A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service



"Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities."

Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia.

For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Partner Campaigns > Uterine Prolapse ... > Advocates

Advocates

"Women have their own traditonal healing system. Sometimes they cut a piece of slipper and put it in the vagina just to hold their falling womb, because they have been suffering from so much pain."


Samita Pradhan (above) is chairperson of the Women's Reproductive Rights Program. She is also a founding member and secretary of the UP Alliance, a coalition of women's rights organizations that work on uterine prolapse. Samita has a B.Com from North Bengal University, India and an MA in sociology from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. She has worked on women’s development in Nepal since 1990, and served in Laos on several UN-supported projects between 2001 and 2004. She is the author of several manuals, and many articles on UP.

The Nepali Response

Nepali civil society has led efforts to lobby for action on uterine prolapse. In August 2006, the Second National Conference on Safe Motherhood brought diverse stakeholders together from across Nepal to address the situation of reproductive and maternal health. At the urging of the Women's Development and Unity Centre (RUWDUC), the Centre for Eco-Agriculture Development (CAED), and COSAN (among other organizations), separate sessions were scheduled at the conference to discuss uterine prolapse.

This led to the creation of the Uterine Prolapse Alliance (UPA) a coalition of committed organizations, individuals and experts. The mission of the Alliance is to work in a collaborative manner to reduce the prevalence of uterine prolapse amongst Nepalese women of all age groups and diversities, primarily by increasing coordination between various government and non-government stakeholders and by promoting a national consensus strategy on the prevention and treatment of the condition. The alliance hopes to achieve these objectives by raising awareness at the household and community level (through mass media, IEC materials, school curriculums, and professional trainings for health workers), lobbying national and international stakeholders to recognize the urgency of addressing this issue, and increasing access to treatment through surgery camps and a strengthened health care system.

The UPA members include:


Other organizations outside of the Alliance:



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