Partnership | Dining for Women

“Women are Working Together to Support Girls Worldwide” – Forbes article on UNICEF’s partnership with women’s organizations, including DFW.

Internally displaced South Sudanese mother Antenate (centre) sits with three of her five children, on the spot where they sleep outside in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site adjacent to the UNMISS base in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan, Friday 16 June 2017. “Soldiers came and started shooting people,” says Antenate, who walked for two days to reach the camp. Her brother, her husband, and her uncle were all shot. “We had nothing. Everything you see here we got here,” says Antenate of her few possessions.

Six years after independence, the hopes and dreams of this fledgling nation have been shattered by armed conflict. Two million people are displaced within South Sudan’s borders, and another two million have fled the country, inflicting unthinkable hardship and suffering. When clashes broke out in Wau in June 2016, thousands of people sought shelter at the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) base on the edge of town and at St. Mary’s cathedral. As of June 2017, 48,000 people live between the two sites, unable to return home, relying on aid agencies for their most basic needs.

Living conditions in Wau’s Protection of Civilians (PoC) site are cramped – it is the most densely populated of the six PoC sites in South Sudan. There are 39,165 internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering on just 200,000 m2 of land - 5 m2 per person, well below the Sphere standard of 30 m2 per person. St. Mary’s cathedral is equally cramped, with a surge in new arrivals in April 2017 adding further pressure. Some 8,800 internally displaced South Sudanese currently live on the grounds of the cathedral.

As the rainy season approaches, drainage is vitally important to ensure sanitary living conditions for the displaced. UNICEF and partners are working on sanitation, hygiene and drainage in the PoC site. A cholera outbreak has reached many parts of South Sudan, and staff in the camp are working on preventing the spread of disease i

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Partnerships

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Uplifting Women and Girls Is the Key to Solving the World’s Problems

By Mansi Mehta, Manager, Global Cause Partnerships

Prevent gender-based violence in South Sudan:

On February 20, 2017, famine was declared in South Sudan, deepening the already existing humanitarian crisis in the region. Today, more than 2 million people have been displaced by violence in South Sudan. Of those fleeing the conflict, 87 percent are women and children, meaning 1.3 million children need our help to protect their childhood.

Women and children are facing immediate risks of violence, displacement, life-threatening diseases and hunger. In addition to this, Details

Manar, 34 years old, buying winter clothes for her children at a shop in Za’atari camp with the cash support from UNICEF.

Beth Ellen Holimon

Dining For Women

Impact, Jordan, Partnership, Partnership Program, Partnerships, South Sudan, Syria, Syrian refugees, UNICEF

Solving Problems That Seem Too Big

When the temperatures recently dropped, I enjoyed an evening curling up by the fire to read to my family after filling our bellies with great food (happily, my husband does most of the cooking). Warmth, shelter, safety, food, family connection. These are simple pleasures in life that I know not to take for granted and I know that other Dining for Women members don’t either. Details

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DFW is Closest Thing to Peace Corps Experience

By Peggy Smith, Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

Ask any Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) about their experience and they will tell you, “It changed my life”. Yes, we come home after working as a volunteer in a Third World country to clean water, hot showers, comfortable beds, nice dwellings and clean sanitation, but with a passion that does not dissipate. We have to get involved, to do something, to continue to serve a need. So, we volunteer in soup kitchens, teach English to the newly-arrived from developing countries, work with the Junior League, help with outreach at our church — and for many, we join Dining for Women. Details

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DFW Supports Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn Program

On March 8^th – International Women’s Day – Dining for Women announced its first Strategic Partnership with a $100,000 commitment to the Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn Fund in support of girls’ education. On that day, we were honored to participate in a special event with First Lady Michelle Obama in Washington DC to support the Let Girls Learn Initiative. (See White House Fact Sheet) Details