Global Fund For Women: The Breath of Change

At the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre, Brazil, author/activist Arundathi Roy opined "Another world is not only possible, she’s on the way and, on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully you can hear her breathe." Today on GRIT TV, you can hear the breath of change blowing across traditional patriarchal societies as Laura Flanders speaks with formidable women activists recently honored by the Global Fund for Women struggling to improve the well-being of their sisters in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Listen to how women are engaged in revamping the cultural and social realities of their societies in the face of increased militarization, growing economic disparities, and escalating religious fundamentalism.

In this segment, Laura Flanders speaks with Professor Hoda Elsadda, co-founder, of Egypt’s Women & Memory Forum - an organization that brings together researchers and activists to use art & literature to re-interpreting Arab cultural history, challenging traditional gender norms and cultural biases against women in current Arab societies and with Taida Horozovic, the co-founder and director of the CURE Foundation, a group of young human rights activists in Bosnia and Herzogovina (BiH) organizing street actions and campaigns such as the ‘Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence’, V-Day. Giving an overview, Zeina Zaatari, Program Officer, Middle East and North Africa at the Global Fund for Women, reminds us of the role and responsibility of the us, which in waging war has created a culture of violence in societies where women are victimized and violated not only by the occupier, but within their own homes. Zaatari nevertheless reminds us that even in the most beleaguered societies, women ultimately need solidarity, not rescue. All three women speak to the value and power of sisterhood which extends across and beyond borders.