Chapters Content
About Us
Greetings!
The East Florida Chapter (EFC) was incorporated on April 13, 2008 and inducted in Atlanta, Georgia on June 21, 2008. The Chapter mission is to raise awareness about UNIFEM's work around the world and to provide financial support for its innovative programs and initiatives in developing countries, aimed at achieving women's empowerment and gender equality.
To this end, EFC:
- has partnered and/or collaborated with institutions of higher education such as Florida Atlantic University and Palm Beach State College as well as the School District of Palm Beach County.
- has provided internships to high school, community college and university students.
- has joined forces with religious and business communities led by women as well as with non-profit organizations that share its goals including violence prevention and empowerment of women through education.
- has crossed the line of ethnicity and culture by collaborating with a variety of ethnic groups and arts organizations in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.
- has produced a quarterly newsletter, the East Florida Gazette and has employed Facebook to keep in touch with its members.
Events:
Annually, EFC invites its South Florida Communities to participate in its Annual Walk: Step Out To Prevent Violence against Women and Girls.
The East Florida Chapter has raised awareness about peaceful resolution to humanitarian crisis through films screened in collaboration with faith communities, professional organizations and academic institutions. The first film shown was Pray the Devil Back to Hell with five presentations in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.
The East Florida Chapter seeks to increase its sustainability as well as raise support for UNIFEM priorities by increasing and maintaining its membership. Recruitment has been possible through social events such as the annual High Tea, Mother–Daughter Brunch, and empowerment and leadership presentations.
EFC raises awareness and advocates for issues with international repercussions such as the ratification of CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and the abolition of the Bride Child Practice.
To better serve its members, EFC has expanded its chapter operations to Miami-Dade County. Both EFC Palm Beach and EFC Miami-Dade will share resources; however, activities will be tailored to the needs of the communities.
Annual Walks
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We recently completed our second annual 5K walks to raise funds for the UN Trust Fund. Through UN Trust Fund to end violence against women, UNIFEM has distributed more than $50 million to 304 initiatives in 121 countries since 1997. UN Trust Fund project support the implementation of national laws, policies and action plans that address ending violence against women and girls. For instance: In Cambodia, the Fund supports a women's organization created a radio program to inform their listeners of laws and services to protect women from violence. Prior to the broadcast, two thirds of their listeners did not know that marital rape was a crime.; In Albania, the Fund support national and regional coalitions that combat trafficking of women and girls.; In Chile, Rwanda and India, the Fund projects are engaging men to find solutions and to end gender-based violence. Join the Say No campaign and take an action today. UNiTE with others to end violence against women and girls. E-mail us at northcarolina@unifem-usnc.org if you want to join us for the spring 2011 walks/runs in the RTP and Wilmington area. We hope to have the 5K walk/run at the Hugh McRae Park in Wilmington and at the Al Buehler Trail at Duke University in Durham again. See the photos from 2010 walks. We also want to thank the sponsors again! |
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Film Screenings
How does the simple act of planting trees lead to winning a Nobel Peace Prize? What is women's role with the environmental sustainability? In what ways was the Green Belt Movement also a women's movement? What is our role with the environmental sustainabilty? What can an average citizen do to promote sound, beneficial practices and policies toward other countries? We will answer these questions and more at the film screenings of "Taking Root" .
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves" Mahatma Gandhi
"It is the people who must save the environment. It is the people who must make their leaders change. And we cannot be intimidated. So we must stand up for what we believe in." Wangari Maathai
Participate in one of the screenings listed below and celebrate the International Day of Peace with us.
Chapel Hill
Date/Time: Tuesday September 21st 6:30PM
Location: Auditorium, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building, UNC Chapel Hill (click here for direction)
Raleigh
Date/Time: Tuesday September 21st 6PM
Location: Campus Cinema, Witherspoon Student Center, North Carolina State University (click here for direction)
Wilmington
Date/Time: Monday September 20th 7PM
Location: Randall Library Auditorium (2nd floor), UNC Wilmington (click here for campus map - building FL is the library)
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves" Mahatma Gandhi
"It is the people who must save the environment. It is the people who must make their leaders change. And we cannot be intimidated. So we must stand up for what we believe in." Wangari Maathai
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Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy - a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration. Planting trees for fuel, shade, and food is not something that anyone would imagine as the first step toward winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet with that simple act Wangari Maathai, a woman born in rural Kenya, started down the path that reclaimed her country's land from 100 years of deforestation, provided new sources of food and income to rural communities, gave previously impoverished and powerless women a vital political role in their country, and ultimately helped to bring down Kenya's twenty-four-year dictatorship. In 1981, Wangari Maathai received a grant from UNIFEM for a reforestation and employement project. UNIFEM's support helped thousands of women to plant millions of trees, and the movement jump-started a glboal call for "development by the people, rather than for the people". |
Participate in one of the screenings listed below and celebrate the International Day of Peace with us.
Chapel Hill
Date/Time: Tuesday September 21st 6:30PM
Location: Auditorium, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building, UNC Chapel Hill (click here for direction)
Raleigh
Date/Time: Tuesday September 21st 6PM
Location: Campus Cinema, Witherspoon Student Center, North Carolina State University (click here for direction)
Wilmington
Date/Time: Monday September 20th 7PM
Location: Randall Library Auditorium (2nd floor), UNC Wilmington (click here for campus map - building FL is the library)
2010 Southern California Walk to End Violence
Step Out Against Gender-Based Violence with the S. CA Chapter of UNIFEM-USNC
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park
28373 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Niguel, CA
Parking: $3
Bring your own re-useable water bottle.
To register online on Active.com, click here.
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REGISTRATION
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SCHEDULE
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8:00: Registration
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Onsite Registration on April 17: $25
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8:30: Warm-up and Walk
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Kids Under 12 and Dogs: Free
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Walk With the S. CA Chapter to:
- Create awareness of gender-based violence
- Raise funds for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women
- Advocate for the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA)
Get More Information
- Learn more about violence against women
- Support the International Violence Against Women Act
- Find out more about our sister walks across the country
Make Your Participation Count Even Move
We encourage walkers to create individual fundraising pages to raise money. Click here to create your own individual fundraising page. Create your page as a part of the S. CA chapter event. Then either create a team or join the Socal Walkers team.
Walk With the S. CA Chapter to:
- Create awareness of gender-based violence
- Raise funds for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women
- Advocate for the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA)
Get More Information
- Learn more about violence against women
- Support the International Violence Against Women Act
- Find out more about our sister walks across the country
Make Your Participation Count Even Move
We encourage walkers to create individual fundraising pages to raise money. Click here to create your own individual fundraising page. Create your page as a part of the S. CA chapter event. Then either create a team or join the Socal Walkers team.
San Francisco Bay Area: Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in volunteering, please send us an email at sanfranbayarea@unifem-usnc.org.
We currently need volunteers for our Monthly Film Screenings and Walk Committee.
We currently need volunteers for our Monthly Film Screenings and Walk Committee.
San Francisco Bay Area: Past Events
Film Screening: The Female Face of AIDS: Crisis in Malawi
The Republic of Malawi in southeast Africa may be rich in uranium, coal, and bauxite, but it is poor in such economic and health areas as average income (less than $1 per day), life expectancy (age 39.6 for women), and infant mortality rate. Estimates show that 14 percent of women ages 13 to 39 suffer from AIDS. In 2007 four professors and eight students from the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School traveled to Africa to document stigma and discrimination against the women of Malawi who are HIV positive. Shot on location in the District of Mangochi, this documentary personalizes the stories of several infected women and children. This film also includes clips from interviews with male villagers, local AIDS activists, educators, and government officials in an effort to paint an accurate picture of the extent of the problem and prospects for the future.
Following the film, we will have a presentation and discussion with Dr. Sandi McCoy, and epidemiologist at UC Berkeley who has worked on HIV/AIDS prevention in East Africa.
http://www.documentaryfilms.net/index.php/the-female-face-of-aids-crisis-in-malawi/
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, June 27, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Membership Meeting
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, June 27, 2010
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Wine and Cheese with Prativa Subedi
Please join us for an evening of wine, appetizers and conversation with IDEX Partner from Nepal, Prativa Subedi.
Prativa has been involved in gender and community development work for 20 years, traveling throughout Nepal to carry out community-based development programs and trainings. Her articles and essays on women have been published widely in journals and newspapers, as well as four published books on Nepali women activism. She was awarded the ASHOKA Fellowship for her innovative contributions to gender sensitive social development.
In 1991, Prativa founded the Nari Chetna Kendra Nepal (Women Awareness Center Nepal or WACN) to promote empowerment of women and other disadvantaged people with the goal to improve their socio-economic status. WACN empowers women by starting savings and credit groups and cooperatives for women. WACN's programs serve over 15,000 women throughout 4 districts of Makwanpur, Nepal. With seed funding to enable immediate lending to cooperative members, WACN provides women with the opportunity to earn and save. In turn, this gives women a voice in both their households and community. Their work has changed the landscape of financial services for women.
4278 Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
Thursday, June 17, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Film Screening: Mrs. Goundo's Daughter
Mrs. Goundo's Daughter is the story of a young mother's quest to keep her baby daughter healthy and whole. It is also the story of the African tradition of female genital cutting, which dates back thousands of years - and how it affects people's lives in just two of the many places where the practice is being debated today.
Mrs. Goundo's husband fled drought and ethnic conflict in his native Mali, West Africa, sixteen years ago. Mrs. Goundo came to the United States in 1999. Together, they are raising three young children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To stay in the U.S., Mrs. Goundo must persuade an immigration judge that her two-year old daughter Djenebou, born in the U.S., will almost certainly suffer clitoral excision if Goundo is deported. In Mali, where up to 85% of women and girls are excised, Mrs. Goundo and her husband are convinced they would be powerless to protect their daughter from her well-intentioned grandparents, who believe all girls should be excised.
www.attiegoldwater.com/goundosdaughter/home.htm
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, May 30, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Co-sponsored by: ITVS and UC Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
Responding to Gender Based Violence Around the Globe - Causes and Responses
As part of the Spark's Spring Speaker Series CGRS Associate Director, Shawn Roberts, and Staff Attorney, Kim Thuy Seelinger, will engage Spark members in a dynamic conversation around the causes of gender based violence and global responses to this crisis.
UC Hastings School of Law, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
Alumni Reception Room
200 McAllister Center
San Francisco, CA 94102
Wednesday, May 19, 2009
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Hosted by: Spark SF and UC Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
Co-sponsored by: UNIFEM/USNC San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and Amnesty International
Film Screening: The Shape of Water
Featuring guest speaker Rajasvini Bhansalim Executive Director of IDEX
The Shape of Water is a feature documentary that tells the stories of powerful, imaginative and visionary women confronting the destructive development of the Third World with new cultures and a passion for change. The film takes us to Senegal, Israel/Palestine, Brazil, and India where these new cultures, alongside old traditions, end female genital cutting (FGC), offer innovative forms of opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and show how women are spearheading the implementation of renewable resources and rainforest preservation by tapping trees to obtain rubber.
IDEX is a San Francisco based non-profit organization that promotes sustainable solutions to poverty by providing long-term grants and access to resources to locally run organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. IDEX envisions a global community that embraces economic, social, and cultural rights in which all people may access resources, preserve their environment, and are empowered to live free from poverty and discrimination. IDEX manifests this vision by engaging in democratic partnerships with our grantees and sharing the success of grassroots organizing with funders to build the capacity of locally run initiatives.
http://www.theshapeofwatermovie.com/
http://www.idex.org/
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, April 18, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Co-sponsored by: International Development Exchange (IDEX)
The Republic of Malawi in southeast Africa may be rich in uranium, coal, and bauxite, but it is poor in such economic and health areas as average income (less than $1 per day), life expectancy (age 39.6 for women), and infant mortality rate. Estimates show that 14 percent of women ages 13 to 39 suffer from AIDS. In 2007 four professors and eight students from the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School traveled to Africa to document stigma and discrimination against the women of Malawi who are HIV positive. Shot on location in the District of Mangochi, this documentary personalizes the stories of several infected women and children. This film also includes clips from interviews with male villagers, local AIDS activists, educators, and government officials in an effort to paint an accurate picture of the extent of the problem and prospects for the future.
Following the film, we will have a presentation and discussion with Dr. Sandi McCoy, and epidemiologist at UC Berkeley who has worked on HIV/AIDS prevention in East Africa.
http://www.documentaryfilms.net/index.php/the-female-face-of-aids-crisis-in-malawi/
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, June 27, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Membership Meeting
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, June 27, 2010
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Wine and Cheese with Prativa Subedi
Please join us for an evening of wine, appetizers and conversation with IDEX Partner from Nepal, Prativa Subedi.
Prativa has been involved in gender and community development work for 20 years, traveling throughout Nepal to carry out community-based development programs and trainings. Her articles and essays on women have been published widely in journals and newspapers, as well as four published books on Nepali women activism. She was awarded the ASHOKA Fellowship for her innovative contributions to gender sensitive social development.
In 1991, Prativa founded the Nari Chetna Kendra Nepal (Women Awareness Center Nepal or WACN) to promote empowerment of women and other disadvantaged people with the goal to improve their socio-economic status. WACN empowers women by starting savings and credit groups and cooperatives for women. WACN's programs serve over 15,000 women throughout 4 districts of Makwanpur, Nepal. With seed funding to enable immediate lending to cooperative members, WACN provides women with the opportunity to earn and save. In turn, this gives women a voice in both their households and community. Their work has changed the landscape of financial services for women.
4278 Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
Thursday, June 17, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Film Screening: Mrs. Goundo's Daughter
Mrs. Goundo's Daughter is the story of a young mother's quest to keep her baby daughter healthy and whole. It is also the story of the African tradition of female genital cutting, which dates back thousands of years - and how it affects people's lives in just two of the many places where the practice is being debated today.
Mrs. Goundo's husband fled drought and ethnic conflict in his native Mali, West Africa, sixteen years ago. Mrs. Goundo came to the United States in 1999. Together, they are raising three young children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To stay in the U.S., Mrs. Goundo must persuade an immigration judge that her two-year old daughter Djenebou, born in the U.S., will almost certainly suffer clitoral excision if Goundo is deported. In Mali, where up to 85% of women and girls are excised, Mrs. Goundo and her husband are convinced they would be powerless to protect their daughter from her well-intentioned grandparents, who believe all girls should be excised.
www.attiegoldwater.com/goundosdaughter/home.htm
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, May 30, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Co-sponsored by: ITVS and UC Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
Responding to Gender Based Violence Around the Globe - Causes and Responses
As part of the Spark's Spring Speaker Series CGRS Associate Director, Shawn Roberts, and Staff Attorney, Kim Thuy Seelinger, will engage Spark members in a dynamic conversation around the causes of gender based violence and global responses to this crisis.
UC Hastings School of Law, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
Alumni Reception Room
200 McAllister Center
San Francisco, CA 94102
Wednesday, May 19, 2009
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Hosted by: Spark SF and UC Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
Co-sponsored by: UNIFEM/USNC San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and Amnesty International
Film Screening: The Shape of Water
Featuring guest speaker Rajasvini Bhansalim Executive Director of IDEX
The Shape of Water is a feature documentary that tells the stories of powerful, imaginative and visionary women confronting the destructive development of the Third World with new cultures and a passion for change. The film takes us to Senegal, Israel/Palestine, Brazil, and India where these new cultures, alongside old traditions, end female genital cutting (FGC), offer innovative forms of opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and show how women are spearheading the implementation of renewable resources and rainforest preservation by tapping trees to obtain rubber.
IDEX is a San Francisco based non-profit organization that promotes sustainable solutions to poverty by providing long-term grants and access to resources to locally run organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. IDEX envisions a global community that embraces economic, social, and cultural rights in which all people may access resources, preserve their environment, and are empowered to live free from poverty and discrimination. IDEX manifests this vision by engaging in democratic partnerships with our grantees and sharing the success of grassroots organizing with funders to build the capacity of locally run initiatives.
http://www.theshapeofwatermovie.com/
http://www.idex.org/
Artist's Television Access
992 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sunday, April 18, 2010
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Co-sponsored by: International Development Exchange (IDEX)
San Francisco Bay Area: Board Members
Carrie Dickenson
Co-President 
Cecilia Lipp
Co-President
Shabnaz Yousefia
Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations
Katie Hymans
Vice President of Membership
Benedicte Richardson
Vice President of Advocacy
Marcus Wong
Treasurer
Co-President
Shabnaz Yousefia
Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations
Katie Hymans
Vice President of Membership
Benedicte Richardson
Vice President of Advocacy
Marcus Wong
Treasurer
Stephanie Platis and Marissa Dondoe
San Franciso Bay Area: Upcoming Meetings & Events
Film Screening: The Glass House
Sunday, August 15
7:00 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM
Artist's Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Donations accepted at the door
The fringes of Iranian society can be a lonely place, especially if you are a teenage girl with few resources to fall back on. The Glass House follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center in uptown Tehran. Forget about the Iran that you’ve seen before. With a virtually invisible camera, the girls of The Glass House take us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran with their brave and defiant stories: Samira struggles to overcome forced drug addiction; Mitra harnesses abandonment into her creative writing; Sussan teeters on a dangerous ledge after years of sexual abuse; and Nazila burgeons out of her hatred with her blazing rap music. This groundbreaking documentary reflects a side of Iran few have access to or paid attention to: a society lost to its traditions with nothing meaningful to replace them and a group of courageous women working to instill a sense of empowerment and hope into the minds and lives of otherwise discarded teenage girls.
Sunday, August 15
7:00 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM
Artist's Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Donations accepted at the door
The fringes of Iranian society can be a lonely place, especially if you are a teenage girl with few resources to fall back on. The Glass House follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center in uptown Tehran. Forget about the Iran that you’ve seen before. With a virtually invisible camera, the girls of The Glass House take us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran with their brave and defiant stories: Samira struggles to overcome forced drug addiction; Mitra harnesses abandonment into her creative writing; Sussan teeters on a dangerous ledge after years of sexual abuse; and Nazila burgeons out of her hatred with her blazing rap music. This groundbreaking documentary reflects a side of Iran few have access to or paid attention to: a society lost to its traditions with nothing meaningful to replace them and a group of courageous women working to instill a sense of empowerment and hope into the minds and lives of otherwise discarded teenage girls.
About the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Join us at our next event!
UNIFEM/USNC’s Monthly Film Screening: The Glass House
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM
August 15, 2010
Artist’s Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Film screening and Panel Discussion, with Representatives from Amnesty International USA and NorCal4Iran, on Women's Rights in Iran.
Directed by Hamid Rahmanian, Glass House is a production of Fictionville Studio.
The fringes of Iranian society can be a lonely place, especially if you are a teenage girl with few resources to fall back on. The Glass House follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center in uptown Tehran. Forget about the Iran that you’ve seen before. With a virtually invisible camera, the girls of The Glass House take us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran with their brave and defiant stories: Samira struggles to overcome forced drug addiction; Mitra harnesses abandonment into her creative writing; Sussan teeters on a dangerous ledge after years of sexual abuse; and Nazila burgeons out of her hatred with her blazing rap music. This groundbreaking documentary reflects a side of Iran few have access to or paid attention to: a society lost to its traditions with nothing meaningful to replace them and a group of courageous women working to instill a sense of empowerment and hope into the minds and lives of otherwise discarded teenage girls.
the DVD is available for sale at www.fictionvillestudio.com that 20% of the profits go towards Omid e Mehr (www.omid-e-mehr.org)
This event is co-sponsored by USNC Bay Area Chapter for UNIFEM, Amnesty International USA, and NorCal4Iran.