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| Reflections : Funds' role in resource redistribution and social changes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I attended the board meeting of International Network of Women's Fund (INWF) in Mexico City in early September. An important item on the network's agenda is the positioning and future development of INWF as the guardian and advocator of women's rights. The network came to realize during discussion that the network, while emphasizing on the learning and exchange of ideas among members, has so far devoted less effort than what is demanded in the area of resource redistribution. In fact, income disparity and unequal distribution of resources are grave problems under the wave of Globalization. Women, often confined by traditional sexual norms as well as oppressive gender roles, are particularly victims of social injustice. In view of the situation, INWF – to which promoting equal rights holds priority over all else – needs to play a stronger role to facilitate the redistribution of power and resources so that vulnerable women's group can effectively have access to financial resources, knowledge and skills so as to achieve the goals of empowerment and promoting women's rights. Only by doing so could we initiate the reform of existing policies and social support system so as to improve the living conditions of women.
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It's an irony that while the fiercely debated Community Care Fund in Hong Kong, which draws donations from enthusiastic property and business tycoons, is set up to tackle poverty, the project has so far failed to state in clear terms its specific goals, philosophy and target clients. No wonder many people are skeptical about the motive of those apparently charitable donors. |
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Donations should be made to tackle poverty, but the key is to make sure these projects make good use of resources and are, above all, sustainable. Throwing token scraps to the marginalized and helpless people is no means to tackle the root problem of social injustice and income
inequality. It is
merely a publicity stunt to silence the critics. If we are to amend the
situation, we must start from reviewing social policies, government responsibilities, distribution of resources and, above all, the decision-making power in society. In this sense I think INWF is moving in the right direction, reconstructing the balance of power in politics and social hierarchies rather than performing phony charitable acts that are no more than window dressing. Here we wish to stress, we fully support direct helping service to the helpless and the poor, but we don't want charity acts to mask deeper structural problems that are ever worsening.
By
Linda To, Executive Director of HER Fund |
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About INWF |
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| Year 2010/11 Grant-making Mid-evaluation 2010/11 | |
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In the past six months, with HER Fund's support, more women have joined our six grantees' work. These projects are: "Women's Empowerment for Refugees and Asylum Seekers" by Christian Action, "A Self-help Project for Grassroots" by Women Concerning Group for Women Poverty, "A Doll's House in Hong Kong" by Hong Kong Homemakers' Alliance, "New Arrivals Women Empowerment Project" by New Women Arrivals League, "Tin Shui Wai Mothers' Needs Research" by Tin Shui Wai Community Development Network, "The Greenwise Workers Co-operative Society's Business Assessment and Marketing Improvement Project" by The Greenwise workers Co-operative Society Limited (Please click here to know more about the project details). Midway through the year, HER Fund met with organizers and members to evaluate progress on the projects. Here are some conclusions: |
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1) From small changes to big changes
To change a policy takes time but there are a lot of small changes during the process. Like the new committee members of New Women Arrivals League, they lacked courage, suffered bad health and were unhappy before they joined the League. Once becoming a member, they felt healthier and happier because they could share their experiences with other new arrival women and they could help each other. Training gave them the opportunity and skill to fight for discretion from the Social Welfare Department and the Housing Department for other members. It also helped them come forward to do education work through the media. |
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2) Different ways to recruit committed members
Co-operatives or organizations that are fighting for advocacy find it difficult to recruit new members. And if they can recruit many members, often no one is willing to put in the effort. The Greenwise Workers Co-operative Society Limited tried to recruit new members but wasn’t successful. Polly, the Co-op. member, said "we recruited new members but they always skipped work. Making soap by used oil is abhor work. It is very difficult to attract women. We prefer to have fewer sincere members." For Women Concerning Group for Women Poverty, they also have difficulty recruiting members. This year, they are trying to co-operate with different organizations in Tuen Mun by providing workshops and they found this to be an effective way to recruit suitable members. "Our next challenge is to encourage our new members to network and make them feel good about advocacy work," the chairperson Lai Hing told us. |
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3) The importance of full time organizers
It is very difficult for women to take part in an organization, as well as having a family to care for and a full-time job. And those with minimal education are not proficient enough in English to be able to read such emails or letters. Actually this didn't just happen in women's self-help organizations. This happened in Tin Shui Wai Community Development Network as well. The Network's members were so busy with full time work or their family, they had little time for the project. Without a full time organizer, their research progresses slowly. By comparison, Hong Kong Homemakers' Alliance can run projects smoothly because they have assistance from Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres. Christian Action also has full time staff to follow projects, so they can achieve more than expected. |
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4) Sustainable support
The continuous support of HER Fund to the organizations' work is very important in order to achieve "small changes to big changes" .By giving our continuous support to these self-help groups, they need not worry every year if their organization is sustainable. Moreover, we can track changes by supporting them continuously. Of course, HER Fund must monitor carefully, to see if these organizations have good plans and are willing to change. Then we can keep our promise to support them. It's more difficult to get resources for women's advocacy work than other social services. We can now see a little bit of change, and we do hope to accumulate more changes in the future. We also hope that YOU can continue to fully support women's work to bring improvements for women's situation. |
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| The last project of 2010-11 Young Girls' projects re-grant approved | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The last project of 2010-11 Young Girls re-grant program was granted, which is "Young Girls' Anti-sexual Violence Education Project", held by Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women. This project is for secondary students to know more about gender and sexual violence issues through workshops and artwork in order to re-think girls' identity and value. |
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| Support "Girls' story" | |
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HER Fund submitted a proposal to Love Idea HK. The project receiving the most votes will be awarded a grant by the LKSF to carry out their plan. Our friends, vote for HER Fund project, "Young Girls' story" from 1st Nov to 21st Nov.
You can register your e-mail first. When you get an e-mail from Love Idea HK, you can start voting. |
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| Raks Unregulated Belly Dance / Dance fusion Showcase finished smoothly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Raks Unregulated Cocktail Party was successfully held on 11th September 2010. We sincerely thank Klub Raks for their generous support and donations to HER Fund. |
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Our two representatives Ms Chow Choo-lin, executive member, and Ms Venus Hung, communication officer attended the show. Lin delivered a speech to introduce HER Fund. Devi, our talent sharing teacher, performed belly dance with her student, Mandy, on behalf of HER Fund. Besides, an international famous dancer, Karim Nagi also performed in the showcase. The audience was fascinated by the lively atmosphere. Some of them danced with the performers together. See the photo below and you can have a taste of the joy of that night. |
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| Talent Performance Night 2011 | |
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HER Fund is going to hold "Talent Performance Night 2011" on 9th January 2011 at 7pm in HKSC Multi-media Theatre. The purpose of the show is to share talent and raise fund for promoting women’s right and gender equality. We are honored to have famous singer, Susan So, as our Talent Celebrity. Until now, 10 groups will participate in performances and it is expected to be at least 15 performances. It is supposed this event will be more exciting than last year. |
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You are invited to participate in the Talent Performance Night 2010 for sharing your talent. All the donations raised by performers will be donated to HER Fund and used as grant-making work in 2011 to support women and girls' projects. Each performance requires $1,500 or above donations to HER Fund. You can download the register form and return the form to us on or before 10th December 2010.
For enquiry, please call 2794 1100.
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| School talks on Gender Equality |
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HER Fund conducted two school talks for Form Seven and Form Two students of St. Stephen Girls' College on 28th September and 27th October. The topics were "gender stereotyping" and "girls self identity". Students were interested in that. We will also conduct five talks to this school. |
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| Cutie Sheep Philanthropy Sale | |
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"88 Days Campaign" is going to launch this year! December 10 is International Human Rights Day and March 8 is International Women's Day. In between these two days are 88 days. With your support last year, HER Fund supported 8 women's and girls' rights projects. Since 2004, 88 Days Campaign has been HER Fund's flagship annual event to raise funds for making grants to support women's and girls' rights projects. This year, we will have "Cutie Sheep Philanthropy Sale" again in "88 Days Campaign" on December 18 and 19.
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With your support, HER Fund can bring more positive stories of cutie sheep into the lives of women and girls. |
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 Small Sheep: $49 / pc |
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1) Please
Order NOW. Share this meaningful gift with your family and
friends. 2) Please Register to be Our Volunteer Now !  Enquiry / Order Tel. No.: 2794-1100 Email: info@herfund.org.hk |
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| The 7th Annual General Meeting of HER Fund |
The 7th Annual General Meeting of HER Fund was successfully held on September 30, 2010. Executive Committee member, Ms. Fong Man-ying was absent with apology. The chairperson, Ms. Chung Yuen-yi thanked all members and staff of HER Fund for their hard work and contributions, especially in local fund raising. HER Fund needs our support with love and energy.
Executive Director, Linda To Kit-lai reported that last year the performance in fund raising was good as we tried various cost effective, small and medium activities to raise funds. We have raised $450,000 which amounted to 40% of last year's local fund raising. In future, we need to be aggressive, innovative and strategic to raise a greater amount of money. Also, Executive Committee members decided to invite Ms. Lam Tze Yan to continue to be our legal consultant for HER Fund in the following year. At the same time, executive committee members also decided to invited Ms. Cyd Ho, Ms. Anna Wu and Ms. Christine Fang to be our Distinguished Friends and advisors in the coming financial year. With so much support from our friends and supporters, HER Fund will definitely continue to strive for our best in mobilizing resources for women and girls rights work.
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The 2010/11 Executive Committee members are as follows: Chairperson : Ms. MaryAnn King Vice Chairperson cum Hon. Secretary: Ms. Fong Man-ying Hon. Treasurer : Ms. Lam Ying-hing Executive Member: Ms. Chow Choo-lin, Ms. Chung Yuen-yi In the coming year, with the leadership of our experienced and committed Executive Committee members, HER Fund will continue to do her best in striving to build resources for the advancement of women's rights and empowerment. |
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| HER Fundraising Officer is with us now! | |
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HER Fund has recently employed our full-time Fundraising Officer, Mr. Jacky Hui to help the development of the Fund's fundraising work. Jacky is experienced in fundraising and marketing. With his professional inputs and commitment, HER Fund will definitely strengthen our work in fundraising and promoting women's rights and gender equality. |
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HER Fund is a member of the International Network of
Women's Funds (INWF), |
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Please forward HER News to 5 of your friends who concerns about the women issue |
