USAID/OTI Sudan Hot Topics
October 2005
GRASS MAT WEAVING IN DARFUR: SAFETY AND INCOME FOR WOMEN
 | | Women from an internally displaced persons camp in South Darfur weave grass mats in an OTI-funded program |
The overarching goal of the USAID/OTI Sudan program is to strengthen Sudanese confidence and capacity to address the causes and consequences of political marginalization, violence, and instability within the context of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan.
The OTI Sudan program focuses on promoting the emergence of responsive and effective civil authorities; providing opportunities for peaceful dialogue within and among communities; fostering the emergence of an active civil society; increasing the availability of quality, independent information; and protecting vulnerable populations from grave human rights violations and related abuses.
One of the chief sources of insecurity for women in Darfur’s internally displaced persons camps is the threat of violence when the women collect firewood outside the camps. Yet the firewood is an important source of income for the women. In direct response to the threat to their safety, the Office of Transition Initiatives is providing targeted assistance to the women in the Kalma and Otash camps in South Darfur.
OTI’s program focuses on the conditions that cause violence by offering the women the option of earning income by making and selling grass mats with Community, Health and Finance International (CHF International), the guaranteed buyer of their goods. The mats are used in other programs administered by CHF International to provide shelter in North Darfur. The wages the women earn enable them to purchase food to supplement their rations, while their work affords them protection. Through the program, women also acquire skills that they can pass on to others and rely on when they are able to return to the villages they fled.
The centers in which the women work offer a safe, congenial atmosphere, where they can socialize, share news, and provide each other with emotional support. CHF also offers instruction to mothers on proper nutrition for their children, as well as day care for their children while they are at work. Plans are being made to offer health education classes to both women and children.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Victoria Rames, Program Manager, Tel: (202) 712-4899, vrames@usaid.gov
|
