A letter from WCCN's Executive Director
During the last eight years, it has been a tradition at WCCN to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8th with a special event in Madison. Once again WCCN joined Women for Peace, a local women’s group, to organize this event which was generously supported by the Eunice and Robert J. Wagner Foundation and the Center for South Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In this time of war, WCCN and Women for Peace wanted to address the issue of women’s resistance to violence. As a result, this year we had the opportunity to invite Malalai Joya, a young member of the Afghan parliament and well known women’s rights activist. Malalai belongs to a generation that has suffered from war all its life and has fought against it in different capacities. In fact, Malalai told us that she was only five days old when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in the 1980s. Her father died during that war and her family had to move to a refugee camp in Pakistan where she grew up.
Malalai has been a brave advocate of women’s rights in the most adverse conditions imaginable. She first became involved in the fight for women’s rights when she was a teenager in a refugee camp in Pakistan. When the Taliban was in power and prohibited women from attending school, Malalai moved to Afghanistan and worked clandestinely in literacy efforts to educate girls and young women. Currently, from her seat in the Afghan Parliament, Malalai has become the main voice of Afghan victims of war, an important role given that warlords maintain a lot of power in the new Afghan Government. As a result of her public denouncements against the warlords, Malalai has suffered several assassination attempts. Instead of being intimidated, Malalai has continued fighting back and does not lose an opportunity to denounce warlords’ past and current atrocities. Malalai believes that Afghanistan cannot overcome it’s violent past if war criminals are not brought to justice.
Malalai’s life is in severe danger, as she continues to receive death threats and she is certain that she will be killed any day. Her personality and commitment to her beliefs even if she has to sacrifice her life, moved me deeply. A simple way to contribute and support Malalai in her fight for justice is to learn about her and spread the word about her struggle. I would like to encourage you to visit her website (www.malalaijoya.com).
In this edition of Nicaraguan Developments, in addition to our regular section highlighting a NICA Fund borrower and the Fund’s latest portfolio, we have included four main articles. The first article authored by me has the purpose of putting the Nicaraguan microfinance industry into the Central American context. A second article, on the current political situation in Nicaragua, was written by Susan Frisbie our new Development and Marketing Director. Alisha Steele, WCCN Outreach Coordinator, wrote about our International Women’s Day celebration. Finally, we have an article written by Emily Allred, the NICA Fund’s Loan Fund Manager, on the promotional video that WCCN has just finished on the NICA Fund. Emily’s article includes an interview with Brian Standing, the filmmaker. We would like to invite you to read the entire newsletter and to send us your feedback. A dynamic interaction with our supporters helps us to continue improving our work.
In Solidarity,
Carlos Arenas
WCCN Executive Director