- Tunisia
I am Imen Mwalli, from the city of Kef in Tunisia. I have faced discrimination and all sorts of challenges ever since I was born. People in my community and especially men believed that women’s role should remain in the household. I felt hated and demeaned for being a woman, but it did not stop me from fighting for my own beliefs.
After the completion of the training sessions on general topics through the Oxfam hosted AMAL programme, I felt the need to raise awareness about women’s rights in my community. For that to happen, I contributed to producing a play telling a woman’s story. Having been deprived of her human rights, the play recounts the steps she took to defend herself and demand equality.
I noticed people were very surprised with the content of the play. It was very impactful. People came in with a certain mindset and left with another. The audience was mostly made of uneducated women from rural areas. We explained what their rights were and how to defend and demand them. Establishing a relationship with these women helped teach them how to stand as one and fight for their rights together.
Today, I feel like a new person with a new personality and judgement, the AMAL experience changed my life. I feel like I am more motivated and involved in life. I want to discover new things and continue raising awareness about women’s rights and educating my community through different activities.
Photo: Ellie Kealy/Oxfam
AMAL – which means hope in Arabic – supports women’s transformative leadership in Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The programme works with partner organisations to enable women from poor communities to strengthen their confidence, knowledge of their rights and their campaigning and advocacy skills. The aim is for these women to become leaders who can work with their communities reclaim their right to political and civic participation and achieve long lasting positive change.
To learn more about the AMAL programme, click here.
To receive more stories like Imen’s, sign up here.