Archive: CHANGE Project Partners

The project is built on a broad European partnership between five leading FGM campaigners and EuroNet-FGM. TERRE DES FEMMES, FSAN, FORWARD, RISK and Plan and have a great amount of experience in working towards eradicating FGM in practising communities in Europe. All partners have carried out Participatory Action Research on barriers to ending FGM, have access to the target group and are very well accepted in their communities. Moreover, the project partners have the capacity to provide specialised training to key professionals within their networks.

Logo TERRE DES FEMMES e.V.

TERRE DES FEMMES is a non-profit human rights organisation for girls and women that supports girls and women affected by violence through campaigns, outreach work, individual counselling, support of projects and international networks. TDF clarifies myths and traditions that negatively affect the lives of women, protests when rights are violated and demands a world worth living in for all girls and women - with equal rights, self-determined and free!

The key issues are domestic violence, forced marriage and honour crimes, female genital mutilation, trafficking in women, forced prostitution and social rights for female workers. The organisation was founded in 1981 and the head quarters are in Berlin.

http://www.frauenrechte.de

 Logo euronet

The general objective of Euronet-FGM is to improve the health of female immigrants in Europe and to fight harmful traditional practices affecting the health of women and children, in particular FGM. The goals of the network are to fight FGM in Europe by finding a global solution and establishing a lobby aimed at eradicating the practice on all continents and in all regions, to promote information exchange, sharing knowledge and experience and to establish and maintain links among the Inter-African Committee (IAC), the associations and organisations.

Logo FSAN

FSAN (Federatie van Somalische Associaties Nederland) was founded in 1994 and is a platform for and by Somalis. 52 regional and district organisations in the Netherlands are working with FSAN. Its purpose is to support and advise local Somali refugee organisations as well as Dutch institutions that work closely with the Somali community in the Netherlands. FSAN has worked on collaborative projects like ‘FGM in the Netherlands’ and has also delivered training to the youth, religious leaders and key people from Somali and Sudanese communities to initiate a house-to-house campaign against FGM.

http://www.fsan.nl

http://www.tegenvrouwenbesnijdenis.nl

Logo forward

The Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development is an African Diaspora women's campaign and support charity. FORWARD was established in 1983 in the UK, in response to the emerging problems caused by female genital mutilation being seen by health professionals. Since this time FORWARD has been working to eliminate the practice and provides support to women affected by FGM. FORWARD works with individuals, communities and organisations to transform harmful practices and improve the quality of life of vulnerable girls and women.

http://www.forwarduk.org.uk

Logo risk

RISK is the Swedish acronym for the National Association for Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The objective of RISK is to campaign against the practice of FGM by spreading information about the health problems it involves and the human rights it violates. Therefore RISK trains African women and men as information officers to serve as instructors in their native tongues and within their communities in Sweden, talking about the nature and negative effects of FGM. At the present time RISK has trained 40 persons.

http://www.f-risk.org

Logo Plan

Founded over 75 years ago, Plan International is one of the oldest and largest children's development organisations in the world. They work in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty. In 2012, Plan worked with 84 million children in 90,131 communities. Plan is independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations.

http://www.plan-deutschland.de

 

People

TERRE DES FEMMES

The Project Coordinator of the CHANGE Project is responsible for the implementation of the project and for communication between the co-beneficiaries and the European Commission. Main responsibilities are overall coordination and management of the project, including financial issues, training programme, publications and dissemination activities.

Christa STOLLE is the Executive Director of TERRE DES FEMMES since November 1990. She built up the head quarter of TDF, first in Tübingen and since 2011 in Berlin. Currently she is in charge of NGO management and is the public representative of TDF. Christa Stolle will be involved in strategic and financial decisions of TDF and might represent the CHANGE project in public.

Linda EDERBERG from TERRE DES FEMMES is the current Project Coordinator. She is responsible for the implementation of the project and for communication between the co-beneficiaries and the European Commission. Main responsibilities are overall coordination and management of the project, including financial issues, training programme, publications and dissemination activities. Katharina KUSS and Jonna-Lena SEEMANN have also coordinated the project.

Katharina KUNZE is currently Section Manager of Female Genital Mutilation at TERRE DES FEMMES. Her main activities and responsibilities are public relations concerning FGM, awareness raising, lobbying and fundraising as well as the implementation of international campaigns in the field of FGM.

Franziska GRUBER coordinated the CHANGE project proposal and negotiations with the European Commission. She will contribute to CHANGE with her expertise and profound knowledge on FGM. Currently she is taking a sabbatical year.

Trainees with an internship periods of three to six months constantly support the coordination team of TERRE DES FEMMES. Our trainees support us at all parts of the project, especially with the development and maintenance of the website, the organisation of meetings and trainings and the daily administrative business.

To date, Samantha Ruppel, Kalina Marciniak, Marie-Antoinette Sibold, Jonna-Lena Seemann, Emelie Schweers and Charlotte Hoeshave supported the CHANGE project.

EuroNet-FGM

Tobe LEVIN Freifrau von Gleichen, Ph.D., Project Manager for the CHANGE Project, served as Secretary for Euro-Net FGM from 2002-2004 and has been interim secretary again since 2009. She is presently president (and co-founder) of FORWARD - Germany. In both of her positions she is taking action to eradicate FGM. Tobe Levin Freifrau von Gleichen is an Associate at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and American Research at the Harvard University and a Professor at the University of Maryland UC in Europe. In 2009, she founded UnCUT/VOICES Press to publish books on and against FGM and, with Diana Kuring, managed the DAPHNE funded National Action Plan against FGM event in 2008 in the Bundestag, Berlin.

FSAN

Zahra NALEIE is the Senior FGM Project Manager and is working with FSAN since 1994. She is responsible for training courses for women, the material production, the curriculum, staff development and research and feasibility studies. Moreover, Zahra has got working experience in Mogadishu/ Somalia as Head of Training and Curriculum for the Institute of Women’s Education/Ministry of Education. Zahra Naleie also published a number of articles about FGM and is one of the founding-members of EuroNet-FGM. Zahra is FSAN’s Project Manager for the Change Project.

Olga ABDULKADIR is working on the national project ‘Prevention Against FGM’ in the Netherlands and is with FSAN since 2009. She is the coordinator of key-persons and responsible for the organisation of meetings and trainings. Olga is FSAN’s Project Assistant for the Change Project.

FORWARD

Yvette ROBBIN-COKER (nee Phillott) holds an Honours degree in English language and Literature, a Diploma in Education from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, an MA in Language and Linguistics in Education from the University of Southampton, UK and a certificate in Teaching English to Adults (CELTA) from Cambridge University, UK.  Mrs Robbin-Coker has vast experience in the field of education and was the Vice Principal of the Gambia College in Banjul The Gambia an institution she served for over twenty years contributing to the extension of the teacher training programme.
On her retirement Yvette went into development work sharing her expertise in organisations such as Forum for African Women’s Educationalist, Gambia Chapter, Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA, Banjul) and The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) all based in Banjul The Gambia. Currently, Mrs Robbin- Coker works in the UK as The Training and Development Coordinator for the Foundation for African Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD) and has been instrumental in developing accredited courses from Open College Network London (OCNL) for professionals and other frontline staff on responding to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) She is also a management committee member of the Lewisham Multi- Lingual Advisory Services ( LMLAS) based in Catford where she resides.   

Dr. Hodon ABDI is a health professional uniquely offering extensive training in health care and community development. This is through involvement in local community programs in Canada and abroad where she has collaborated with local authorities, government agencies, boards and community partners to develop needs-based strategic programming that meets existing and emerging needs of marginalized communities. With a long record of successful stakeholder liaisons, Dr. Abdi continues to demonstrate an ability to cultivate synergy, align resources. Dr. Abdi’s credentials include a Masters in Public Health, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, Graduate training in Global Health building on a Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery. The knowledge gained through these accomplishments spans intensive research, data analysis, disease control, health promotion, evidence-based interventions and responsiveness to community member needs, skills that continue to serve as a rich resource in developing and implementing effective community programming.

RISK

Fana HABTEAB has been a chairperson for RISK from 1996-2007. After 11 years she decided to offer her post to the younger generation and is now working as the cashier and contact person for the work outside of Sweden, representing the organisation and providing information on FGM. Moreover, she is one of the founders of RISK and of EuroNet-FGM. She was a partner for the Daphne Programme from 2000-2003 and the National Action Plan in Sweden between 2007 and 2008. Fana has many years of experience working towards the eradication of FGM and serves as RISK’S Project Manager for the CHANGE project.

Jamal HUSSEIN was a secretary and a chairman of the Somali association and worked as an accountant for SIU. He also works as a Swedish-Somali interpreter and as a teacher at a junior school. Jamal Hussein is RISK’S the cashier, taking care of the business part of the project.

Plan International

Gwladys AWO PLESCH has thorough experience of working with immigrants in Hamburg. She tackles delicate issues in regard to their social and professional integration. She will coordinate, execute the project activities and lead the training against FGM among the local immigrant communities in Hamburg.

Anja STUCKERT started to work as Senior Advisor for Gender in Plan in 2006. The abandonment of female genital mutilation is one of her areas of work. She has been responsible for leading two Plan studies on the issue and is active in lobby and advocacy work in Germany and the EU on the issue. She is the contact person in Plan for the Daphne project and will work closely with Gwladys Plesch to coordinate the activities.

 

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