“UMOJA: How an African Village is
Banning Violence against Women”

Rebecca Lolosoli (Founder, Umoja Uaso Women’s Group)
Vivian Stromberg (Executive Director, MADRE)
 
Monday, October 9, 2006; 12:00-2:00 pm
Multi-Purpose Room, Paul Robeson Campus Center, Rutgers-Newark
 
Rebecca Lolosoli is an Indigenous Samburu women’s human rights activist from Kenya and founder of Umoja Uaso Women’s Group, an organization and community of Samburu women formed in 1995 by women who were rejected by their husbands and forced out of their homes after being raped. Under Ms. Lolosoli’s leadership, the group transformed their community from one of victims to one of determined women who committed themselves to understanding their human rights and demanding that these rights be protected. In partnership with MADRE, Umoja offers human rights trainings for local women on HIV/AIDS, forced female genital mutilation (FGM), and combating domestic violence, as well as programs that promote women’s economic self-sufficiency and provide access to education and healthcare for Samburu women and their families.
 
Vivian Stromberg is the Executive Director and a founding Board Member of MADRE, an international women's human rights organization. MADRE works in partnership with community-based women's organizations worldwide to address issues of health and reproductive rights, economic development, education, and other human rights. Since its founding in 1983, MADRE has delivered over 22 million dollars worth of support to community-based women's organizations in all over the world.

Lunch will be served.

For more information about the colloquium, please contact
the Women’s Program at Rutgers-Newark at 973.353.1026.