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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Slogans can be in English, Arabic (colloquial or classical) or French. You can send as many as you can think of.

We’ll choose the catchiest ones and print them on our T-Shirts.

So, yalla, put your creative thinking caps on and post your slogans in the below comment box.

The comments will be closed on Friday, 18 June 2010.

Description and Requirements:

The video-making workshop will provide participants with basic video production skills, including how to use a camera and microphones, and how to plan, shoot, and edit a short video.  The workshop will take place over 5 weeks and will require participants to commit to 6 hours per week for the duration of the workshop (2 hours per one weekday evening and 4 hours on a weekend). The workshop is free of charge and is open to all social media activists who are willing to commit to making videos for Sawt Al Niswa.

How to Apply:

Send an email by 12 June 2010 to editor@sawtalniswa.com answering the following questions:

1. What’s your full name?
2. How old are you?
3. What do you do in life?
4. Why are you interested in joining the workshop?
5. Are you willing to commit to the entirety of the course?
6. Are you willing to create 3 videos for Sawt Al Niswa?
7. Do you have a video camera?

Workshop Schedule:

Tuesday, 15 June 2010 7 PM – 9 PM
Saturday, 19 June 2010 10 AM – 2 PM
Tuesday 22 June 2010 7 PM – 9 PM
Saturday, 26 June 2010 10 AM – 2 PM
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 7 PM – 9 PM
Saturday, 3 July 2010 10 AM – 2 PM
Tuesday, 6 July, 2010 7 PM – 9 PM
Saturday, 10 July 2010 10 AM – 2 PM
Tuesday, 13 July 2010 7 PM – 9 PM

Location : Nasawiya’s office
Mar Mikhael, Rmeyl, Jaara bulding, 4th floor

Tel: 01-447 192

About Sawt Al Niswa:

As feminist publications, discourses and presence are gaining momentum in the Arab Region, Sawt Al Niswa would like to function as a pool of knowledge, hosting the various social and political commentaries of women in the process of questioning the kind of feminist discourse they want to speak and express themselves through. The voice(s) within the website contribute to the construction of an Arab feminist discourse reflecting a spectrum of Arab reality(ies).

• Global Fund for Women Condemns Israeli Attack on Freedom Flotilla
• Nobel Women’s Initiative condemns Gaza flotilla attack
• MADRE Condemns Israel’s Killing of Activists Bringing Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
• Women for Women’s Human Rights condemns the violence and offensive policies employed by the Israeli state
• CODEPINK Condemns Israeli Attack on Gaza Flotilla
• Aswat-Palestinian Queer Women Condemns Israel’s Raid on Gaza Aid Flotilla
• Association for Women in Development (AWID) Condemns Israeli Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla (Read the statement in French and Spanish.)

We are taking our training program “Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik” – Feminist Tools for Change to the road.

After sessions in International College (IC), Saint Joseph University (USJ) – Engineering Faculty (ESIB), Union of Municipalities of Tyre, American University of Beirut (AUB) – Faculty of Health Sciences and scouts group in Harissa, we’re talking to the Secular Club at AUB, a youth group in Tyre and students at the Lebanese American University (LAU).

If you’d like us to bring this training program on gender justice and feminism for social change to your schools, universities, groups, community centers or organizations, call 70 066 880 or write to farah[at]nasawiya.org.

The sessions are free of charge and can accommodate groups of 20 persons and up, depending on the setting and the facilities. The sessions can be given in English, Arabic or French, depending on your choice. The program primarily targets women, but men are welcome too.

What are you waiting for? Jump on the bandwagon and contact us.

Why 24/7?

Even though the Lebanese Government approved last year a unified contract for all migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, and in spite of several human rights agreements signed by Lebanon, as well as the Lebanese constitution which supposedly protects human beings in Lebanon from slavery and slavery-like conditions, employers of migrant domestic workers continue to treat their employees as slaves.

Perhaps the most significant example would be the fact that these employees work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are given a few hours of sleep, but even then they are on stand-by as employers reserve the right to wake them at any moment of the night for any reason imaginable.

What To Do?

First of all, we ask you to treat migrant workers, refugees, and other people who are “different”, with respect.

But in the course of this event, we ask you to:

• Take a minute and think about what you just read, whether you are Lebanese or not, living in Lebanon or not.
• If you are sad, outraged, angered, or moved, contact the organizers. (Contact info below)
• If you have a platform to post (notably a blog or a Twitter account), send organizers the link so that they add you to their database of participants.
• Add the 24/7 badge to your blog.
• Then from April 24 till May 1, you can join the “Twogging” campaign. You can write, draw, shout and sing your opinion of racism, modern-day slavery, labor rights, the universality of human rights, in Arabic and English. Send a link to 24sevencampaign@gmail.com so that organizers can publicize your posts on Facebook and social networks. They will also be aggregating all blogs for the week.
• Check out the other activities organized in the 24/7 campaign.
• Spread the word, send it to all those whom you think would be interested in participating.

If you’re a tweep, blogger or Facebooker, here are some ideas our member Nadine Moawad, co-initiator of the “Twogging” campaign, had for blog posts, so that they are not all the same:

• Interview a migrant worker. Ask him/her about their journey here and their work here.
• Interview a migrant worker on camera. Post his/her interview on YouTube.
• Analyze the problem with migrant labor from a political or social perspective. Focus on either the gender aspect, the class struggle, or our inherent racism, to cite a few examples.
• Talk about the situation in your country in particular… What is it like for Sudanese workers in Egypt? Egyptian workers in Lebanon? Sri Lankan women in Dubai? Nepalese women in Jordan?
• Propose solutions. Write up brainstorming posts where you think of campaigns, projects, events, programs, organizations that can work on ending the injustice.
• Elaborate on the feminist analysis of migrant worker rights: household work as unpaid work, gender dynamics in the household, violence from women against other women, domestic violence & violence against domestic workers, sexual assault on migrant women, trafficking of migrant women, violence against women within the migrant communities, and other examples.
• Celebrate the culture of a non-Arab country from which many migrate to Arab states. I can think of Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Philippines (but that might be just from a Lebanese experience). Post a tribute  by raising your friends’ and followers’ awareness about the richness of these cultures, histories, languages, and music.

For more information:

Follow the 24/7 Blog, or its Twitter account (@Twenty_Four_7).

You can also contact the organizers by email: 24sevencampaign@gmail.com.