Wednesday, October 1, 2003

Wednesday, October 1, 2003 Fatima center for women’s rights opens in Babil province Al Hilla, Babil Province. The Fatima Zahra Center for Women’s Rights opened today in Hilla. The purpose of the Center is to help widowed, impoverished, and vulnerable women in Babil Province improve their lives and those of their children. The Center will be open to all women and is not owned or operated by any particular group or individual. Women who are democratically elected will run the Center. The election will take place once the women begin to organize their activities. Some of the activities offered at the Center include: · Women and children’s nutrition and health classes · Sewing classes and production of clothes to sell in the local market · Cooking classes and work in a catering business · Work in the production of small crops and flowers to sell in the local market · Literacy programs · English classes · Internet café to teach typing, computer skills, internet skills · Democracy education, constitutionalism, women’s rights, and election to local and national office Around 200 women attended this historic event. At the opening of the Center, Babil Province Governor Iskender Witwit, said “You are the daughters and wives of men who were murdered by Saddam from the uprising of 1991...this Center is about restoring your rights.” Women described the Center as “open for all Iraqi women.” The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) worked with women from all across Babil Province to establish the Center. The Fatima Center for Women’s Rights represents another important step forward for democracy and freedom for all Iraqi women.