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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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Partner Campaigns > Combating Sexual ... > Campaign > Past Projects

Past Projects

To date over 800 women have recieved assistance from SOS FED and Advocacy Project Programs.  Highlights from the past seven years include:

Treatment and recovery:  800 women have been treated at FED SOS centers in Mboko, Kikonde, and Kazimia.  These women received assistance reintegrating into the community after rape, counseling and peer support, and training in family planning and financial management.

Income generation:  Ten hectares land was purchased by SOS FED for a female owned community farming co-op.  It is owned and cultivated by survivors, advocates, and community members to provide a small income and a safe way to farm for vulnerable women.  Most recently over 1202 kilograms of beans were harvested by only twenty-eight dedicated women.

Community education:  Through a series of advocacy initiatives the project promotes a series of best practices to reduce the risk of rape for women engaged in necessary activities, like collecting wood, which put them in a vulnerable position, alone in the woods.  The education campaign includes three public service announcements broadcast throughout the region.

Art Therapy:  Approximately 120 women made tiles for the Ahadi Quilt, their individual tiles tell the story of their collective life in DRC. Each survivor chose her own theme and drew her image on paper, this was then outlined in pencil on cloth by a local artist who then helped the women hand embroidered the image. 

Speaking out:  Participants in the Ahadi Quilt project volunteered to become outspoken advocates on behalf of their sisters – their profiles are available here.

Building support:  SOS FED, with the help of Advocacy Project, has dedicated itself to expanding it’s capacity to advocate on behalf of survivors by undergoing extensive training in information technology and website maintenance as well as the production of a monthly newsletter delivered to supporters and beneficiaries around the world online and in print.

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