Centre for Women and Development

07, Ratnam Lane off K.K.S. Road, Vannarponnai, Jaffna, Sri Lank

The Centre for Women and Development publishes "Nangai", a monthly bilingual magazine which features current trends and issues on women. The editorials highlight issues related to women or affecting the women's community. The magazine includes articles related to women's issues and problems about their role in development, facts about women workers employed in the Middle Eastern countries, women's health and education, violence against women, rape, sexism, child labor, human rights and rehabilitation for women affected by war situations. Short stories and poems by women and about women are also featured.

The centre welcomes contributions to the magazine in English. Articles, stories, poems, news, etc. must be related to women's issues and concerns.

Centre for Women Studies

P.O. Box 1492
Amman, Jordan
Tel. 847 200

This is a newly instituted non-governmental organization founded by a group of professional women who are concerned about women's issues. They aim to develop communication lines and links with other feminist organizations for future cooperation and support.

The philosophy of the center is tied to the aspirations of the Arab Nation in its quest for freedom, independence, unity, justice and development. At the same time, they acknowledge the fact that women's issues are not localized in the Arab world but have a global dimension that should be addressed by women themselves in order to create unified strategies.

The centre perceives the need to liberate women so that they become active participants in future development of society on economic, political, intellectual and scientific levels. Some of the activities the centre is involved in are the following:

• preparing studies, research and lectures on women, and the publication of these issues;
• organizing and/or participation in conferences on women's issues;
• establishing and strengthening scientific and cultural contacts with societies and institutions that have similar activities;
• extending our expertise and aid to individuals and establishments that are specializing in women's studies, and
• establishing a resource library on women's issues comprised of written and audiovisual materials.

Rural Communes

70, 2nd Floor
1st Marine Street,
Bombay 400 002 India
Tel.: 295601

Rural Communes is a voluntary organization engaged in rural development activities in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India, it has been largely involved in training and organizing rural youth, in the implementation of programmes aimed at the socio-economic empowerment of the rural poor, and in networking with other agencies working in related areas.

At present the organization is involved in interacting with and organizing women as a separate and independent category, with plans to implement programmes for their socio-economic empowerment. It also functions as a resource center for selected topics and plans to expand the scope to include ideas, information and issues related to women's development, which will in turn be disseminated to other agencies.

Rural Communes is interested in receiving relevant publications (in English), as well as information or experiences pertaining to women's organizing and socio-economic development issues specific to women.

AWARE

64A Race Course Road
Singapore 0821
Tel.: 293 - 5868

Aware is a women's center in Singapore that has a telephone service, Helpline, to assist troubled women, especially women who are having difficulty with marriage or divorce, or those who are victims of rape or domestic violence.

Volunteers are thoroughly trained in listening and counselling techniques and are coached on the types of social services and legal remedies that are available to women. Helpline's philosophy is not to tell women what to do but rather to enable them to decide for themselves what they can do to improve their life situations.

The Aware Helpline telephone number is 293-1011. Volunteers can be reached from 4 p.m. - 10 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.

Last March 8, 1991 Aware opened a women's center, after four years of brainstorming and planning. Aside from the Helpline service room, the center also houses a library with a collection of women's newsletters, books on women and by women, and a collection of feminist children's books. A comfortable lounge area with audio-visual facilities and a bright kitchen are added attractions of the center.

Rape Crisis Centre

40 Woodford St. Newtown,
Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I.
Tel.: 622 7273

The Rape Crisis Centre of Trinidad and Tobago is a non-governmental organization which provides counseling to survivors of sexual and physical abuse. Its activities also include a public education programme, training and lobbying for the legislation of women's rights, and the protection of women against violence.

The organization has been in operation since 1984. It started from a small committee of concerned persons and has grown into a full time service organization with one branch office to date. As the organization expands the need to formalize its structure and to develop its own policies became more and more apparent. The Rape Crisis Centre will
be grateful if other women's organizations could share information and experiences on organizational policies to help them as they strive to make their organization stronger and more effective.

Africa Mews

Editorial Offices and Monitoring Facilities:
P.O. Box 3851
Durham, NC 27702 USA
Telex: 3772229
Tel: (919) 286-0747
Fax: (919) 286-2614

Africa News Service is a non-profit news agency dedicated to educating Americans and the international community about Africa. With a biweekly newsletter Africa News, radio broadcasts and other educational materials, the agency is recognized worldwide as an authoritative source on issues and events in the continent. Its subscribers include libraries, radio stations, newspapers, government departments and non-governmental organizations with an interest in Africa.

Africa News Service also welcomes exchange of publications arrangements. They come out with 24 issues of Africa News per year. The regular institution subscription rate is $48 per year.

The Global Community Centre

89-91 King Street North
Waterloo, Ontario
N2J 2X3 Canada
Tel.: (519)746-4090

The Global Community Centre is a non-profit and educational resource centre whose mandate is to raise public awareness of, and foster action on, international development and social justice issues. In particular it seeks to define the root cause of problems faced by developing countries. Global staff and volunteers work with churches, schools and community groups to increase public awareness of issues such as human rights, inequalities in wealth, and world hunger. Global also provides a resource center for the public where books, periodicals, audiovisuals, maps and posters on third world development can be accessed.

One special project is the Women in Africa Partnership Project (Phase II) which was launched in January 1991 with the financial support from Partnership Africa Canada, OXFAM Canada, and Mennonite Central Committee Ontario. This project aims to build awareness and understanding about African women - their burdens and efforts to overcome the problems they face.

They come out with the Global NEWS, published five times a year, which features news and articles on global environmental and development concerns.

Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women in the Philippines

113-E 13th Avenue
Cubao, Quezon C i ty
Philippines
Telefax: 721-39-41

Amihan seeks to bind together all other peasant women's organizations in the Philippines to promote and uphold their rights and demands and to continue to provide or create opportunities that will empower them. Amihan organizes and mobilizes peasant women toward attaining a free, just and democratic society where men and women are equal.

Amihan's programs include organization building, education, publications, training, legal services, and special projects such as primary health care and a child care center. Amihan publishes a quarterly newsletter, Pagsibol (a Filipino term meaning germination).

Women' s Library and Information Center Foundation

Fener Mah, Fener P.T.T. yani (tarihi bina)
Fener Vapur Iskelesi Karsisi, H A L I C - 34220
Istanbul, Turkey
Telephone: 90 (1) 5237408

The Women's Library and Information Center opened in A p r i l 1990. Its purpose is to collect research materials, statistics, laws, journal articles, photographs, letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper clippings, conference papers, seminar proceedings and books written about women and issues relating to women, as well as the statutes and publications of women's organizations.

The collection also includes works by Turkish female authors from Ottoman times to the present. Aside from the resource collection the center plans to transcribe and make available such works written in Arabic script and to collect and preserve current documents.

In addition to its function as a library and information center the Foundation will also organize conferences and seminars, concerts, and art exhibitions.

The center, which is affiliated to the Municipality of Greater Istanbul, is housed in an 18th century Ottoman building.

Uganda Women Foundation Fund

P.O. Box 4531
Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: 258138

The Uganda Women Foundation Fund (UWFF) is a charitable socio-economic organization whose aim is to uplift the standard of living of all the poor women and their families in the rural areas of Uganda so that they can achieve self-reliance.

The women's community helped by the UWFF is composed of widows, war and AIDS victims and poor women in general. The UWFF takes on the designing and implementation of specialized projects to enable these women to shoulder greater responsibilities.

A sizeable amount of fund resources is alloted to skills and capital equipment in the fields of appropriate village level technology, primary health care, agricultural modernization facilities, and leadership and management skills training. The UWFF also encourages the women's community's positive contributions to environmental conservation.

Village Women ' s Organisation

An organisation of Cameroon village women in
development
P.O. Box 588 Mankon
Bamenda N.W.Province
Rep. of Cameroon
Telephone: 36-26-67

The organisation consists of groups of women whose major aim is to participate in the national development process by promoting the practice and attitude of sharing and caring in society as a whole.

Its main functions are:

1. to strengthen the commitment among women to be more active in promoting social values such as justice, peace, development and others.
2. to promote the involvement of people in decision making processes.
3. to encourage and assist women in finding ways to improve their standard of living.
4. to increase public awareness of issues and problems affecting women and children in rural communities.
5. to keep members informed about women in development issues.
6. to make women aware of the importance of working with an umbrella organization to be effective in making changes.

Its five areas of interest are: food and agriculture; education and development; health, nutrition and sanitation; income generation activities; and charity.

Hong Kong Association of Women Workers

The Hong Kong Association of Women Workers (HKAWW) is an organization concerned with women workers' issues which aims to fight for the rights of women workers and build solidarity among them.

The HKAWW was inaugurated in March 1989. Its members are factory workers, social workers and union activists. It has published a research report on outworkers and made known to the public the situation of the marginal group that contributed to the manufacturing industries of Hong Kong. It has worked towards more child care services. It has participated in the discussion of the future political structure of Hong Kong so that women's voices can be heard by policy-makers. It also offers counseling services on family problems and labor laws.

This year, it has education programs to raise women workers' consciousness on their own rights on labor law, marriage, family and society. It is compiling a handbook on the rights of women workers.

It is collecting and organizing information on women, including work, child care and career.

Source:
Women's News Digest, No. 24, Sept. 1991.
Published by the Association for the Advancement
of Feminism, 444-446 Nathan Road, 8A,
Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Women Christian Council

The Hong Kong Women Christian Council (HKWCC) is composed of a group of women Christians, with strong initiative, who are interested in looking into womanist theology vigorously and systematically. It is active and energetic in participating in social affairs and fighting for
women's rights. To advocate womanist theology, the HKWCC holds courses, talks, seminars and publishes' 'Release''. It is not bound to the church and it has cooperated actively with other women's groups to fight for sexual equality. They included issues such as separate tax assessment, child care, right to free assembly and the democratization of the political structure of Hong Kong.

Its plans include:

1. To motivate the development, sharing and introspection of feminist theology.
2. To contribute to the democratic movement of Hong Kong.
3. To liaise with other women's groups.
4. To raise concern on the issue of sexual discrimination and to promote the ideas of women emancipation and sexual equality in the church.