9^th Annual Solidarity Fair at WHO

Friday, 28 November 2003, 10. 30 to 2. 00 – Main Hall

Maria Dweggah

The Solidarity Fund

The Solidarity Fund of the WHO Staff Association was started in 1995 to help those staff whose posts were cut to 50% as a result of the 1995/1996 RIF (reduction in force exercise). Throughout the years the Fund has distributed over CHF 70 000 to staff and their families, in interest free loans and grants. Profits from the annual Solidarity Fair are used to replenish the Fund. Individual donations are also welcome

The Fund still comes to the aid of staff who are in emergency financial difficulties, however, in the past few years it is being used more and more for humanitarian assistance—home for orphaned girls in southern India, flood victims of Honduras, Médecins sans Frontières, financial assistance to a young Burundi woman who needed a heart operation, shipment of clothes to Somalia, etc.

The 8th Annual Solidarity Fair was held at WHO on Wednesday, 11 December 2003, a very successful event. Profits from this Fair were used to fund 3 charities/projects:

Structural repairs for an Elementary School for Children with Visual Handicaps in the Czech Republic

Adaikalam in Vellore, India to purchase two net stocking machines. These produce stockynette which is used in hospitals for patients with fractured bones, during time of operation at time of fitting artificial limbs and also for leprosy patients. The stockynette is sold thereby providing a sustainable livelihood for a number of families ;

Association Européenne contre les Leucodysrophies in France

This year the WHO Staff Association will hold its 9th Annual Solidarity Fair on 28 November 2003. We hope to match the success of last year. Profits will go to support the work of ITEZO (The International Trust for the Education of Zambian Orphans) funded by the spouse of a retired WHO staff member. (UNSpecial, March 2003, Watering the Roots). ITEZO has two primary objectives: to secure formal education to orphans, victims of AIDS and to empower them to get gainful employment.

This year’s Fair will also give you the opportunity to view and purchase the beautifully hand embroidered items crafted by Palestinian women. During the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, many Palestinian women became refugees - some were displaced for a second time in
1967. These times of hardship forced many women to sell their finely embroidered dresses in order to support their families. Today as in the past, skilled Palestinian women embroider entirely by hand not only for preservation of their tradition but also to supplement the family incomes.