IRC marks International Women's Day

The IRC participated in presentations, discussions and workshops to raise awareness about refugee women on International Women's Day:

In New York, the play "Displaced," written and directed by the IRC's Stephanie Barton-Farcas, was performed at the American Museum of Natural History. Based on poetry, songs and testimonies from refugee women and children, the play depicts the plight of 10 refugees, including an African child soldier, a landmine survivor from Chechnya, an Afghan woman living under Taliban rule and an Asian teen caught up in the sex trade. Barton-Farcas also took part in a roundtable discussion that followed. Other panelists included refugees resettled by the IRC in the New York area. On the following day, the participants held a workshop at the museum to teach teenagers about refugee issues.

In Tucson, Arizona last Friday, the IRC's resettlement office led a Women's Day presentation that focused on IRC programs in Tucson, the slowdown in refugee admissions, the issue of domestic violence in refugee communities and the strength of refugee women who have come to the United States. Participants included the IRC's Nahid Ibrahim, who works with new arrivals from Sudan, Evelyn Yecies, an employment coordinator, and Rosa Weet, a Sudanese refugee who was resettled in Phoenix by the IRC in 1996 and has since become the executive director of a refugee women's organization. Representatives of the Women's League of Voters, former Department of State employees and U.N. Association members were among some 50 participants.

In Atlanta, IRC caseworker Jasmina Talundzic addressed over 200 participants of "Women Voices, Women Journeys," a conference held at Spelman College in commemoration of International Women's Day. Refugee women from Rwanda, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan shared their personal stories of flight from persecution and their resettlement in the United States. Jasmina, a former resident of Sarajevo, told the audience how she and her family survived the Bosnian war and finally found the means to rebuild their lives in Atlanta. She went on to describe the current admissions crisis that is preventing thousands of other qualified refugees from entering the United States.

In Azerbaijan, the IRC opened its new "Gender Unit" office to coincide with International Women's Day. The office aims to ensure that all IRC's programs in Azerbaijan consider and address gender issues. The unit will also work with other local and international humanitarian organizations in Azerbaijan to promote programs that emphasize gender equality.