Lily Hijazi-Sacay

Pres. Sandy Pappas holds talk at AAUW

February 22, 2016

FGW President Senator Sandy Pappas holds a Forward Global Women talk at the American Association of University Women (AAUW) House on Summit Ave. in St. Paul, MN. A successful talk spreading the word about the successful work we do! Pictured from left is Lois Wintersteen, Sandy & early FGW, supporter Karen Kirkwood

FGW President Senator Sandy Pappas after her FGW talk at the AAUW house on Summit Ave in St Paul. Left Lois Wintersteen, Sandy & early FGW supporter Karen Kirkwood.

FGW Board Members Attend Regional Meetings in December, 2015

FGW meets with Women Wage Peace, an Israeli NGO, to discuss a collaboration action.

Board members attend regional meetings in December at the Notre Dam Hotel in East Jerusalem.

FGW meets with Israel ambassador to Jordan, Einat Schlein.

Congratulations Anissa Hassouna on Being Elected to the New Egyptian Parliament!

Anissa Hassouna, Executive Director of Sir Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, was appointed to the New Egyptian Parliament for the next five years. Anissa was a participant at the 2015 FGW Convening in St. Paul, MN. Congratulations Anissa!

Anissa was the first woman elected to the Board of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. She is a member of the Executive Council of the “Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs” that won the Nobel Prize in 1995. She is a member of both the Consultative Boards of the “Arab Thought Foundation-Beirut, Lebanon” and the “Arab Forum for Alternatives-Cairo, Egypt.” Previously, Anissa was a political advisor to the Chairman of the Information and Decision Support Center of the Egyptian Cabinet, the Director General of Egypt’s International Economic Forum, and Assistant General Manager at Egypt Iran Development Bank. In 2014, she was named by Arabian Business and CEO Middle East Magazine as one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women.”

Addressing Climate and Peace in Paris and Minnesota

Ellen Anderson, executive director of the University of Minnesota’s Energy Transition Lab, former state senator, and a former chair of the Public Utilities Commission co-authors a Community Voices article about the COP21 Climate talks and their implications for Minnesota in MinnPost.

Next 15 Years of Resolution 1325: Charting a Path Forward

This white paper is a great summary of the status of 1325’s progress and goals for the future penned by the Institute for Inclusive Security. It is very specific, and even tactical, as well as strategic and forward thinking. One section mentions the critical importance of mentorship for women political leaders in conflict regions. A lot is mentioned about civil society and political leaders, and awareness raising–all things on the Forward Global Women agenda. Also included are accounts about women parliamentarians and the challenges they face once elected to move a women’s rights agenda forward.

Fatima Sadiqi is One of 70 best Worldwide Public Speakers on MENA Women’s Issues

Fatima Sadiqi was selected by UNESCO as one of 70 best worldwide public speakers on Middle East North Afrian Women’s issues

Sadiqi is a Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies at the University of Fez, Morocco, Co-founder of the International Institute for Languages and Cultures, Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow, and Director os Isis Center for Women and Development. Read more about her and the other 69 women.

Orit Zuaretz

June 17, 2015

Blog Post written by Orit Zuaretz, Israeli Participant

The Forward Global women convening “Berlin 2014” was my second meeting with women leaders from our region. After 4 years as a Knesset member in Israel, where I met women leaders from diverse communities in Israel among them Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze. The Forward Global women meetings opened up a window of opportunity to interact actively with women from our region with whom we can’t meet.

During the seminar in Berlin I have been exposed to the new reality of life in general and the reality of women’s lives in particular in the M ENA countries after the Arab Spring the uprising and leadership changes. The fact that the participants came from different worlds of content, and from a different perspectives : academic, political arena and civil society organizations have enriched the discussion.. The Personal stories, the interaction and the relationship, created and formed a common base of understanding.

During the meeting we developed few ideas and thoughts about some issues and changes that we can promote in collaboration. Maybe we will not be able to change the whole MENA region, but I’m sure that we can promote these small changes in each country. The cooperation and relationship was created is going to be the base and a part of a long chain attached to each one of the women leaders in our region.

I want to thank you, each one of my new friends, and hope that one day we will not have to travel so far to get together.

Women Creating Art for Peace and Gender Justice

April 24, 2015

Celebrating 100 Years of WILPF, 93 Years of Minnesota Metro WILPF, 20 Years since the 4^th UN World Conference on Women Beijing

WHEN: April 22-29, 2015
Noon to 8 p.m.

WHERE: Carondelet Center 1890 Randolph, St Paul, MN

Over the past 20 years we, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Arts Committee, a small group of WILPF artists, activists, and scholars, have shared the stories of global women and the United Nations documents on women through the arts in collaboration with other peace and women’s organizations*. We believe in the power of the arts to effect social change and to illuminate public policies.

This retrospect exhibition documents our art making with images,photos, videos, posters, story boards, information handouts, books, costumes, quilts, scripts, paintings, posters, and sandwich boards. The stories told raise awareness that “Women’s Rights are Human Rights as illuminated the United Nations 1995 Beijing Platform for Action – a document based on the earlier UN Call for Action and other UN documents regarding women & children.

Our exhibition, April 22-29 2015, coincides with the WILPF International Congress and 100 year anniversary to be held at the Hague and also celebrates the 93^rd anniversary of our Minnesota WILPF chapter.

The exhibit includes daily artists talk, performances and speakers – weekdays at 6: PM and Saturday and Sundays at 2 – 4 – and 6: PM. Multiple video stations will highlight related films.

At the Opening 100^th Birthday Celebration, Jane Adams/ Luella Greene will tell the story of the founding of WILPF in 1915 and the Women’s Drum Heart will play. On April 23 composer Janika Vandervelde will speak about her musical collaborations and performances with WILPF, composers and dancers from the Perpich High School and community groups. On Sunday April 26 Senator Sandy Pappas will speak her organization Forward Global Women and its peacemaking efforts. The April 29 Closing will feature Cheryl Thomas, Executive Director of Global Rights for Women speaking on the UN documents on Women. See www.wilfmn.org orwww.wisdomways.org for additional programs.

Wisdom Ways, the Sisters of St Joseph Peace and Justice organization at the Carondelet Center, is providing space and collaboration with the exhibition. Metropolitan State U’s Peace Institute is adding support.

Come and See

Global Women at the 1995 United Nations Beijing Conference on Women celebrating and working together.
Art, performances and curriculum that bring UN Documents on Women to life.
Mary Yang with her living Hmong Story Quilt telling the story of her life.
A young mother holding her new born daughter and facing the dilemma of female genital mutilation in her culture.
Naima Richmond re-counting growing up African American in Atlanta and focusing on Reparation for African Americans..
Women in Black vigils witnessing against war and violence against women –
Annual Hiroshima Nagasaki events at the Minneapolis Peace Garden.
International artists, activists and scholars examining Women and Water Rights.

Press Release: Contact Terri Hawthorne 651-645-4427 terrihawthorne@comcast.net
or Luella Greene 651-433-3773 luellagreene@frontiernet.net
www.wilfmn.org or www.wisdomwayscenter.org

Seventh Edition of the international Forum “Mediterranean Women”

April 19, 2015

Seventh Edition of the International Forum “Mediterranean Women”

May 29, 30, and 31, 2015
Fez, Palais des Congrès

The seventh edition of the international forum “Mediterranean Women” will be organized by Isis Center for Women and Development and Konrad Adenauer – Rabat on May 29, 30 and 31, 2015 at the Palais des Congrès, Fez, Morocco. The theme of this edition is “The Escalation of Gender-Based Violence Against Women and Girls in the Middle East and North Africa – MENA Region.”

While the post-Arab Spring turmoil is affecting men, women, and children, specific types of violence systematically target women and girls. The post-Arab Spring initial backlash on women’s rights is not only gathering momentum everyday, but is developing into unprecedented new types of violence against women with the dangerously mounting tide of extremist Jihadism.

The new forms of violence range from the imposition of the niqab (total veiling), the ban of women from public unless they are accompanied by a male member of the family, a return of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) for women between the ages of 11 and 46, stoning to death of (supposedly) adulterous women, assassination of female activists, Jihad al-Nikah (brainwashed women offering sex in support of the Jihadists), honor crimes, and enslavement (buying/selling of women and girls).

These new forms of violence are indirectly “sanctioning” the already familiar types such as moralization incriminating women for any social crisis, domestic battering, increased sexual harassment, forced marriage, and (gang) rape that accompanied the post-uprising phases in the MENA region. The ambiguous barriers between moderate and extremist Islamists is intensifying the daily misery of women in most parts of the region and threatening the hard-won women’s rights, and systematic brainwashing is involving more and more women in the recruitment of female Jihadists. In parallel, extreme violence against women is heavily used in the Jihadists’ propaganda narratives and glorified by mainstream media.

The dire absence of statistics, let alone serious academic research, on this issue is adding fuel to an already hot problem whose short- and long- term social, economic, and political repercussions are far-reaching and call for a combination of reliable research and urgent policies.

The Forum aims at documenting the new forms of violence against women and suggesting preventive solutions.

Eminent researchers, experts and activists from over 20 countries will participate in the Forum which will address 7 main axes:

1. What does the escalation of violence against women mean?
2. Escalation of violence against women in the Middle East
3. Escalation of violence against women in North Africa
4. Patriarchy and the escalation of gender-based violence
5. Masculinities
6. Strategies to combat gender-based violence
-Education Reform
-Textbook Reform
7. Transnational Networking in the face of the escalation of transnational vioelnce against women

The languages of the Forum are: Arabic, French and English.

2015 Kick-Off Meeting

March 17, 2015

Forward Global Women

Fourth Convening Kick-Off

The Board of Directors of Forward Global Women

Mary Jo McGuire, Board Chair

Rina Bar Tal, Board Co-President

Rula Quawas, Board Co-President

Christie Nicoson, Board Secretary and Treasurer,

Sherry Munyon, Board Member

Judy Cook, Board Member

The Forward Global Women Board of Directors cordially invite you to a kick-off event for our fourth annual global women’s convening to be held August 2-7, 2015 at the Minneapolis Woman’s Club near Loring Park, Minnesota, USA.

Forward Global Women Kick-Off MeetingTuesday, April 7

At the home of Sandy Neren, 1779 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105

4:30-6:00 pm – Organizing meeting

volunteer information for August 2015

6:00-8:00 pm – Fundraiser

Stories from the 2014 Berlin Convening, refreshments

Global boutique gift-bags for contributions of $25 or more

Please RSVP by Wednesday, April 1 to admin@forwardglobalwomen.org.