Recently I was offered an opportunity to work with a non governmental organization in Sana'a that focuses on enhancing women's rights and freedoms through the use of the media. The NGO, Media Women's Forum, is very well established and involved in the Yemeni community. Human rights is my area of interest and due to the hands on nature of the position and the passion of the woman who runs the organization (Rahma Al-Hugeira), I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
This has been my first week here and I'm excited to get new projects moving. The majority of the employees at MWF are women which makes for a relaxing atmosphere. I look like an alien to people here and men tend to stare for periods of time that make me less than comfortable. In addition, all the women have been so welcoming, going out of their way to get to know me, referring to me as their sister, etc.
Media Women's Forum, established in 2004, strives to professionally develop the media industry in Yemen so it can advocate human rights, democracy and development issues. Established by a group of professional female journalists and media activists, the main objective of the MWF is to develop the skills of women and men in the media by assisting students and civil rights activists to create public awareness on issues on human rights, gender empowerment, democratization, and good governance. To achieve this, MWF builds strong coalitions with active NGOs and media groups. More information can be found on their website at:
http://www.mwfye.org
Don't forget to click on the English version in the upper left hand corner - this version I'm currently helping reconstruct as it needs some serious tinkering.
My role at MWF as Public Relations and Programs Officer is triple fold. First and foremost, I have access to a list of donors, interested parties, current projects, and projects that need developing. My primary job will be creating proposals for new project ideas, refining old ones and making connections with local and international NGOs and organizations in order to gain support and mutual cooperation to get current ideas off the ground and add new elements to old ones.
Second, I'll be going through all the brochures, handouts and web information that is available in English and reconstructing them to be more grammatically correct, visually pleasing, informative and clear. Lastly, any projects, proposals or papers previously put together I will need to review and fine tune for both content and structure.
This NGO appears to be a strong force in the community so I'm happy to be part of an organization that is successful in inspiring change, especially for women, an area of human rights that has grabbed my attention more than others while living and working in Yemen.
This has been my first week here and I'm excited to get new projects moving. The majority of the employees at MWF are women which makes for a relaxing atmosphere. I look like an alien to people here and men tend to stare for periods of time that make me less than comfortable. In addition, all the women have been so welcoming, going out of their way to get to know me, referring to me as their sister, etc.
Media Women's Forum, established in 2004, strives to professionally develop the media industry in Yemen so it can advocate human rights, democracy and development issues. Established by a group of professional female journalists and media activists, the main objective of the MWF is to develop the skills of women and men in the media by assisting students and civil rights activists to create public awareness on issues on human rights, gender empowerment, democratization, and good governance. To achieve this, MWF builds strong coalitions with active NGOs and media groups. More information can be found on their website at:
http://www.mwfye.org
Don't forget to click on the English version in the upper left hand corner - this version I'm currently helping reconstruct as it needs some serious tinkering.
My role at MWF as Public Relations and Programs Officer is triple fold. First and foremost, I have access to a list of donors, interested parties, current projects, and projects that need developing. My primary job will be creating proposals for new project ideas, refining old ones and making connections with local and international NGOs and organizations in order to gain support and mutual cooperation to get current ideas off the ground and add new elements to old ones.
Second, I'll be going through all the brochures, handouts and web information that is available in English and reconstructing them to be more grammatically correct, visually pleasing, informative and clear. Lastly, any projects, proposals or papers previously put together I will need to review and fine tune for both content and structure.
This NGO appears to be a strong force in the community so I'm happy to be part of an organization that is successful in inspiring change, especially for women, an area of human rights that has grabbed my attention more than others while living and working in Yemen.
Hi Dani! Have you heard of MissRepresentation.org? They made a documentary and are now building a social action campaign around changing the way women and girls are portrayed in advertising and in the media! It's pretty cool. http://missrepresentation.org/
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the link; very cool indeed!
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