Auteur/autrice : Heidi Barathieu-Brun

Linked with West African Network for Peacebuilding WANEP.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « The exclusion of women in early crisis talks was a huge mistake. It is now up to the women of Ivory Coast to correct that mistake ».

Read: Her texts on UNjobs. (full text).

Dandi Lou Hélène Amanan – Cote d’Ivoire

She works for the Women in Peacebuilding Network WIPNET, (exists also in french), and for Vision et action des femmes africaines contre les guerres VAFAG.

Hélène Amanan served as a secretary of the permanent mission of the Ivory Coast for the United Nations in New York, was an international official (1992-1999) in charge of coordination of social affairs and protection of refugees for the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ivory Coast and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was coordinator of the program Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding.

Since 2004, Madame Dandi has been the French regional adviser (West Africa) of the Network of African Women for Peace. The goal of Madame Dandi Lou’s NGO is to involve African women in building peace, preventing or managing conflict and giving urgent help to vulnerable people (women, children, refugees, handicapped, elderly people). As it’s leader, she worked on a national and international plan to deliver the message to women affected by the wars.

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She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « It is not wise to establish a group of underprivileged people. Even if these people can, or are forced to, move back to their homeland, it is better that they learn something here ». And: « I used to be able to buy subway tickets for people. Nowadays I have to think about being able to afford lunch », is how she describes her situation. (1000PeaceWomen).

Ute Bock erhält 15’200 Euro, 28. Dezember 2006. Oft wurden wir in den letzten Wochen gefragt, wieviel Geld wir nun spenden können. Jetzt sind die Abrechnungen endlich abgeschlossen und wir können uns über einen gewaltigen Betrag von 15.200 Euro für die Ute Bock und ihr Flüchtlingsprojekt freuen! (full text).

Read in german: Solidarität mit Frau Bock – Eine Aktion des WBDS.

Ute Bock – Austria

Ute Bock worked professionally for many years as a social worker and educator/teacher, before she became director of the Zohmanngasse Home in Vienna in 1976.. In the early 1990s, she started to take care of teenage immigrants. She also took in underage refugees from countries at war, who came to Austria on their own looking for asylum. Ute Bock was the last hope for many teenage immigrants for whom nobody else cared. Her small project has grown into a community of 50 apartments where over 200 people find a home. She has also provided a legal address and legal aid for more than 1000 immigrants so that they can pursue their asylum procedures.

She was born in Linz, Austria in 1942.

In the early 1990s, Ute Bock started to take care of teenage immigrants, who were sent to her by the youth welfare office. At first, they were mostly children of immigrant workers. But soon enough she also took in underage immigrants from countries at war, who came to Austria on their own looking for asylum. Zohmanngasse and Ute Bock were the last hope for many teenage immigrants for whom nobody else cared.

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Linked with Women living under Muslim laws,
and with The Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « I am touched by the number of women and people who tell me I touched them through my work ».

Read: Scoping Study on Social Exclusion.

She says also: « Women Living under Muslim Laws (an NGO) views ‘Fundamentalism’, above all, as a political project. All forms of what is called ‘fundamentalism’ are ultimately political projects of appropriation of the public, social and personal spaces in which we exist – with the goal of gaining political and economic power. Sometimes such projects aim to maintain power and sometimes to challenge power. The critical element, however, in understanding these forces that are lumped together under the banner of ‘Fundamentalism’, is to analyze them from the perspective of power ». (full text).

Read: Asian Women in Muslim Societies, Perspectives & Struggles.

Farida Shaheed – Pakistan

She works for the Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre, and for the Women Living under Muslim Laws WLUML.

The Women Action Forum (WAF) worker Farida Shaheed alleged that the government was fanning Talibanisation. She said General Musharraf was furthering the agenda of General Ziaul Huq. She said the government was depriving the masses of their basic human rights. “As lawyers and the masses struggle for the restoration of the basic human rights and democracy in the country,” She said. “Extremists take violent steps to undermine those rights.” Commenting on the assault on Dr Amina Butter, she said, it was condemnable. (full text).

Read: Militarization & Global Conflict – A Different Perspective.

And she says: « Further, many « fundamentalist » projects would not be able to exist if they did not have linkages and were not supported by other groups that you would not normally consider to be « fundamentalist. » These forces exist at the national and local level. At home, for example, we can see that the bankruptcy of the political parties has helped to bring about and give force to extremist elements by creating a void – a space filled by extremist elements.

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Linked with Women on Waves, and with An Interview with Rebecca Gomperts.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « Induced abortions are one of the most common medical interventions in the world: out of around 46 million abortions performed annually, 20 million are illegal and unsafe ». (1000PeaceWomen).

Working as a ship’s doctor on Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, as a freelance abortion doctor in several clinics and the writing of the novel Flotsam are only some examples of this. Her three talents come together expressly in her latest iniative, the founding of Women on Waves, a Dutch non-profit organisation devoted to the cause of women’s rights and health. (full text).

She says also: « Of course I realized when I got back how many problems I would come across if I wanted to put this idea into practice. But the more research I did, the more this issue crawled under my skin and would not let go. So many women are dying and being denied the most fundamental part of human existence, namely to decide about their autonomy, their bodies, whether and when they want to have children ». (1000PeaceWomen).

Rebecca Gomperts – Netherlands

She works for Women on Waves.

Read: I had an abortion. (full text).

Read: Rebecca Gomperts Is Trying to Save the World for Abortion. (full text).

Rebecca Gomperts works with local women’s groups to prevent unsafe abortions and empower women to exercise their human rights to physical and mental autonomy. In 1999, Rebecca Gomperts founded the organization, Women on Waves, which operates a mobile abortion clinic on a ship. Despite threats and protests from anti-abortion groups and governments, it has sailed to various countries where abortions are illegal. While in harbor, the ship provides contraceptives, information, and counseling. After sailing into international waters, early medical abortions are provided safely in the clinic.

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Linked with Three organizations working for Peace and Human Rights on the Åland Islands, and with Don’t blame the victims.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « Getting involved in peace work was a long process for me. Politics came first. Then I felt the threat of a nuclear holocaust so frightening and so hopeless. I got involved in the peace marches through Europe in the eighties and met so many different people who wanted to act for peace instead of shrugging their shoulders and doing nothing. I did not want to become cynical. It is healthier to have hope. With time I have come to think that the most important thing is the process of working together. The main obstacle to peace is the conception that war is somehow inevitable. That concept is built into the patriarchal structures of our society, and the people who uphold it are probably the ones who are themselves ready to use violence to achieve their goals. If you believe violence is a solution, it becomes one. For example, the real reason for the war in Iraq is to make some of the men in the Bush administration even wealthier. I have achieved my goals in cooperation with other people. No one changes the world alone. And you have to live by your beliefs. To be credible you have to show through your interaction with other people that you both respect and love them. Since I am a politician I have worked on many different levels. The most important one is the local level, where it is possible to put ones ideas and visions into practice. The Åland Islands Peace Institute, Emmaus-Åland and the local peace group have become a part of my home, my group of people ». (1000PeaceWomen).

Barbro Sundback – Finland

She works for the Ålands fredsinstitut / Åland Islands Peace Institute,
for the Emmaus Åland (in finish) / Peace Association-Emmaus (in english),
and for the Finnish Music Information Center (Fimic).

Summing up her conviction Barbo says: « I have a strong belief in justice and democracy and the good in the world. I also believe that trust is an essential component in any peace-building process. I was once in Kyrgyzstan, talking with groups of leaders from Nagorno-Karabach and Azerbaijan. There was no trust and no respect between the participants, and they were not interested in autonomy as a way to solve their differences. Finally the leader of the Nagorno-Karabach group smiled at me and said, ‘Ok, autonomy can be a good solution, but then we have to become a part of Finland, not Azerbaijan’. There was no trust ».

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She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

She says: « The main thing is not to give up! There is always a way out, even in the most complicated situation ».

She says also: « There were a lot of hindrances and mistakes, however, we gradually surmounted them and learned not to make them again, experience is the best teacher ».

They said us: « What do you need to go out for? Just sit at home like you did in the Soviet Union. Continue to sit, or go live in special hostel for invalids ».

Asipa Musayeva – Kyrgyzstan

She works for the Independent Association of Disabled Women.

Asipa Musayeva is the president of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Independent Association of Disabled Women of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Since 1989, she has accomplished a great deal for the organization and for disabled people, protecting their rights and advocating for them on a national level. She has successfully lobbied for laws to increase opportunities for disabled people to work and participate in society. Asipa conducts seminars, training courses for leaders, particularly from rural areas, on the importance of civil and economic rights for people with disabilities.

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