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Introduction:
Greg Brown, Program Officer for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), with reference to the Bosnia and Kosovo's Women's Initiatives, discusses how one manages the desire to keep a low profile on joint projects while also facilitating large-scale structural change.
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This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Keeping a Low Profile
Greg Brown
Program Officer, Balkans and Caucasus Programs, International Rescue Committee (IRC)
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A: I think some of it too I mean especially when you are doing it right at
that the very early stage. Like I said this was the first time a lot of these
groups were coming together, a year after the war or whatever. At a certain
point, you could come back to these women's groups a year or two down the road
and they were definitely more in power and they were much more knowledgeable
about what was in it for them in terms of collaborating with these other women.
So I think their strength and resolve was increased so I think their ability to
kind of do their own thing. So I guess I do think that the effects of bringing
them together in general especially they raise their kids and the impact is
there. I think it is also that maybe at the beginning they would not have stood
up to those spoilers who wanted to say, "Don't do it,' but two years down
the road they are able to say, "Forget you, this has been a benefit to me,
I can see the continued benefit to me and I am going to do it anyway,"
which is empowerment and there is a better chance that it will get bigger. At
one point two years later we took them to Bosnia to go see how they had been
doing the same thing there and you know you come back the same person. There was
so much more confidence, so much more aware, "This is my future that I am
building and I see it as being an important part of it and maybe it is not what
I want but I know this is the way to go forward and so I am going to do
it." If you would have brought that in early on that never would have
happened.
Q: But that cross knowledge component is pretty important you think?
A: I think so depending on the group you are talking about, but especially
with women in a society where traditionally they don't have a voice. You see it
is like okay it is not just us they are dealing with, it is these guys they are
dealing with and they have been dealing with them longer because what happened
in Bosnia happened years before and these are some of the hiccups they had a
long the way. And yeah, I think it really builds up and it doesn't always have
to be totally culturally relevant but obviously they all used to be a part of
one country so I mean they are speaking one language or they can speak the same
language so I think it is even more powerful in that way. But I think you can do
that from one continent to another depending on the groups, but I think it helps
them to take it out of their own context and see it on a bigger scale, which I
think is definitely more powerful for them. So they don't feel like they are
alone in what they are doing and the issues that they are facing so they can be
like, "OK, somebody else has been through this screwed up thing and maybe
they have made it or they have made it further then we have." So I think it
is good.
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