Our member Joelle Hatem has produced a video showcasing achievements in women’s rights in Lebanon and examples of what remains to be done.

The video was produced for our training program “Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik – Feminist Tools for Change” which aims at empowering women with the knowledge, tools and resources to bring about change from a feminist perspective.

The message of the video is simple: Change is possible. We just have to work on it.

If you’d like to us to take the training program to your university, school, organization or group, please write to farah[at]nasawiya.org.

Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been traveling Lebanon with our training program “Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik” – Feminist Tools for Change.

Primarily targeted at young women, the objective of the program is to provide them with the knowledge, tools and resources on organizing for change, be it by undertaking legal reform, grassroots pressure, building a community, raising awareness, creating support groups, or running for public office – all from a feminist perspective.

To help us promote the program, we’re developing a poster campaign. We’re looking for women aged 18 – 40 years with expressive faces to front the campaign. We’re looking for women who’d be able to express a wide range of emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, anticipation, sadness, disappointment, awe, and frustration.

If you’d like to take part in one of our photo shoots, please email farah@nasawiya.org, attaching a portrait of yourself.

A big thank you to all the fans, friends and supporters who suggested feminist slogans to us. This is the selection of feminist taglines we’ve short-listed following your online submissions and our additional brainstorming sessions.

To vote for your favorite feminist slogans, kindly tick no more than 8 choices. We’re planning to produce 4 T-Shirts, 2 bags and 2 stickers (equally divided between Arabic and English).

Voting closes Friday, July 9, 2010.

With summer kicking into full gear, our Take Back the Tech workshops are back.

On Saturday, June 19, 2010 and Saturday, June 26, 2010, we’re holding a 2-part Graphics 101 workshop with graphic designer Maya El-Helou.

Each session will take place between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM at our office in Mar Mikhael (call 01-447192 for directions).

Given the undeniable power of images and graphics to express ourselves as well as support and/or illustrate our messages, El-Helou will be guiding participants through the use of vector-based design program Adobe Illustrator.

Pre-Requisites: No design skills are required. But participants should have Illustrator installed on their computers. If you don’t have the program on your computer, please come to the workshop at least 10 minutes earlier, so that we can install it for you.

The workshop is free of charge. Places are limited to 15. To register, please email farah@nasawiya.org with a little bit about you. Priority goes to young women and young activists of both or neither gender.

June 12 is Global Day of Action to Free Prisoners of Conscience in Iran.

Why June 12?

Almost a year has passed since the flawed presidential election in Iran, which spurred to action the people of Iran, who joined together, regardless of demographic, to protest their stolen votes, and later to advocate for their civil & human rights. Movements like these are rarely witnessed in Muslim countries.

June 12, 2010 will mark one year since the initial systematic human and civil rights crackdowns following the election, which has led to the arrests and detainment of thousands of activists, students, writers, minorities, and everyday citizens.

For the day, prominent international human right NGOs, grassroots groups, networks, university campuses, and individuals will join forces to support the civil and human rights movement in Iran and call the Islamic Republic of Iran on its blatant human rights abuses.

In addition to promoting this Global Day of Action, we at Nasawiya have taken it upon ourselves to call for  the release of Hengameh Shahidi, about 35, a journalist and political activist who is currently serving a six-year sentence in Evin Prison, Tehran. The six- year prison term includes five years for “gathering and colluding with intent to harm state security” and one year for “propaganda against the system.” She is a prisoner of conscience.

In April 2010, Shahidi, while meeting her mother in Evin prison, sent a message despite the trend of illegal detention, interrogations and also an approved heavy sentence from Court of Appeals, she respects what is defined as punishment for her and have prepared herself for serving a 6 year sentence. (You can read her full message here.)

On June 12, whether you’re tweeting, blogging, writing, thinking or talking to friends, please take a few moments to remember all the imprisoned Iranian activists and freedom fighters, our partners in the struggle for justice.