Heartland Alliance International (HAI) works with the Skilled Iraqi Women Foundation (SIWF) to implement Future Forward – a project funded by Global Affairs Canada that is dedicated to empowering women and girls while also prioritizing peace-building, transitional justice, and access to civil rights. Through Future Forward, women can participate in vocational training courses that teach new skills and emphasize economic independence.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HAI and SIWF pivoted their weekly Future Forward sewing course to make face masks that help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Today, the women are producing hundreds of masks a day and distributing them to vulnerable families and individuals, including health workers and local officials. While the face masks are distributed for FREE to individuals on the front-lines, the women are also selling masks to local vendors in order to pay for materials and provide for their families.
All of us have a responsibility to follow health advice and take simple, practical steps like wearing a face mask in public. We are in this together – and we will get through this, together. ???? ???? ????
For ways to get involved with Heartland Alliance’s response to COVID-19, click here.
