MRF – Human Rights Film Festival

The MRF Human Rights Film Festival is an annual event in western Sweden. Each screening is followed by a lecture/discussion with filmmakers, researchers, journalists, public debaters, and human rights experts. The primary audience is school youth, who can attend for free. The festival dates were November 20-24, 2023.

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This year, with support from the Rights Now Foundation, we held a total of nine screenings focused on women’s rights, followed by lectures and discussions. We showcased five films about gender equality, focusing on women refugees. Two of the films, “Exodus” and “Dogborn,” depicted the situation for refugee women/girls, while “De ostyriga” looks at gender equality from a historical perspective, the Algerian film “Houria,” and finally, “She Said” which portrays part of the #metoo movement’s inception. These screenings were attended by approximately 1021 people.

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Application Year 2023 – Theme: Women and girl refugees

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The Good Talents – Talent Network

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The Project Talent Network has not only provided practical knowledge but also opportunities for personal development and networking through various workshops, including job and study workshops, leadership training, and storytelling sessions. The results indicate increased self-esteem, greater knowledge of opportunities, and reduced feelings of social exclusion among participants.

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The Good Talents looks forward to continuing its work to promote the potential of young people and create long-term changes in society. The Good Talents would like to extend a warm and heartfelt thank you to the Rights Now Foundation for your support and funding of our project, the Talent Network. Your trust and commitment have been crucial in making this initiative possible and successful.

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Your support has not only given young women tools and opportunities to thrive but has also contributed to creating a positive impact on society by promoting equality, diversity, and reducing social exclusion.

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Application Year 2023 – Theme: Women and girl refugees

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Right By Me – Girls Right to Talk

The “Girls’ Right to Talk” project conducted by Right By Me focused on empowering young girls with foreign backgrounds, aged 13 to 24, to increase their participation and voice in Swedish society. This was achieved through a combination of capacity-building activities, participation in public forums, and collaboration with companies and policymakers. The efforts aimed to improve the girls’ self-esteem, self-efficacy, employability, and sense of community.

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The project reported successes in increased participation in societal debates, improved representation in various contexts, and strengthened individual capacities of the participants. Through its activities, the project contributed to promoting gender equality and participation, highlighting the importance of targeted efforts to give young girls with foreign backgrounds a stronger voice and place in society.

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Application Year 2023 – Theme: Women and girl refugees

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Single mothers and girls in Kochia earn money from hens, Kenya

The organization Kodul Muga supports single mothers and girls in Kochia, Kenya.

Due to the covid-pandemic the planned education on sexual and reproductive health, including the distribution of menstruation cups, had to be postponed. Kodul Muga instead turned their attention to other possible ways of supporting the women and girls. The money was eventually used to support improved income opportunities for the single mothers, in this case in the form of hens. This turned out to be a successful and welcome source of income for the women. It was for example possible to use the money generated to pay for school fees for their children.

Empowerment of women through provision of menstruation cups, Gambia

Thanks to the grant from the Rights Now Foundation the organization GamCup could purchase 800 menstruation cups. These were distributed among women in the village of Tujereng in Gambia. The cups would according to GamCup contribute to the women saving money. The education which was part of the project also improved the women’s knowledge about their menstruation and reproduction. Awareness about sexually transmitted diseases, safety and hygiene is also increased as a result.

After school activities and homework support for children, Romania

The organization Coloboratie Lund – Maxenu supports children in Romania who thanks to the organization can take part in after school activities and receive help with home work. Thanks to the grant from Rights Now Foundation, 20 school children living in Maxenu were able to participate in the activities during the year 2019. Their school results have improved and the project was according to Coloboratie Lund–Maxenu appreciated by the children as well as by their parents and the school staff. The organization Coloboratie Lund–Maxenu emphasizes in its report to Rights Now that the group of children consisted of both girls and boys, which promoted gender equality and integration in society for all.

Advice and counselling to Afghan migrants, Afghanistan

As part of the project AMASO provided advice and counselling to migrants. They report: ”With the help of this project, we were able to run AMASO smoothly and help at least 50 deportees and 10 returnees, voluntary mostly with first hand advice post deportation to Afghanistan.” The advice often related to the type of practical support that was available for them in Afghanistan. “The process is a little complicated, but a little advice makes it easier for the deportees.”

AMASO also writes in their report: “Several others received support by the project to take Swedish classes. Some of them were those who are in the process of going back to Sweden through working visa, or have already reached Sweden. The others mainly chose to take English language classes, very efficient and affective for many of them. One of the beneficiaries has almost finished his English language courses and will soon get to advance level. According to him; “The opportunity provided by AMASO to learn the English language has been life changing for me. I was hopeless and left alone when I was deported, no one from the Afghan government or NGOs helped me.”

Films to promote social sustainability and to increase the awareness of human rights, Sweden

The organization ARF, Film and Culture for Human Rights, works to make Sweden more socially sustainable.

ARF reaches out to school children and the public through films on relevant themes, always accompanied by dialogue and discussions after the film sessions. The films which are shown by ARF highlight themes such as racism, social justice, minorities, democracy, housing and ethnic segregation.

During 2020, a total of nearly two thousand persons – pupils, teachers and others – participated in the activities arranged by ARF, according to the project report. This was made possible in part thanks to the grant from the Rights Now foundation.

Math education to villagers and farmers, Togo

The organization ALEF, Adult Learning and Empowerment Facilitators, supports people living in poverty by education and training.

The grant from the Rights Now foundation was used to provide math lessons for people in villages in Togo in Africa. 70 study groups were formed at the village level for the purpose of learning math and discussing related matters. During 2020, a total of 1 400 persons between 15 to 40 years of age participated in the study groups. 74 percent of the participants were women.

According to ALEF, basic skills in mathematics are of great value to the people – in order to better run their agriculture farms and increase harvests. Knowledge in math has the potential to generate better income opportunities, and can thus be empowering and eventually lead to reduced poverty.