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Event Reports

Empowering Immigrant Women

KAS/IWN Workshop

The annual conference of the “Eshet Chayil” project (in Hebrew: Successful Women) took place at Beit Dany in Tel Aviv on March 16, 2008. More than 300 immigrant women representing Caucasian and Bukharian communities from all over Israel attended the event which was organized by the Israel Women’s Network in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

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The project “Eshet Chayil” aims to empower the participating women and help them integrate and advance into the Israeli workforce and society. The program operates in so-called development cities, towns which have accommodated many new immigrants, such as Acco and Nazareth Illit in the north, the HaTikva Neighborhood in Tel Aviv and Sderot and Netivot in the south. The program helps women through an empowerment process to build a better life for themselves, their communities and society at large. Women outside the workforce face a high risk of developing a dependence on the welfare system, which in turn perpetuates poverty.

By helping women develop their professional skills and improving their social and economic conditions, this project advances these women’s status and, as a result, the status of all women in the Israeli society in general.

In the first part of the conference, the participants were divided into smaller groups which discussed in workshops relevant and problematical issues concerning women’s life in Israel: Inequality between men and women, women’s family status and financial independence, sexual harassment at the workplace, dismissal because of pregnancy etc. All the workshops were running simultaneously, so that every woman had a chance to express her opinion and hear the others’ reactions. The participants were not only exposed to the information regarding their rights but were also given tools to help them act in different situations.

After the workshops, the coordinators wished good luck to the participants and thanked the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, namely Dr. Lars Hänsel and Catherine Hirschwitz, for their long cooperation with IWN and their support for this specific project.

The final part of the event was a performance by a new Israeli singer who sang well-known Israeli songs together with the participants, sharing with them her personal story as an example of fulfilling a life dream. At the age of 40, while continuing her professional activities, she launched her second career as a singer, despite of all the difficulties involved.

Olga Rissin

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