CREW\’s Fundraising Letter

Greetings:

Please Support Our Fundraising Effort

We have a fundraising campaign to raise sufficient fund to strengthen The Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW), A fundraising kickoff event was held on August 2, 2014 at Howard University, Washington, DC. CREW was established as an outcome of an international conference of Ethiopian women in the Diaspora that was held in March 2012. CREW is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious, human rights and peace organization registered in the State of Maryland. It has a 501 (c ) 3 tax exempt status.  The objective of the organization is to promote the political, economic and social rights of Ethiopian women worldwide. To realize its objective, CREW collaborates with local and international human rights organizations.

Below are some of the activities CREW has done since its establishment two years ago::

• Organized annual conferences to raise awareness about status of Ethiopian women — their progress and the multifaceted challenges they face  at home and abroad.   It has invited scholars who have done research pertaining to Ethiopian women issues to present their research findings at the organization’s annual conferences. We financially supported two young Ethiopian researchers to present their research papers at the last two conferences.  In addition, in collaboration with several media outlets, CREW has provided different educational programs related to the status of Ethiopian women.

• Engaged in a number of activities to address the plight of Ethiopian women migrant workers in the Middle Eastern countries. In collaboration with Ethiopian activists in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, CREW is at the forefront in addressing the gross human rights violations against Ethiopian domestic workers in the two countries.  Because of the recent crackdown on migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, CREW called upon all pertinent institutions in Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia to hold the perpetrators accountable for the abuses, beatings and rapes committed on Ethiopian migrant workers.

• In an attempt to contribute to the rehabilitation of the repatriated Ethiopian migrant workers, CREW, in collaboration with a local organization in Ethiopia, provided shelter, food, medical assistance and different skills training for four women deportees.  All of the four returnees have completed their training and are now able to lead their lives. The money for this project was donated by the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA).  In addition, CREW has recently supported two migrant workers who have returned from Beirut.  These two individuals needed medical treatment due to serious bodily damage they had while they were in Beirut.

• As a human rights organization, CREW has issued several press releases against human rights violations committed in Ethiopia.

In general, in order to struggle for the rights of Ethiopian women worldwide, strengthening CREW as a viable institution has become our priority.  The current laws in Ethiopia restrict non-government organizations to advocate for the rights of people.   We, therefore, believe that advocating for the rights of Ethiopians has become the responsibility of those of us who are living abroad.

CREW, therefore, requests your generous monetary assistance to achieve its objectives and goals. If you would like to help, please make your tax deductible donation payable to CREW and send it to  CREW, P.O. Box 10412. Silver Spring, MD. 20914. If you prefer to donate online, please go to our website: www.centerforethiopianwomen.org  and donate by using  pay pal.

We  thank you in advance for all your support.

Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW)