Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment: AWIU Grant to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Working Women Union-Da Hawwa Lur

AWIU Grant Progress Report
Project: Economic Empowerment through Skill Development
Conducted by: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Working Women Union-Da Hawwa Lur
Sponsored by: American Women for International Understanding
Launch Date: 1st July, 2016

Background: Da Hawwa Lur is a non-profit organization which is working to improve the socio-economic and cultural conditions for women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. We work to encourage women to take part in trade unions and raise awareness regarding their rights. Da Hawwa Lur advocates against all forms of gender discrimination and segregation – and any other barriers to women’s development. Da Hawwa Lur started working in 2000, with AASHA (Alliance against sexual Harassment) for drafting, lobbying, awareness and implementation of anti-sexual harassment legislation. Da Hawwa Lur established the first ever Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Working Women Union, which serves as the platform for all the working women especially home based, domestic and factory/industry workers of the province by enhancing their leadership skills and organizing them into trade unions. Da Hawwa Lur aims at empowering women from rural areas economically, socially and politically.

American Women for International Understanding collaborated with Da Hawwa Lur to promote women’s economic empowerment through skill development by providing vocational training to the women/girls of village Phandu under the platform of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Working Women Union. Under this project 8 women/girls will be provided professional tailoring course for three months starting from July and ending in September. The professional course Diplomas will be given to the students at the end of the course.

Vocational Training Centre for Women

The education rate of women in Khyber Pakhunkhwa is relatively lower than the other provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to high impact of patriarchy and religion which allows women to remain at home and seek religious education only. Women and girls tend to remain at home and work mostly as home based/domestic workers. It is very important for women to be economically empowered while following their cultural norms. For this purpose, Da Hawwa Lur in collaboration with AWIU has launched a vocational training center for women in village Phandu to empower them economically. The total of 8 girls will be trained who will in turn train two other girls of their village. The stitched materials of these girls at the end will be displayed in various meetings with Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority-SMEDA and Women Chambers of Commerce to let their business grow.

Objectives:

  1. To improve rural women’s livelihood and living conditions through economic empowerment.
  2. To eradicate poverty among most neglected segment of society by providing facilitation for home based income generating activities.
  3. To build the capacity of potential trainees and develop market linkages for the sustainability of community.

Launching: The vocational center was launched on 1st of July,2016 in which union leaders, women home based, domestic workers, skill development trainer and community women participated. The launching was addressed by the Ms.Khurshid Bano- CEO Da Hawwa Lur, Ms.Sultan Zari- Vice President KP Working Women Union, Safia Bibi- Vocational trainer. The speakers emphasized on women formal and informal education, women political and economic empowerment. An importance of skill development and economically stable society with the role of women was explained. An oath was taken verbally and in written by the 8 selected students of the vocational Centre to train the two girls of their village, he tailoring course to keep the process going. This will lead to an expanded benefit to the whole village. The Centre has started working and the course will include a proper evaluation by Da Hawwa Lur, an evaluation of the students by trainer, the tests and the practical will be conducted regularly. Course diploma certificates are awarded to the 8 students through which they will be able to continue as professional tailors and will be able to earn money from their homes.

AWIU congratulates Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Working Women Union-Da Hawwa Lur for successfully completing this training and empowering the trainees to become financially independent.

www.dahawwalur.org

Promoting Careers in International Relations for Women – AWIU’s COIR Symposium on March 23, 2016 at the U.S. Department of State

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American Women For International Understanding Hosts Career Opportunities For International Relations Symposium At The U.S. Department of State

American Women for International Understanding, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State (DOS), presented the 2nd Annual AWIU Career Opportunities for International Relations (COIR) Symposium on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm at the Department of State, in the George C. Marshall Conference Center, 2201 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Shawn Dorman, Director of Publication, American Foreign Service Association and Editor of Inside a U.S. Embassy: How Foreign Service Works and Diane Mitchell Henry, Founder/Co-Chair, American Women for International Understanding Career Opportunities for International Relations.

AWIU promotes woman to-woman interaction and understanding worldwide. The AWIU COIR Symposium gives young women an opportunity to learn about international careers and engage with today’s leaders in the field. The AWIU and DOS COIR Committee is excited about this year’s theme “Passing the Baton.” Career panels during the day’s events focused on early career development for both public and private sector job opportunities. Eighty young women, ranging from high school seniors to young professionals, attended the event. Presenters included State Department Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Heather Higginbottom, State Department Counselor Kristie Kenney, former U.S. Representative Diane Watson and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Carol Perez, who shared valuable advice on how to become empowered female leaders.

This is an invitational event for high school seniors, college and young professional women. Participants had the opportunity to experience a full day of gaining knowledge and information about international careers.

AWIU Delegation To Ethiopia Spreads Ethiopian Sentiment: BE KIND

An Article By One Of Our Delegates, Joan Poulas, to Ethiopia:

Our trip to Ethiopia was far different from what we had expected. Most of us did not realize that this is NOT an Arab country; nor is it even primarily Muslim. Instead we found a country trying very hard to be peaceful and celebrating the baptism of Christ as the beginning of Christianity. We saw the churches that were being used during the time of Jesus; and saw where Mary and Joseph had come. No one was pushing the religion, or any course of conduct, except to try to follow their national motto: BE KIND.

We saw very poor people struggling to learn to read. We saw children with English alphabet books and teachers that stressed health and sanitation in their very crowded classrooms.

Ethiopia is a very poor country. We did not go to the south, where the tribes are more active. In the north there is little malaria; few mosquitoes. We saw national parks full of baboons and beautiful rock formations. We saw more park rangers than we see in our own parks. They were charged with double duties: protect the park and the baboons, help the tourists enjoy the park, which included prevented them from being pestered to buy handicrafts from children who should be in school (and were told as much by the rangers.)

Ethiopia is a rugged country. The monastery we visited was difficult to access and the subterranean churches were very difficult. We came away with a new sense of a very ancient culture which is desperately trying to maintain the peace and educate their children. The dedicated medical personnel we saw had outmoded instruments, few amenities but a strong commitment to save babies and mothers and keep their patients as comfortable as possible in difficult surroundings.

We saw strong leaders trying to convince tribes to abandon female mutilation; leaders trying to teach rural parents that young girls ought to be able to go to school and not be traded away for marriage at a very young age.

The prevailing feeling we evidenced was that this was a country trying very hard to improve the life of its citizens and to avoid the hostilities that their neighbors suffer. They live their motto, BE KIND, and we wish them the very best.

-Joan Poulas

IWOC Celebration 2016: An Electric Evening for the “Sisters of Courage”

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“I call on you, my Sisters of Courage, to find five girls to mentor and through these girls, we will build a better world,” Vicky Ntetema, an International Women of Courage honoree from Tanzania, challenged her fellow honorees and the audience of 300 at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles on April 7th. Her stirring speech was one of the highlights of the American Women for International Understanding’s 9th Annual International Women of Courage Celebration. The inspired crowd rose to its feet after Ms. Ntetema, a journalist- turned- human rights advocate, concluded. The standing ovation underscored the warm, supportive and electric atmosphere of the evening.

This year marked the 9th annual Celebration for American Women for International Understanding and the first time the event was held in Southern California in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and the International Visitors Council Los Angeles. The International Women of Courage 2016 represented 14 countries with 11 IWOCs in attendance for the Celebration. The women were honored for their advocacy and activism in a broad range of fields supporting women’s issues around the globe, from human rights advocacy to interfaith activism to mental health support.

The International Women of Courage Award was established by the U.S. Department of State in 2007 to honor women who are making a substantial difference in the lives of other women around the globe. Honorees traveled to the U.S. for an award ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC in late March and then traveled as a group to different states on an International Visitors Leadership Program. The IWOCs ended their stay in the United States in Los Angeles. Catherine Russell, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues was on hand to introduce each of the women at the Celebration and Deputy Assistant Secretary Karen Richardsonl spoke about the importance of working on women’s empowerment issues in terms of overall global stability.

Other highlights of the night included the presentation of the Bernice Behrens Founders Award to former AWIU president Carole Lewis by current president Carol Robertson Lopez. Harriet Fulbright was honored with the Internationalism Award for her commitment to education and the arts. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who created the International Women of Courage awards in 2007, sent a video message to the IWOCs, congratulating the women on their bravery and courage and encouraged them to keep in touch with one another after they returned home and to find other women to mentor. Honorary Chair Lesley Stahl of CBS News, who also sent a video for the event, called the IWOCS “fearless and dauntless” and commented, “It’s important that these women know that we are listening.”

As part of AWIU’s mission to build bridges of international understand and support women’s causes, the organization provided each honoree with a grant. Certificates were awarded on the night of the Celebration. Event Chair Sarah Shelton thanked the guests and sponsors from the stage for their vital support, “It is the privilege of AWIU to award every International Woman of Courage with a monetary grant so that she can return back to her native country and continue her important work. We believe the difference we make by providing grants to these extraordinary women allows them to make differences that change lives and change the world.”

Leslie Schweitzer, an AWIU member and Chairman and President of the Friends of the American University in Afghanistan, emceed the event and said afterwards, “AWIU truly does make a difference in addressing women’s issues worldwide. I am so honored to be part of it year after year. Traditionally the Celebration has been held in DC and holding it in LA this year was a wonderful change. There was so much energy in the room and the support for the incredible awardees was extraordinary.”

The event was made possible through the support of sponsors committed to global issues, including a number of AWIU members. A special thanks to Madvi Raya for committing at the Freedom & Equality Level and members Carole Lewis, Cynthy Moffatt, Margaret Heflin Sabbag and Jane Mursener Wetzel for contributing at the Empowerment through Education level.

Deloitte who was the presenting sponsor for the sixth consecutive year and provided volunteers to staff the event. Other sponsors included Nestle; The Walt Disney Company; CBRE; Davidoff Hutcher & Citron; Georgetown University; Friends of the American University in Afghanistan; National Geographic; Providence Foundations; Satellite Sisters; UCLA Anderson School of Management; USC Marshall School of Business; US News & World Report and Wells Fargo.

International Women of Courage Celebration in Los Angeles for First Time

On April 7, 2016, American Women for International Understanding (AWIU) will host the International Women of Courage Celebration in Los Angeles in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and the International Visitors Council Los Angeles.

The International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award was established by the U.S. Department of State in 2007 to honor women who are making a substantial difference in the lives of other women around the globe. Honorees travel to the U.S. for an award ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC on March 29th, 2016 and then travel as a group to different states on an International Visitors Leadership Program. The honorees will end their stay in the United States in Los Angeles for the International Women of Courage Celebration. Catherine Russell, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, will be on hand to introduce each of the honorees. AWIU provides each honoree with a grant to continue their vital work in their home country.

“AWIU is excited to be able to host these inspiring female leaders in Southern California for the first time,” says International Women of Courage Celebration chair Sarah Shelton. “We’ve had tremendous support from the business community, the major academic institutions and all those interested in women’s global issues and citizen diplomacy. It will be a memorable night.”

The International Women of Courage Celebration will take place on April 7, 2016 at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles. Event sponsors include: Deloitte; Nestle; The Walt Disney Company; CBRE; Davidoff Hutcher & Citron; Georgetown University; Friends of the American University in Afghanistan; National Geographic; Providence Foundations; Satellite Sisters; UCLA Anderson School of Management; USC Marshall School of Business; US News & World Report and Wells Fargo.

AWIU Delegation to Chiapas Detailed Activity Report: November 11-19, 2015

American Women For International Understanding Delegation to Chiapas November 11-19, 2015

DELEGATES

Andrea Bascon
Robin Winter Odem
Colleen Berk, Co Leader
Barbara Rubio, Co Leader
Barbara Disko
Judith Russell
Barbara Feig
Nancy Shinowara
Katherine Heffernan

November 11, 2015: Welcome to Palenque!

Our lovely hotel is located in the jungle very close to the archeological site. Bungalows are scattered around the property amid lush vegetation and we wake to the sounds of birds and monkeys.

Nov 12 -13

The ruins of Palenque are a World Heritage site. According to the World Heritage Committee: “The archaeological site of Palenque in the state of Chiapas is one of the most outstanding Classic period (500-900 AD) sites of the Maya area known for its exceptional and well conserved architectural and sculptural remains.” We enjoyed an excellent tour of the ruins. Even though the site is expansive, only a small percentage has been excavated. We were able to view an excavation in progress.

There were two meetings near Palenque including a Women’s Rights

group CAM: Casa de Apoyo de la Mujer Two doctors provide medical care and other staff members offer workshops on women’s rights and empowerment among the indigenous. We also met with Sister Nelli at Casa de Migrante El Caminante Don Samuel Ruíz García which is a Migrant center. This center provides as little as a meal and bed for the night or as of much as a place to stay while refugee status in Mexico is being processed.

Travel from Palenque to to San Cristobal de las Casas involves a four hour drive through the mountains. We stopped en route at a restaurant with a beautiful view of a valley high in the mountains. Clouds were both above and below us.

Nov 14

A sightseeing day in the beautiful colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas.

Nov 15

A two hour drive into the mountains took us to Acteal, a typical small indigenous community. Unfortunately, what makes the community unique is a massacre that took place there. In 1997. 45 people, mostly women and children, were murdered while attending services at a Catholic church. A paramilitary group, known as the Red Masks were responsible.

Nov 16

We began with a lecture by political analyst Miguel Pikard. He brought us up to date on the sociopolitical situation in Mexico today. Topics included migration, political reform and free trade agreements.

Later we visited two museums. Don Samuel Ruiz Garcia was the bishop of Chiapas for decades. The recently opened museum traced his life story with emphasis on the work he did for the Indigenous while he was bishop.

Sergio Castro is a humanitarian who came to Chiapas in the 60’s as an agronomist. He was alarmed at the lack of health care for the poor and trained himself to treat burns. He accepts no money for his services though, over the years, some patients have donated colorful ceremonial costumes and other gifts. Don Sergio created a museum of these costumes and opens the museum to visitor who often make donations for his work.

Nov 17

Melel Xojobel is a children’s rights group. The streets of San Cristobal are full of young children selling handicrafts. Memel Xojobel’s goals are: reducing the risks of the street such as car accidents, seasonal illnesses and child trafficking; educating about rights; helping children enter and remain in school. They also have a day care program and an early education project.

Kinal Antsetik is a women’s weaving cooperative. We enjoyed a presentation and an opportunity to shop for the remarkable textiles of the region.

Nov 18

Today was the last day. We had one meeting today. The organization is CODIMUJ which is a women’s rights group. It is sponsored by the Catholic church and the advisors are Catholic nuns.Chiapas-11

CONCLUSION

We had many excellent meetings on this delegation. We learned about the history of the region and the challenges that remain today. We developed enormous admiration for the local indigenous people and the groups which support and assist them. Since our return we’ve made recommendations to the Grant Committee regarding potential grant recipients among these groups. Even with a full schedule while we were in Chiapas, we had time for independent sightseeing, relaxation and shopping. Very few of us left without some of the beautiful local textiles and jewelry. We agree, however, that what made this delegation such a rich experience were the people we met in the scheduled meetings.

AWIU Grantee Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI) Grant Report

American Women For International Understanding provided grant to Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI) in 2015 to help PDI impart life skills to adolescents in Nairobi Slums. Below is a progress report from our grantee PDI on the work done with the help of a grant from American Women For International Understanding.

Acknowledgements

We wish to first and foremost thank AWIU and NACC who funded the project activities of which without their support; the implementation of the project could have presented a big challenge. The Board of PDI-WOSP that has been giving most valuable advice and follow ups on project activities and ensuring all that was planned is implemented within the context of the approved plan.

PDI staff who work extra time and go out of their way to meet set targets. The sacrifices they make to make it possible and try to achieve the set targets.

Our Community representatives who devote their time and energy to the project for their valuable experience and patience.

For the Community that is accommodative, friendly and receptive and allowed time for their children to attend the classes. We say thanks to you all.

List of Acronyms

AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

CHWs – Community Health Workers.

HIV – Human Immune Virus

AYP – Adolescents Young People

OVC – Orphans and Vulnerable Children

PDI – Participatory Development Initiatives

AWIU – American Women For International Understanding

WOSP – Widows and Orphans Support Project

Project Background

PDI is an organization founded by and run mainly by women living with HIV. It is a membership organization with an annual general meeting (AGM) held yearly and which is the highest decision-making organ of the organization. The AGM is mandated by the constitution of PDI to make decisions that bind on the organization in terms of program direction and service delivery. PDI in December 2015 entered into a partnership with American Women for International Understanding to support its project, Training of Life Skills to girls aged 10 years to 16 years old for a period of three months. PDI received a total of $2000 from AWIU to implement the above project that aimed at imparting Life Skills to young Girls. The project targeted young girls mostly in households affected by HIV and Aids and living in the resource constrained households within the Nairobi slum areas of Mukuru.

Project objectives

It was expected that by the end of the project period, below aims will be achieved:

  • To create awareness of amongst young girls of their rights.
  • To understand their Sexual Reproductive system
  • To explore ways of Preventing Sexually Transmitted diseases with more focus on HIV

Planned project activities

Below are the activities planned to be undertaken during the 3 months project period:

  • Conduct 2 day training per week for a period of 1 month to a group of 30 girls in two separate groups
  • Provide Sanitary Towels
  • Pay for communication and stationery costs for the training
  • Project summary

This project spanned over a 2 month period of training supported by AWIU and the Rebecca circle.(Kes. 150,000). The project has been run under the able leadership of the Project Coordinator with the support of the 2 social workers and 2 volunteers within the target community of Mukuru and Kibera Slums in Nairobi and an accountant. The programme had also professional assistance on part time basis from a project officer.

The training involved participatory method, where the girls were involved through brainstorming, group discussions and plenary feedback.

HIV Prevalence rate

Kenya continues to record a decline in prevalence of HIV in the general population. The latest statistics, the Kenya indicator survey (KAIS report 2007) showed that the country has a prevalence rate of 7.4%. Consequent adjustments have placed this at 5.9%, with married couples, youth and prisoners accounting for the hardest hit segments of the population. Urban centres have higher prevalence rates at 15% while rural areas follow at 12%. It is estimated that more people live with HIV in rural areas than in urban centres due to overall population trends where more people live in the rural areas than in towns (70%: 30%).

The Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework (KASF), 2014/15 – 2018/19 identify adolescents and young people (AYP) as a priority population for the HIV response. Previously, AYP did not realize benefits commensurate with the significant investments made in the provision of HIV services, including prevention, care and treatment; despite many programmatic and political commitments. Africa has 1.8 million young people living with HIV, registers 250,000 new infections among them, and AIDS related deaths are the leading cause of death among adolescents and young people in the continent.

In Kenya, approximately 29% of all new HIV infections are among adolescents and youth (MoT/ Kenya HIV Estimates; UNAIDS/NASCOP) AIDS is the leading cause of death and morbidity among adolescents and young people in Kenya: 9,720 adolescents and young people died of AIDS in Kenya in 2014.

Free access to ARV (yes/no + details):

Kenya has done quite well in availing treatment to its population. As at end of December 2011,National AIDS control Council (NACC) reported that about 550,000 people were accessing ART, though majority did so courtesy of donor funding.

Getting to Zero

Inclusion of vulnerable/most at-risk populations in national programs:

The current national AIDS strategic plan (KNASP III) recognizes people with disabilities, men who have sex with men (MSM), prison populations ,the youth and married couples as being particularly at risk. Consequently, the national strategic plan has devoted resources to reaching out to these groups with prevention as well as care information.

Women regardless of age are even more vulnerable because of the physiological make up of their bodies besides other social factors.

It’s because of this reason that PDI women who have faced and overcome the challenges of living with the HIV virus felt the need to protect their daughters within their area of operation from getting infected in line with the strategic plan from National Aids Control Council

The government of Kenya has also rolled out strategies and efforts to prevent HIV new infections through various strategies but not the use of pills and condoms as this was rejected in a Reproductive health bill 2014 that proposed the use of pills and condoms amongst the adolescents as a means of HIV prevention.

We applaud the First Lady Margret Kenyatta with her campaign of Beyond Zero where all children must be born in Health facilities hence preventing HIV transmission at child birth through establishment of mobile clinics.

PDI’s effort majorly focuses on prevention of HIV infection as a result of social factors besides scientific factors. Hence the Imparting of Life skills to young girls.

Why the Training

Since 2002 PDI has focused on supporting women infected and affected from HIV/AIDs. Psychological support through one on one counseling has been our main activities.

Most of the words that came from our lips were raped, taken advantage of, I didn’t know what was happening, lured, way laid and hence infected with HIV/AIDs. Hence the need to prepare young girls to understand their bodies, the changes in their bodies and what it means to the general public. Hence this training is meant to empower the girls to take control over their body and negotiate safe sex.

Project achievements

15 girls who would train others or share the same information to others in schools were trained.

Trainings:

As a way of reducing infection and reinfection rates PDI embarked on a prevention campaign in the two communities which they serve by training girls who would be trainers in the community schools to train others on how to face live positively knowing their rights and be imparted with knowledge to reduce infection and re-infection amongst older youths.

They were taken through a 2 day training per week for a month in which they were trained on various aspects and strategies of HIV prevention. Topics included:

  • Self awareness and self worth
  • Body Changes during Puberty
  • Family and friends
  • Premarital sex and sexual violence
  • HIV and AIDS prevention
  • Myths and misconception
  • Dangers of drugs, Alcohol and influence
  • Sexual vulnerability and protection
  • Achieving our goals and dreams

ii) Provision of Sanitary towels
30 girls who had benefited from the training were provided with sanitary towels. Each girl was also issued with a pair of two panties. This were issued after a demonstration on use and the need to maintain environmental hygiene. This was done in view that, PDI recognizes that meeting immediate sanitation basic needs is essential if young girls are to live with dignity as they experience changes in their sexual reproductive system.

Project challenges and way forward

In a nutshell, below are some of the major challenges that the organization faced in the process of providing its services to the targeted beneficiaries.

PDI works within poor communities who are living within the slums that lack social amenities. Many of the targeted clients are young girls from very poor households living below a dollar in a day. The HIV infection has made life more unbearable and has brought with it more challenges as it has made access to basic needs such as food, shelter, education and clothing next to impossible due to their health conditions.

Lack of financial support – most of the clients are forced to drop out of school to provide for the family. In this case girls are the mostly affected group when it comes to school drop outs, they are either employed as house helps or they involve themselves in risky behaviors that lead to sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies adding more burdens to the family.

Such clients also cannot afford buying food that they really need.
Use of drug abuse/substance i.e. alcohol cigarettes e.t.c. amongst the youth and this results into drop out cases.
Lack of understanding especially in cases of youth i.e. suffering from HIV/AIDS. They may have acquired the virus when taking care of their bedridden mothers, or born with it without the knowledge of how it’s transmitted, since they know it’s only sexually transmitted.

School dropout rates due to lack of enough school fees, early pregnancies amongst girls who are frustrated with frequent absenteeism from school because of lack of school fees.
School absenteeism during menses yet they can’t afford sanitary towels.
Conclusion

HIV/AIDS infection presents many challenges to individuals, families and communities making them hopeless and destitute. The discovery of the anti retroviral therapy has made live more bearable for the people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

But prevention of new infection especially amongst the youth is an area where more efforts need to be put if we have to get to Zero infection.

2016 AWIU Internationalism Award Recipient is Harriet M. Fulbright

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“I believe that global education is one of the most powerful tools to improve nations by reducing poverty, sustaining economic growth, and helping build a more peaceful world. Relations between countries are simply too important to be left in the hands of governments alone. Therefore, with our education programs we strive to nurture minds and expose people to different culture, thus increasing understanding, tolerance, and cooperation between people around the world.”
Harriet M. Fulbright

The American Women for International Understanding is honored to announce that the 2016 Internationalism Award recipient is Mrs. Harriet. M. Fulbright. The AWIU Internationalism Award is presented to individuals who have addressed concerns and issues facing women worldwide. The commitment and work of the individuals have set them apart by every standard. Recipients have exhibited international support for women’s issues and contributed to worldwide understanding, raised awareness of global concerns, and fostered and encouraged cross-cultural dialogue. AWIU will present the Internationalism Award at the International Women of Courage Celebration in Los Angeles on April 7, 2016.

Mrs. Harriet Mayor Fulbright is president of the J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center, a non-profit organization which serves to advance the work of Mrs. Fulbright’s late husband, Senator J. William Fulbright, and to continue her own lifework.
She served as an unofficial ambassador for the 50th anniversary of the Fulbright Program and in that capacity traveled to numerous countries on all five major continents and throughout the United States to speak about the importance of international educational exchange and the pivotal role played by the Fulbright Program.

For the majority of her adult life, Mrs. Fulbright has worked in the areas of education and the arts. For three years, she served as the Executive Director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. She was the first Assistant Director of the Congressional Arts Caucus and was later appointed Executive Secretary of the International Congress of Art Historians at the National Gallery’s Center for the Advanced Study in the Arts. She has also served as the Executive Director of the Fulbright Association and as President of the Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum, an organization which advocated education reform and conducted teacher training seminars.

In the United States, she has taught art at several institutions, including the Maret School and American University. She has also taught in Korea and Russia.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Radcliffe College and a Master of Fine Arts from the George Washington University. She also holds honorary degrees from universities and colleges throughout the United States.

She has been awarded with many honors including the El Orden de Manuel Amador Guerrero from Panama, The Middle Cross of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Hungary, and the Order of Australia.

Lesley Stahl to be Honorary Chair of IWOC Celebration 2016

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One of America’s most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl’s career has been marked by political scoops, surprising features and award-winning foreign reporting. She has been a 60 MINUTES correspondent since March 1991; the 2015-‘16 season marks her 25th on the broadcast.

Stahl’s 2013 series on Guantanamo Bay in which she gained unprecedented access to its prison facilities was honored by the RTDNA with an Edward R. Murrow award. In another eye-opening story, she reported from inside America’s nuclear missile control centers and spoke to the Air Force officers who described working in them with surprisingly old equipment.

Her uplifting feature, “Gospel for Teens,” was recognized with two Emmy Awards in 2012.

That same year, her whistleblower interview with F-22 Raptor pilots provided the first public personal accounts of the fighter’s oxygen system troubles, spurring the Secretary of Defense to take action. Stahl’s interview of a former CIA Clandestine Services chief about the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” on Al Qaeda operatives sparked a national debate.

Stahl’s two reports from the Middle East in the fall of 2010, “Unfinished Business,” about Iraq, and “City of David,” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, were honored by the Overseas Press Club for Best Interpretation on International Affairs. Her reporting on the life of a young, musical savant won her an Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting for her 2008 follow-up on Rex Lewis-Clack. Her interviews with the families of the Duke Lacrosse players exonerated in a racial rape case and with Nancy Pelosi before she became the first woman to become speaker of the house were big scoops for 60 MINUTES and CBS News in 2007. Her other exclusive 60 MINUTES interviews with former Bush administration officials Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke ranked among the biggest news stories of 2004. In a December 2002 interview with Al Gore, Stahl was the first to report that he would not run for president.

Prior to joining 60 MINUTES, Stahl served as CBS News White House correspondent during the Carter and Reagan presidencies and part of the term of George H. W. Bush. Her reports appeared frequently on the CBS EVENING NEWS, first with Walter Cronkite, then with Dan Rather, and on other CBS News broadcasts.

During much of that time, she also served as moderator of FACE THE NATION, CBS News’ Sunday public-affairs broadcast (September 1983–May 1991). For FACE THE NATION, she interviewed such newsmakers as Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, Yasir Arafat and virtually every top U.S. official, including George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.

She was co-host with Charles Kuralt of “America Tonight,” a daily CBS News late-night broadcast of interviews and essays (Oct. ’90-March ’91).

Her experiences covering Washington for more than 20 years became the subject of her book Reporting Live (Simon & Schuster, 1999). The stories she has covered since joining CBS News in the Washington bureau in 1972 range from Watergate through the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan to the 1991 Gulf War. She has reported on U.S.-Russian summit meetings and the economic summits of the industrialized countries, and the national political conventions and election nights throughout her career.

Stahl anchored several CBS News documentaries, including “The Politics of Cancer” and “In the Red Blues,” about the budget deficit, both for “CBS Reports.”

Other Emmy winners include a Lifetime Achievement Emmy received in September 2003 and her first Emmy, won for reporting on a bombing in Beirut for the CBS EVENING NEWS in 1983. Her FACE THE NATION interview with Sen. John Tower won Stahl her second statuette. Her 60 MINUTES reports “How He Won the War,” about former FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s battle with the tobacco industry, and “Punishing Saddam,” which exposed the plight of Iraqi citizens, mostly children, suffering the effects of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq, were both Emmy winners. “Punishing Saddam” also won Stahl electronic journalism’s highest honor, an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Silver Baton. Her profile of search engine giant Google earned her a 2005 Business and Financial Emmy award, and her timely 2006 interview of ex-Hewlett-Packard Chairwoman Patricia Dunn won an Emmy for coverage of a breaking news story.

In 1996, Stahl was awarded the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award, given by Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., in recognition of her journalistic achievements. She was also honored that year by the Radio/Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) with an Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television for her 60 MINUTES report on the Michigan Militia. In 1990, she was honored with the Dennis Kauff Journalism Award for lifetime achievement in the news profession.

Stahl was born Dec. 16, 1941, in Swampscott, Mass., and was graduated cum laude in 1963 from Wheaton College, where she served on the board of trustees. She currently serves on the board of the New York City Ballet. She and her husband, author Aaron Latham, live in New York. They have a daughter, Taylor.

Journalist Katie Couric announced as Honorary Chair of IWOC Celebration 2015

The IWOC Celebration Committee proudly announces that award-winning journalist and TV personality Katie Couric is the Celebration’s 2015 Honorary Committee Chair. Currently Yahoo’s Global Anchor, Ms. Couric was co-anchor on NBC’s Today show for 15 years and the first female solo anchor of an evening news broadcast. A best-selling author and documentary film producer, Ms. Couric is also a well-known cancer advocate and co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer.

She succeeds last year’s Honorary Committee Chair and fellow broadcaster Cokie Roberts.