Highlights 2015: Inter Pares' year in review

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Community Health Worker in Burma
Credit: Rebecca Wolsak

Globally, Inter Pares works with organizations engaged in building a more equitable world. Here are some highlights of what we’ve accomplished together in 2015.

 

Africa

Sudanese women participants to SWRC leadership academy40 young women participated in a leadership program run by SWRC, a Sudanese organization that is building on the legacy of the former Salmmah Women’s Resource Centre. Despite a challenging political context, its graduates are applying the training in their communities and campuses to promote youth empowerment and women’s rights. Learn more.

 

Women in Guinea-BissauTiniguena helped prevent the disappearance of 11 endangered varieties of local rice in Guinea-Bissau. By identifying threatened varieties, breeding them, introducing them to local farmers at seed fairs, and explaining how to grow them, Tiniguena is preserving agricultural biodiversity. Learn more on Tiniguena.

 

Watch committee to prevent landgrabs in West AfricaWest African farmers created 7 “watch committees” to monitor secretive landgrab deals in their countries. Inspired by the nine-country research project led by Inter Pares, COPAGEN and the Université de Montréal, the committees will work to better defend the interests of communities and their control over land. Learn more on landgrabs in West Africa, and watch the documentary film Green Fever.

 

Latin America

Sterelizacion forzada - campaign visualAfter years of advocacy efforts by the feminist organization DEMUS and its allies, the Peruvian government formally acknowledged the 2074 known victims of forced sterilization from the Fujimori regime of 1990-2000. This brings free legal and health services for women, mostly Indigenous, targeted by the coercive measures, and the creation of a registry to document similar cases, believed to exceed 270,000. 

 

Disappeared migrants' mothers

6 expert delegates took part in an International Verification Mission organized by Project Counselling Service, studying the under-reported exodus of migrants from Honduras and the human rights violations they experience along their journey. The mission identified who was violating migrants’ rights and in what ways, and provided recommendations for protecting migrants’ rights and preventing forced uprooting.

 

peacebuilding conference in ColombiaAgainst a backdrop of historic peace talks in Colombia after five decades of armed conflict, 220 local women leaders strategized about women’s roles in peace negotiation and building. Coming from all across the country, local women from Colombia met with Central American activists to share experiences of women’s roles in ending armed conflict, and to envision participatory peacebuilding.

 

Canada

Eat Think Vote community eventAcross the country, Food Secure Canada and partner organizations brought together nearly 4,500 voters and 156 candidates in 68 Eat Think Vote events during the election campaign. Eat Think Vote prompted four major political parties to call for a national food strategy, and encouraged Canadians to share their visions for food justice. Read more on what this campaign achieved.

 

Inter Pares film night 9 thought-provoking documentary films were screened as part of the Inter Pares Film Nights series, followed by engaged discussion between participants, Inter Pares staff, and Canadian counterpart activists.

Learn more about our Film Nights.

 

 

up for debate live event in Toronto4 major federal party leaders were interviewed by the Up for Debate campaign, led by over 175 organizations across Canada calling for greater attention to election issues identified by women. The interviews were shared and analyzed by expert panellists in a nationally broadcasted event. Learn more about the campaign.

 

 

Asia

Training in BurmaDuring village workshops facilitated by the Karen Human Rights Group, 492 rural villagers in eastern Burma strengthened their human rights defense by sharing their perspectives and strategies for resisting abuses. Learn more about KHRG.

 

 

Cotton woman farmer in IndiaIn a corner of Telangana State, India, where 5,000 women practice ecological agriculture under the guidance of Deccan Development Society, 0 farmers committed suicide. By comparison, in the 90% of their district that uses conventional agriculture, at least 145 farmers took their own lives this year over crushing debts from high costs for seed, fertilizer, and pesticides.

 

Pregnant woman waiting for care in the PhilippinesOver 25,000 patients received reproductive healthcare services from Likhaan Centre for Women’s Health in poor areas of urban Manila, the Philippines. Services include pre- and post-natal care, family planning, and domestic violence counselling. Likhaan’s four clinics are also community hubs for information and organizing, including disaster management during typhoons. Learn more.

 

Inter Pares

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  • Mary Anne Tangney
    Hi - Nice to see all the faces of Interpares! As an annual supporter, I applaud the work you do and hope you continue your work into 2016 and beyond. I read your annual report from front to back and always find it very informative. I'm also glad you work with groups in Canada as well as the world. I wish I lived closer to Ottawa to have been able to view the documentaries you showed! Some I have viewed on line (but not all). Keep up the great work! Mary Anne
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