The Hegg Hoffet Fund for Displaced Women Graduates
Purpose
The Hegg Hoffet Fund for Displaced Women Graduates deals with applications for assistance from graduate women (in special cases tertiary women students) who have been displaced as a result of war, political upheaval or other serious emergencies, and makes short term grants for refresher courses for re-entry into the candidates’ professional fields, and courses for integration into new countries. In case of serious natural disasters, national federations and associations may apply for short-term grants on behalf of university women (women students), who suffered hardship due to the disaster, and who wish to continue their work or studies.
History
The Fund was established in 1936 as the IFUW Emergency Fund (later called the Relief Fund) to help university women who had been deprived of the right to work, and in many cases, the right to live in their native countries. Assistance to graduate women on arrival in a new country is still the activity of the Fund today.
In honour of many years of service given by long term convener Mme Blanche Hegg Hoffet of Switzerland, who was particularly responsible for raising money and distributing assistance during and after the Second World War, the Fund adopted her name in 1968.
Graduate women refugees generally need moral support in order to learn to live in a different country. This support is given by national and local groups of university women from all over the world.
Currently the beneficiaries of the Fund come from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Russia, Mexico and the Sudan. The work of the Fund is on a small scale but it can greatly change the lives of those women graduate refugees it helps, as the following examples illustrate:
An Ethiopian refugee now living in Australia was unable to find employment in her field of agricultural science without upgrading her computer skills. The AFUW Queensland branch was able to help her find an appropriate course and offer her moral support, and the Fund covered her tuition fees for business computer courses.
An Afghani medical doctor in Canadawas not allowed to practise medicine there. Through the Fund, she received a tuition grant for courses in ultrasound technology, and she hopes to continue her studies so that she qualifies as a nurse. In the meantime, she works part-time and studies, while looking after her three children. Her husband, also a doctor, is studying to pass Canadian medical examinations, so she has to help support the family.
Another doctor, a Russian Jewish single mother,was granted refugee status in Germany. The fund helped pay her tuition and childcare so that she could take a six-month course and prepare for examinations to qualify to practise medicine in Germany.
Five refugees from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, all now living in Switzerland, were funded for a German language course. Their professions include dentistry, chemistry, management, and accounting. They are all taking part in a program which will teach them how to set up their own businesses in Switzerland.
A Kurdish refugee now completing her Master's degree in Political Science in eastern Canada received a small grant for books. She has joined the local branch of the Canadian Federation of University Women, and has found them very helpful in her transition to living in a different culture.
A Sudanese refugee in Egypt who has a Bachelor of Science and was earning a very low wage teaching primary students, was given a tuition grant to take some computer courses. With her upgraded skills, she hopes to get a better job and help support her younger siblings who are still in southern Sudan.
Remember! The work of the Hegg-Hoffet Fund cannot be done without the generous help and support of IFUW members every year!
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