A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service



"Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities."

Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia.

For more 2011 feedback click here.

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The Fellowship Pr... > Blogging for Peace > 2005 > From the Field, J...

From the Field, July 1, 2005

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AdvocacyNet
Intern Update, Number 5, July 1, 2005
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Headlines:


Combating Gender-based Violence in Afghanistan

Carrie Hasselback (New York University) is working with the Afghan Women's Network, a network of NGOs committed to improving women's rights in Afghanistan.

"Despite improvements (largely confined to Kabul), women's human rights are still being violated across Afghanistan. Only a small fraction of women - and only those in Afghanistan's cities - are accessing economic opportunities and are able to support themselves and their families. AWN has an awareness campaign to educate people in the provinces and more rural and remote villages around the country about GBV [gender-based violence]."

Media Reopens Wounds for Bosfam Women

MacKenzie Frady (Georgetown University) is working with Bosfam, a support group and weaving center for women in Eastern Bosnia.

"Most of the women did not want to talk to the BBC at all. I am sure many of them feel like they are on an emotional merry-go-round. Media interest has ebbed and flowed here over the years, and the women have told and retold their stories to reporter after reporter."

National Conference in Nepal Brings Together Diverse Groups

Anne Finnan (Fordham) is working with the Collective Campaign for Peace, (COCAP), a peace-building coalition that promotes democracy rights in Nepal.

"This past weekend COCAP was part of a team of organizations that organized a two day National Conference titled, 'Sustainable Livelihood and People's Access to Natural Resources'. […] Most of the participants arrived late due to police checks along the road and arrived around 12 noon on the first day. Those that attended came from forestry groups, fishing communities in Chitwan, Dalits from eastern Terai, Halliyas from Dadeldhura district and freed Kamaiyas from far western Nepal, some of whom are experiencing land displacement or discrimination from those who still practice the caste system."

Funding Challenges for Europe's Roma

Margaret Swink (Yale University) is working at the Dzeno Association, a media organization dedicated to promoting the rights of the Roma people.

"Unfortunately, outside funding for Roma causes seem to be incredibly limited. Unlike many other ethnic groups, Roma are almost universally poor; there is no foreign rich diaspora to whom one can appeal. In addition, Roma have the misfortune to be located in Europe, one of the world's richest continents. This creates the perception among outside funders that they don't need help."

Divided Allegiance on Issues of Security, Leadership in Bosnia

Sabri Ben Achour (Georgetown University) is working with the Forum of Srebrenica NGOs, an umbrella organization combining several non-profits in Srebrenica, Bosnia. He is also working closely with one of the Forum's members, the organization Drina that assists IDPs from the war.

"There are two virtually autonomous regions in Bosnia, Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each has different parliaments, different police forces, and until recently its own de facto army (even now some recruits refuse to pledge their allegiance to Bosnia as a whole and instead pledge allegiance only to Republika Srpska). […] At the national level, there are three different presidents who rotate every eight months, as well as a host of conflicting layers of bureaucracy and legislative bodies."

Silent Tragedies in Sri Lanka

Sarosh Syed (Georgetown University) is working with the Home for Human Rights (HHR), a human rights organization in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

"Going through files from HHR's Torture Victim Rehabilitation Program, […]I read about a 47-year-old widow, a mother of four, that the army arrested and beat for days. After countless days of captivity, they took her out to the beach and raped her for five hours. They strapped her hands to a doorframe and slammed the door on her fingers until her wedding ring broke off. By the end of her four-year incarceration, she could not find her way home or recognize her own daughters."

Afghan Women's Stories of Struggle and Courage

Shirin Sahani (Georgetown University) is working with the Omid Learning Center in Afghanistan. The organization specializes in girls' education working on a school project that would bring education to remote villages without schools.

"These are times I get to hear the stories. Afghan stories of courage, fate, friendship, struggle, beliefs, and even local humor. Jamila's story of how her disability proved to be her passport to an education, despite the extreme conservatism of her family, and her ambition her ticket to starting a business and ultimately an NGO serving Afghan women. Sadiqa's story of leaving her village, moving to Pakistan and working with women like Jamila on advocacy for Afghan women's issues and ultimately fulfilling her dream to open a girl's school in her village."

Chixoy Dam Communities Seek Recognition in Guatemala

Paula is working with Rights Action in Guatemala. In partnership with the local group Adivima, Rights Action are documenting the investigation following the Chixoy Dam massacres.

"Another part of my job the last 2 weeks has been to work with Rolando the study that he has been working on with the communities situated along the river below the Dam who no longer have any access to water and who were formerly excluded from last year's study of the affected communities. Since the preliminary investigations have already been completed, my job is to try to help Rolando to synthesize his findings and in the drafting phase of the report."

Unreported Cases of Sexual Assault High for Ugandan Refugees

Eun Ha Kim (Georgetown University) is working with the Refugee Law Project, an organization providing refugees and IDPs in Uganda with legal services.

"There is no mechanism for justice in [refugee camps], a virtual no man's land for protection. Without adequate retribution and thus deterrence, such instances [of rape] often go unreported. Lawlessness is a frightening concept, but the freedom of sexual abusers in a highly vulnerable population is even more concrete. According to a recent UNICEF report on sexual and gender-based violence in IDP camps, 6 of 10 women are victims of rape. Only a small fraction, however, ever come forward."

Social Workers Helping Sex Workers in Italy

Ewa Sobczynska (Georgetown University) will be working with the Turin, Italy branch of the Transnational AIDS Prevention Among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe Project (TAMPEP). TAMPEP is an Italian grass-roots NGO committed to advocating human and civil rights of migrant sex workers and to assist trafficked women and minors.

"Life is sweet in Italy- but not for everybody. Last week I participated for the first time in Unita di Strada- TAMPEP's mobile units of social workers and volunteers who go out on the street to talk to sex workers that they meet about HIV and STD prevention. […] It was heartbreaking, to see little tiny Jessica (the name has been changed), only around 17 and already a prostitute forced by her Nigerian Madame to go out and sell her body."

Treatable Malaria Killing Millions in Africa

Malia Mayson (Tufts University) is working with the Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON). WOCON is a grassroots women's human rights organization that focuses on the trafficking of Nigerian women and children nationally and internationally.

"Malaria is right up there with HIV/AIDS as one of the leading causes of death in Africa. And, even though it is easily treatable, some people cannot afford the drugs. Even when they can, new strains of the disease seem to keep popping up every year, making the parasite resistant to traditional modes of treatment."

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