) operates from the premise that access to information is key to empowering women to play an active role in building democracy in Haiti. Through communication and documentation of feminist literature and women's issues that started with a newsletter in 1991, extended to radio in 1997 and then into TV in 2005, they preserve the memory of the Haitian Women's Movement, safeguarding its heritage and addressing the gender equality that still exists in Haiti today.


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AFGHANISTAN
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RAWA - Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan - RAWA is the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977.

Arghan is a cooperative of men and women in Kandahar Afghanistan that produces natural skin-care products with local raw materials found in the orchards of southern Afghanistan - almonds, apricots, pomegranates, the precious blossoms ofRosa damascena. The result is a unique line of soaps and oils, whose aesthetic beauty and skin-nourishing virtues are truly unparalleled. Arghan is committed to providing women with dignified employment remunerated at a fair level, as well as an equal share in the decision-making process.

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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
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Panzi Hospital - Specializing in the treatment of sexually assaulted women in the Congo, including the treatment of traumatic fistula .

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ASIA
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The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan - The Korean Council was established in 1990 by eighteen groups of social organizations and women's organizations in order to help the victims of the militarism based sexual slavery instituted by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.

Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation - TWRF works to rescue, and provide counseling, to women and children victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence.

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MIDDLE EAST
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KAFA (enough) Violence and Exploitation - KAFA is a non-profit, non-political civil society organization that seeks to mitigate the causes and results of violence and exploitation of women and children through advocacy, lobbying, raising awareness, and by offering social and legal services to vulnerable cases.

OWFI - Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq - is the only national women's organization advocating for a secular society based on democracy and respect for human rights in accordance with international standards. OWFI is working to provide a sanctuary from violence for Iraqi women, who cite the lack of personal security as the largest problem they face in post-invasion Iraq. Rape has dramatically increased in the social chaos following the US invasion. 'Honor killings' of rape survivors by male family members have increased as the incidence of rape has risen. In response, OWFI has established five women's shelters--in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Erbil, and Nasariyeh--to provide Iraqi women with a place to turn for security and support.