Refugee Women

Convenor : Homayra Etemadi (International Council on Social Welfare)

Objective
The Working Group has as its mandate the promotion of the cause of women uprooted by war and conflict and bringing their specific concerns and needs to the attention of the international community. The WG advocates policies that mainstream women's concerns at all levels of programme service delivery. It engages governments and international organisations in a dialogue on appropriate policies and reaches out to women at grassroot level to facilitate their participation in international fora.

Activities
Over the past five years, some of the milestone actions undertaken by the Working Group have included:

• Sponsored refugee and displaced women from Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda to bring their testimonies to sessions of the Commission on Human Rights and the UNHCR Standing Committee.
• Sponsored the participation of refugee and displaced women from Somalia and Sierra Leone at the World Social Summit.
• Co-sponsored a field assessment of the condition of Afghan refugee and displaced families in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• Funded a young Afghan woman journalist to prepare a documentary on conditions of Afghan women and its screening in Geneva, New York and Washington.
• Arranging briefing and meetings between UN and humanitarian NGOs.
• Participation in public awareness campaigns on discrimination and xenophobia.
  

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