Soroptimist International has nominated two Soroptimists for the NGO CSW Woman of Distinction Award. The purpose of this award is to recognise a woman of distinction who is
an inspiration to the world and who has shown leadership in the struggle
for gender equality and women’s empowerment, particularly under the CSW 56 priority theme, "the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges". SI nominated Talat Pasha from SI Pakistan, and Alice Odingo from SI Kenya.
Dr. Talat Pasha:
Talat Pasha has worked for 30
years in rural areas and would bring first hand testimony to the CSW on the
priority theme. She runs an
NGO, ‘Connect Woman and Child Welfare Organization’, which works in the remote rural areas of Sindh province, Pakistan. Since last year’s monsoon rains that caused floods covering one fifth of
Pakistan, "Connect" has been working hard to support the displaced
residents of the hardest hit areas in rural Sindh.
Up to 2.5 million children in Sindh have now been affected by the
unusually heavy monsoon rains in 2010 and 2011. In Sindh alone, the floods have damaged
or destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced more than 1.8 million
people, according to the United Nations.
One of their main projects brings solar energy to rural areas devastated by the floods, with a
particular focus on empowering and enabling women.Other projects focus on reconstruction, running medical camps and the provision of hand pumps to provide safe drinking water.
Talat is also a medical doctor. When she graduated from medical school, she opened a small clinic in the rural suburbs of Kotri in an area where there
were no female doctors. Rural areas often have no reliable medical service and so this clinic was welcomed by the local community, particularly the women.
Through her work with rural communities, and through her global
networks as a Soroptimist, particularly as Assistant Programme Director for SIGBI, she would be able to share her learning and
experiences at CSW extensively.
Dr. Alice Odingo:
Dr Odingo (left) is an expert on the CSW 56 priority theme. She teaches
in the Geography Department of the University
of Nairobi and recently
published a book on poverty alleviation as a strategy to sustainable food
security. She is one of two SI representatives to the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, and played an
active role in the Women Major Stakeholder Group submission for Rio+20, representing SI during the discussions.
Alice
is also one of the leaders of a joint Soroptimist Kenya-Denmark climate change
project related to cleaner production in female dominated industries. The project “Woman and Climate Change” supports climate change
mitigation and adaptation by women in households, industries and to
capacity build members of Soroptimists International Kenya. The project is sponsored by Soroptimist International
Denmark and is being implemented by Soroptimist International
Kenya and The Kenya National Cleaner Production Centre (KNCPC) .The
project runs in the period 2010-2012.
Through
her work with Sl Kenya,
her teaching role, and as a member of the Rio+20
Women Major Stakeholder Group, she is
well placed to make a difference post CSW, as well as sharing her experiences with other CSW delegates.
For more information about CSW, and the statement SI has submitted on the priority theme of rural women, please click here. More information about how you can lobby your Government in advance of CSW 56 will be available shortly.