The Hegg Hoffet Fund for Displaced Women Graduates deals with applications for assistance from university women,(in special cases 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.
The Hegg Hoffet Shop held during IFUW Triennial Conferences and supported by a large number of conference attendees, is the most important source of money for the Fund. However, it is imperative to receive donations all the time, not only during a conference year.
IFUW national federations and associations and individual members can further support the Fund by using the donation form to make an annual donation.
The Fund was established in 1936 as the IFUW Emergency Fund (later called the Relief Fund) to help university women who have been deprived of the right to work, and in many cases, the right to live in their native countries. Assistance to university women on arrival in a new country is still the activity of the Fund today.
In honour of many years of service given by Mrs Blanche Hegg-Hoffet, 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 today are generally younger and integrate more easily into new countries. However, they still often need more than a grant, they 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, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and the Ukraine.
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.
A Nigerian professor of journalism was told she would be unable to continue working unless she obtained her Pd.D. She was offered free tuition in Switzerland, but needed assistance with living expenses in order to finish her degree. She is very active in promoting women's rights and education in Africa.
A Ukrainian agronomist who emigrated to Israel with her whole family to escape from religious discrimination, was unable to find a job in her field. After working at a casual job in home care, she was advised to retrain as a nurse. The fund helped with her textbook and tuition costs. The Israeli Association was able to encourage and support her in adjusting to a new career in her new country.
An Afghani medical doctor in Canada was 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.A Peruvian refugee in Canada working on her Master's degree in agronomy, supporting herself with part-time jobs, could not earn enough to cover the costs of all her textbooks. The Fund was able to provide her with a small grant to help her continue her studies. She writes: Your financial support was really appreciated.
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International Federation of University Women
10 rue du Lac, CH-1207 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: (41.22) 731 23 80 Fax: (41.22) 738 04 40
E-mail: info@ifuw.org
