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What?

The Meheba Women's Center runs a variety of activities ranging from informational workshops to skills training. In 2010, the Meheba Women's Center will:

• Host regular week-long workshops about human rights, women’s rights, reproductive health, and family planning for women and men
• Offer vocational training sessions in tailoring, sewing, and knitting
• Provide informal drop-in counseling for victims of sexual and violent abuse, and help victims file a report with camp authorities
• Serve as a site for multiple women’s saving and lending circles in which small groups of committed women pool their savings to help each other pay for health and family-related expenses or capital for income-generating activities
• Provide free contraceptives to women
• Use the sale of items produced by the Meheba Women's Center staff to begin the move towards financial sustainability

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Why?

Among Meheba's refugee population, women remain particularly vulnerable and neglected. Despite the disproportionate number of women in comparison to men in the settlement, few girls enroll in school; instead, young women are encouraged to marry to quickly assume the burden of household, child rearing, and agricultural responsibilities.

Although they contribute daily to their families' well-being, women are rarely allowed to have a say in their households' financial decisions. They also often become the victims of domestic violence provoked by the powerlessness of male relatives within the camp's social structure. However, even with this pervasive gender imbalance, Meheba's women have tremendous potential to develop and revitalize their community.

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How?

The Meheba Women's Center is run by three refugee women from the Meheba community. With oversight from a FORGE Project Manager, the Meheba Women's Center staff oversee all of the project's daily activities. They work with FORGE staff to manage the center's budget, track its impact, and develop plans for upcoming initiatives. Since the center has has been running for over two years, its staff are highly trusted by both the community and the officials who work in Meheba.

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History of Meheba Refugee Settlement

Meheba Refugee Settlement opened in 1971 to host refugees who fled Angola during the Angolan Revolution. In the 1990s, Meheba began receiving refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burundi. Meheba was projected to close down after thousands of Angolan refugees voluntarily repatriated, but in 1998, the Angolan war restarted. Although nearly 64,000 Angolan refugees have been successfully repatriated, efforts to return Rwandan refugees to their homes have proven unsuccessful.

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Community Population: 13,000

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Climate

Meheba is located in the temperate grasslands of northwestern Zambia. The dry season generally runs from May to November, and the rainy season lasts from December to April.

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Challenges facing Meheba Refugee Settlement

Refugee women are a particularly vulnerable group. Many of the women in Meheba Refugee Settlement come from cultures in which the men traditionally hold most of the power. As a result, women's rights and opportunities are neglected. In refugee environments, men often feel emasculated by the aid dynamics. Sadly, their frustration often takes the form of abusing women. Meheba is no exception, and many women in Meheba experience domestic violence. The justice system is ill-equipped to carry its heavy case load and many women have no choice but to endure.

Simultaneously, women are some of the hardest working people in the settlement. Though formal jobs are rare, women are responsible for most of the household duties surrounding cooking, caring for the family, and maintaining the house. The women in Meheba Refugee Settlement work tirelessly every day.

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Main Occupations

There are few employment opportunities in Meheeba; those available are limited to farming, small businesses, and limited agency jobs. Men are more widely employed than women and have usually received more schooling. Most women are married with children by their late teens.

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