2008 Conference Purpose, Values and History

Workshops and Papers

These papers give some background to debates or contemporary developments which helped participants come to the workshops fully informed.

1. Workload, Girls' Body Image Eating Disorders Self-Esteem & Self-Harm;

2. Professional Learning;

3. Workplace Bullying; and.

4. Work/Care Balance

Other Papers

"Golden Women Award – supporting SAWA-Australia"

Delegates to previous Federal Women's Conferences would be familiar with the Golden Woman, awarded each year. This year delegates participated in a raffle which raised $485.45 for SAWA-Australia which supports Hewad High School, a school for Afghan refugees in Rawalpindi.

 "Hewad" means fatherland, and the students of Hewad High School aspire to return to Afghanistan one day and contribute to its peaceful development. Many of them want to enter Kabul University. Academically Hewad High School offers them a very good start; its success rate in the university admission examinations is far above the national average for Afghanistan. But the school is poorly equipped and does not have computers.

SAWA-Australia is aiming to raise $3,500 to equip Hewad High School with computers. PC clones made in Pakistan are relatively inexpensive, and SAWA's target of $3,500 should allow the purchase of five networked computers and a printer. The network will form the basis of a desperately needed computer laboratory.

SAWA-Australia also supports the Naseema Shaheed High School, a school operated by RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan to educate girls on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.

To keep Naseema Shaheed High School operational, SAWA has to cover the salary of its 28 teachers and general staff, the cost of textbooks and stationary for 367 students and the purchase of materials for the physics and chemistry labs. This is a challenge for an organisation that was established only two years ago, and SAWA is proud to have reached that target for 2006 so far. As a school that is fully supported by donations from Australians, Naseema Shaheed High School is today not only a beacon of pride for Afghan women but also a witness to the generosity and compassion of Australians.

Their curriculum is based on RAWA's teaching values: respect for all human beings regardless of language, religion, race or colour; religious, ethnic and gender tolerance; care for the environment; rejection of violence; respect for family, partnership and freedom values and safeguard of individual rights.