Women empowered by NGO project

Women in Iraq are being given the confidence to tackle everyday problems head on without having to face bribes or fear repercussions, thanks to an international NGO running classes promoting women's rights and vocational training. Alia Kadhem, 50, who lives in the capital, Baghdad told a story of how she refused to a pay bribe to win a battle to bring back water to her neighbourhood, thanks to rights and self awareness classes held by the international 'Women for Women' NGO. She initially joined in order to learn handicraft skills so she could support herself, but ended up learning much more, making her a stronger person, she told IRIN. The classes gave her confidence and she recently represented her neighbourhood on the issue of inconsistent water supplies. Kadhem said she had complained to the local authorities who arranged for contractors to solve the problem, but was then faced with another dilemma: "One of the employees asked for money to bring water back to the poor neighbourhood," she told IRIN in Baghdad. But this, she said, did not surprise her under the current circumstances in the troubled country. With no other option in sight she started to collect money from the families of the neighbourhood. However, after gathering some donations she changed her mind and decided not to pay. Instead, she went straight to the mayor's office to complain, not only about the water service, but corruption as well. In the end water was restored to the area and the employee was punished. Now, Kadhem is working on getting support from local residents to call on the authorities to improve poor electricity supplies. Taking this type of initiative was a big step for Kadhem, who said it was only possible due to the classes organised by the 'Women for Women' NGO. It was was established in 1991 in Bosnia to help women in post-war communities worldwide and currently run projects in nine countries. Manal Omar, regional manager for the NGO, told IRIN that they equip women with the confidence to tackle such matters and after that it is up to them to implement what they have learnt. "We have all been there, only we needed a little push to go on," she explained. The importance of keeping women abreast of dealing with daily matters is crucial in such a situation, NGO workers said. "After a war, women suffer the most. We help them not to be the victims of wars. Iraqi women are survivors, they are not victims and they don't want to be," Omar added. One of the main aims is to try and give Iraqi women a higher international profile through a three stage programme. The first focuses on creating a safe and female environment for women to talk about their problems and ideas as they have not been able to express their views freely for a long period of oppression enforced under the previous regime. The second level is to evaluate the skills of the participants and the final stage is for them to learn a new skill to make them more independent. "Iraq is a difficult country but we believe that local women have solutions for their problems. We stand by women who are not equipped to carry on their lives on their own," Omar explained. The NGO is also coordinating with other aid agencies as well as government departments to exchange ideas on adding more projects. In Iraq, some 800 women are participating in the programme, but their target is much higher. "Our aim is to help 2,000 women yearly," Omar said.