AL-MESALLA Organization for Human Resources Development
Made by IDP women! “IDP women learn and produce�!
Al Mesalla Organization for Human Resources Development, with the support of UN-Women and in cooperation with UNFPA, launched a women empowering project in September 20104 in the governorate of Erbil (City center and Shaqlawa district) The project aims to: 1. Ensure economic empowerment of IDP women in Erbil province 2. Promote livelihood skills of IDP women in Erbil province
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Activities: First Activity: Organization of sewing centers The project was launched in Erbil City Center in one of the women spaces run by Al Mesalla. (Other women spaces are run in Bahremandan, Razhan, Kasnazan, and Shaqlawa). More than 80 women acquired sewing skills as 4 training sessions lasting one month each were organized. After completion of the trainings, 70 women started sewing clothes. The production supervisor of Al Mesalla explains: “The sewing machines and all sewing material have been provided by UN-Women. Women’s dresses (Dishdashas) have been produced in the women centers and 1200 dresses were produced in the first month of the project.” She added that the marketing of the products is conducted by UN-Women and the clothes are sold directly to international organizations, which distribute them for free to IDP women and girls in Baharka camp in Erbil province. The IDP women sewing the clothes are receiving money for their work. One of the beneficiaries explains: “We want to thank Al Mesalla Organization and its partners for providing us training and a place for sewing. We receive compensation for our work and it enables us to make a living and reduce our suffering as IDP women”. One of the social workers in Bahremendan’s women space explains that while this project contributes to economic empowerment of displaced women, it also provides an opportunity for women to interact with other women to exchange views and concerns. This project is as well providing psycho-social assistance to displaced women in some ways and during their work, beneficiaries are provided with psychosocial support and awareness. In the second month of the project, in order to improve the quality and the quantity of the production, the Shaqlawa women center was designated to start production of women's and children's clothing. This center is equipped with better material and the production of clothes has increased: more than 5,000 women’s dresses (dishdashas) and 500 children's clothes have been produced. All the products have been marketed to international organizations and to UNFPA in particular, and they distribute the items to IDP pregnant women and girls living in camps and outside of camps through Al Mesalla and other partners.
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The project and the productions of clothes are continuing till now.
Second Activity: Organization of life skills trainings for women and girls Besides training women on sewing and production of clothes, the project also focuses on the development of life skills among IDP girls and women in the province of Erbil and in Shaqlawa women center. Kurdish language sessions are organized for IDP girls and women and so far, 4 sessions were held which were attended by 76 girls and a woman. A session runs a month’s time and courses are provided every day for 4 hours. One of the IDP girls originating from Salahadeen province participated in the Kurdish language course. She said: “I benefited a lot from this training course, I learned to communicate with my neighbors and with others, now I can understand Kurdish very well and I can talk a little bit, thank you.” In addition to language skills, this project provides the opportunity to acquire computer skills especially to learn to use MS Word. 40 IDP girls aged between 15-24 years old benefited from the courses. The supervisor of vocational trainings in Al Mesalla Organization explains: “Life-skills trainings are designed upon the request of IDP women and girls themselves. The beneficiaries request what they need. We have organized trainings with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNFPA. The first training that was launched was the language course, it was attended mostly by older women but in the computer training, all beneficiaries are girls who are not more than 24 years old.”
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This report has been compiled by Al Mesalla for Human Resources for Development. Al Mesalla is a non-governmental, non-profit Iraqi organization. Its headquarters are located in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan region. It aims to participate in: disseminating the practices of civil society, democracy, peace building, conflict management; Raising awareness about human rights, non-violence, voluntary work; empowerment and providing social, economical, legal services for women and vulnerable groups, throughout all of Iraqi provinces. Date of publication of the report: December 2014 For more information, contact Al Mesalla: almesalla@almesalla.net Website: http://www.almesalla.org Contact Phone Number: +964 4150511
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