Latest news with #Donya
DW
3 days ago
- General
- DW
Helping women refugees in Germany find work – DW – 08/10/2025
In 2015, Germany opened its borders to hundreds of thousands — many fleeing Syria and Afghanistan. But many women who arrived in the last 10 years do not work. What hurdles do they face, and how are they being tackled? Donya* came to Germany in 2016. The trained midwife fled from Afghanistan with her 19-year-old son after her husband disappeared and she received death threats. "On my first night in Germany, I slept better than I had in years. I will never forget that night," she told DW. While Donya appreciated the security offered by Germany, she continued to be tormented by sporadic fears for her own life and that of her son. Trauma is not quickly overcome and it makes concentrating difficult — a prerequisite for taking up a job. Despite her traumatic experiences, Donya made it back into employment. She has been working as a care worker for the elderly for two years now after completing an eight-month training program — and German language courses. The 53-year-old says she feels her work is unchallenging, but she cannot cope with switching careers again. The former midwife has also been helped by Work for Refugees, a project that is run by GIZ / Society for Intercultural Coexistence and other cooperation partners, and funded by the Berlin Senate (SenASGIVA). It is one of a number of publicly funded projects and nonprofit organizations that have been launched to address the diverse challenges facing refugees and help dismantle recruitment obstacles. After eight years, some 68% of people who fled violence or conflict in their home countries to come to Germany found work, according to a rolling survey launched in 2016. But the representative study from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Germany's Federal Office for Refugees (BAMF) and the Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP) also shows that female employment levels are much lower than that of men. Some two-thirds of women refugees remain unemployed after eight years. That is in contrast to 15% of adult male refugees. "Studies show there is a threefold disadvantage for refugee women. They are disadvantaged as women, immigrants and refugees," explained Maye Ehab, an IAB researcher. Many men who flee to Germany are single, while many of the women come with young children. "That puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to attending German courses or taking up various services provided by the government," Ehab told DW. A shortage of child care workers means space at day care centers is not easily available. The difficulties in finding child care have also been an obstacle for many of the Ukrainian women who fled with their children to Germany after the start of the Russian invasion in 2022. While in 2015 and 2016, most of Germany's 1.2 million asylum-seekers came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and were disproportionately male, three-quarters of the Ukrainians seeking refuge are female. Some female refugees never worked at all in their home countries or worked in sectors, like education or health, which require considerable language skills and are highly regulated in Germany, according to Ehab. "Men can work in jobs that don't require good German skills, such as the construction sector or the services sector. That makes it easier for them to jump this hurdle," she added. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The recognition of foreign qualifications is notoriously difficult in Germany. Donya had no paperwork to prove that she had spent 12 years in school and many years in medical training. Vocational skills are often acquired in Germany as part of formalized, certified training programs. Many other countries rely solely on on-the-job learning. But experience alone does not count for much in Germany, if you don't have the paper qualifications to match. That forces many refugees to start again from scratch. While Donya is educated, the same does not apply to many other women from Afghanistan. Attacks on women's education began long before the 2021 takeover by the Islamist Taliban. Donya's husband, an English teacher, had been teaching girls and women in a rural village when he vanished. Integration courses in Germany generally include 600 hours of German language tuition regardless of the recipients' educational achievements. Afsaneh Afraze, who works for GIZ / Society for Intercultural Coexistence in Berlin, is critical of this one-size-fits-all all approach. The trained psychologist — who, herself, fled to Germany in 2014 from Iran with her husband, a former political prisoner — can speak from personal experience. "I got 600 hours to learn German, but I had studied, I could speak English. In class, I was next to a 55-year-old who had never had a pen in her hand," she said. Afraze has been psychologically supporting Donya for several years, and said she is an exception rather than the rule. "It is not easy for a woman to go as far as she did in Afghanistan," she told DW. The Work for Refugees Project functions according to the motto of finding work first, according to the project's job adviser and counselor, Inna Gissa. A Ukrainian refugee herself, she got her first job in Germany in a hotel restaurant. "I could only count to five and say: 'My name is' in German back then," she said. Her command of English helped her get the position. Gissa added that she knows from experience that the best and quickest way of learning the language and making contacts is by going to work. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Berlin-based project offers free one-to-one counseling sessions, CV workshops and helps to place people in suitable jobs. It refers clients to other organizations, which have special programs for women. Work for Refugees has also staged job fairs for example, in the mass refugee accommodation in Tegel. Tent Deutschland organizes job fairs, too. The NGO helps refugees find work through its network of 80 companies. The nonprofit enterprise focuses on mobilizing leading businesses to connect refugees to employment through hiring, training and mentorship. Some programs are specially tailored to the needs of women. Mentoring is also on offer at ReDi School of Digital Integration, which was set up in 2015 and launched in Berlin in 2016. The school, which is now also based in several other locations, provides training in digital skills to tech-interested locals, migrants and refugees — and access to a network of tech leaders, students and alumni. This mixture was ideal in helping to relaunch the career of 30-year-old Hala Younis, who arrived on a humanitarian visa from Syria in 2022. Three years in, the former teacher has a job as a customer relationship manager with the online fashion platform Zalando, thanks, in part, to her experiences at ReDi. "It was like a community for all the people coming from abroad, refugees, people who have the same struggle. That is what brings more empathy and more support. You don't feel alone in all this roller coaster," Hala told DW. Many grassroots projects or organizations are staffed by women who have fled to Germany, like Afsaneh Afraze and Inna Gissa. Their own experiences give them a better understanding of what the women are going through. Women refugee volunteers, like Donya herself, also serve as role models. "Donya can stand on her own two feet and she is helping other women," said Afraze. "I think that is very important that we are like a human chain." While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Don't let beautiful Tehran become Gaza': Iranians tell of shock and confusion
Long queues at petrol stations and bakeries. Long lines of cars trying to escape the capital. And long, frightening nights. Residents of Tehran - still shocked by Israel's sudden attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday morning - speak of fear and confusion, a feeling of helplessness and conflicting emotions. "We haven't slept for nights," a 21-year-old music student told me over an encrypted social media app. "Everyone is leaving but I'm not. My dad says it's more honourable to die in your own house than to run away." 'Donya' - she doesn't want to reveal her real name - is one of many Iranians now caught in a war between a regime she loathes and Israel, whose destructive power in Gaza she has witnessed on screen from afar. "I really don't want my beautiful Tehran to turn into Gaza," she said. Follow live updates on this story What we know as conflict intensifies 'It's heavy on the heart': Israelis survey damage in city hit by Iranian missile What are the worst-case scenarios? Israel's endgame may be regime change in Iran - but it's a gamble As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call on Iranians to rise up against their clerical leadership, she has a firm response. "We don't want Israel to save us. No foreign country ever cared for Iran," she said. "We also don't want the Islamic Republic." Another woman said that at first she had felt a "strange excitement" to see Israel kill Iranian military officials so powerful that she thought they would live for ever. "Suddenly that image of power was shattered," she told BBC Persian. "But from the second day, when I heard that regular people - people I didn't know, people like me - had also been killed, I started to feel sorrow, fear and sadness." And she said her sadness turned to anger when she heard that the South Pars gas field had been hit, fearing that Israel was trying to turn Iran "into ruins". For the first time in her life, she said, she has started to prepare for the idea of dying. More than 220 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since Friday, according to the Iranian authorities. Israeli authorities say Iranian missiles have killed at least 24 people in Israel over the same period. Unlike in Israel, there are no warnings of imminent attacks in Iran, and no shelters to run to. Missiles fall from the sky but a campaign of car bombs in Tehran - as reported by both Israeli and Iranian media - has sewn further panic and confusion. Even some supporters of the regime are reported to be upset that its much-vaunted defences have been so thoroughly exposed. And, among many Iranians, distrust in the authorities runs deep. Donya used to defy the regime and its strict dress code by going out with her hair uncovered. Now, with her university exams postponed until next week, she's staying at home. "I get so terrified at night," she said. "I take some pills to help me relax and try to sleep." The Iranian government has suggested that people shelter in mosques and metro stations. But that is hard, when the explosions seem to come out of nowhere. "Tehran is a big city and yet every neighbourhood has been somehow affected by the damage," another young woman told BBC Persian. "For now, all we do is check the news every hour and call the friends and relatives whose neighbourhood has been hit to make sure they are still alive." She and her family have now left their home to stay in an area where there are no known government buildings. But you never know, in a country like Iran, who may be living next to you. 'Nowhere feels safe': Iranians on life under Israeli attacks Satellite imagery reveals damage to key Iran nuclear sites 'They're weak': Israelis back conflict with Iran in neighbourhood struck by missile The Israeli assault has divided Iranians, she said, with some celebrating the regime's losses, while others are angry at those cheering Israel on. Many Iranians keep changing their minds about what they think. Divisions are bitter, even among some families. "The situation feels like the first hours after the Titanic hit the iceberg," the woman said. "Some people were trying to escape, some were saying it wasn't a big deal, and others kept dancing." She has always protested against Iran's clerical rulers, she told the BBC, but sees what Netanyahu is doing to her country as "inexcusable". "Everyone's life, whether they supported the attacks or not, has been changed forever. "Most Iranians, even those who oppose the government, have now realised that freedom and human rights don't come from Israeli bombs falling on cities where defenceless civilians live." She added: "Most of us are scared and worried about what's coming next. We've packed bags with first aid supplies, food, and water, just in case things get worse." Israel says the Iranian armed forces have deliberately placed their command centres and weapons inside civilian buildings and areas. Members of Iran's large diaspora are also worried. "It's hard to convey what it's like to be an Iranian right now," says Dorreh Khatibi-Hill, a Leeds-based women's rights activist and researcher who is in touch with family, friends and other anti-regime activists. "You're happy that members of the regime - who have been torturing and murdering people - are being taken out. "But we know that civilians are dying. This is a devastating humanitarian disaster." And Iranians are not being given accurate information on what is happening, she says. "The main person in Iran - the supreme leader - is still alive while Iranians are fleeing for their lives," she adds. "No one wants Iran to turn into another Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. None of us wants this war. We don't want the regime either."
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'I don't want Tehran to turn into Gaza': Iranians on Israeli strikes
Long queues at petrol stations and bakeries. Long lines of cars trying to escape the capital. And long, frightening of Tehran - still shocked by Israel's sudden attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday morning - speak of fear and confusion, a feeling of helplessness and conflicting emotions."We haven't slept for nights," a 21-year-old music student told me over an encrypted social media app. "Everyone is leaving but I'm not. My dad says it's more honourable to die in your own house than to run away."'Donya' - she doesn't want to reveal her real name - is one of many Iranians now caught in a war between a regime she loathes and Israel, whose destructive power in Gaza she has witnessed on screen from afar."I really don't want my beautiful Tehran to turn into Gaza," she said. Follow live updates on this storyWhat we know as conflict intensifies'It's heavy on the heart': Israelis survey damage in city hit by Iranian missileWhat are the worst-case scenarios?Israel's endgame may be regime change in Iran - but it's a gamble As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call on Iranians to rise up against their clerical leadership, she has a firm response."We don't want Israel to save us. No foreign country ever cared for Iran," she said. "We also don't want the Islamic Republic."Another woman said that at first she had felt a "strange excitement" to see Israel kill Iranian military officials so powerful that she thought they would live for ever."Suddenly that image of power was shattered," she told BBC Persian. "But from the second day, when I heard that regular people - people I didn't know, people like me - had also been killed, I started to feel sorrow, fear and sadness."And she said her sadness turned to anger when she heard that the South Pars gas field had been hit, fearing that Israel was trying to turn Iran "into ruins".For the first time in her life, she said, she has started to prepare for the idea of than 220 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since Friday, according to the Iranian authorities say Iranian missiles have killed at least 24 people in Israel over the same period. Unlike in Israel, there are no warnings of imminent attacks in Iran, and no shelters to run to. Even some supporters of the regime are reported to be upset that its much-vaunted defences have been so thoroughly among many Iranians, distrust in the authorities runs used to defy the regime and its strict dress code by going out with her hair with her university exams postponed until next week, she's staying at home."I get so terrified at night," she said. "I take some pills to help me relax and try to sleep."The Iranian government has suggested that people shelter in mosques and metro stations. But that is hard, when the explosions seem to come out of nowhere."Tehran is a big city and yet every neighbourhood has been somehow affected by the damage," another young woman told BBC Persian."For now, all we do is check the news every hour and call the friends and relatives whose neighbourhood has been hit to make sure they are still alive."She and her family have now left their home to stay in an area where there are no known government you never know, in a country like Iran, who may be living next to you. The Israeli assault has divided Iranians, she said, with some celebrating the regime's losses, while others are angry at those cheering Israel Iranians keep changing their minds about what they think. Divisions are bitter, even among some families."The situation feels like the first hours after the Titanic hit the iceberg," the woman said. "Some people were trying to escape, some were saying it wasn't a big deal, and others kept dancing."She has always protested against Iran's clerical rulers, she told the BBC, but sees what Netanyahu is doing to her country as "inexcusable"."Everyone's life, whether they supported the attacks or not, has been changed forever. "Most Iranians, even those who oppose the government, have now realised that freedom and human rights don't come from Israeli bombs falling on cities where defenceless civilians live."She added: "Most of us are scared and worried about what's coming next. We've packed bags with first aid supplies, food, and water, just in case things get worse."Israel says the Iranian armed forces have deliberately placed their command centres and weapons inside civilian buildings and of Iran's large diaspora are also worried."It's hard to convey what it's like to be an Iranian right now," says Dorreh Khatibi-Hill, a Leeds-based women's rights activist and researcher who is in touch with family, friends and other anti-regime activists. "You're happy that members of the regime - who have been torturing and murdering people - are being taken out."But we know that civilians are dying. This is a devastating humanitarian disaster."And Iranians are not being given accurate information on what is happening, she says."The main person in Iran - the supreme leader - is still alive while Iranians are fleeing for their lives," she adds."No one wants Iran to turn into another Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. None of us wants this war. We don't want the regime either."
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Eagles Of The Republic' Review: The Terrific Fares Fares Stars In Tarik Saleh's Precision-Tooled Political Thriller
Swedish director Tarik Saleh would be a left-field but great pick for a Bond movie, and the third entry in his Cairo trilogy — following The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Boy from Heaven (2022) — is the proof. Like his previous films, it stars terrific Lebanese-Swedish actor Fares Fares (an actor so good they named him twice), in another precision-tooled political thriller that starts with a good deal more humor that seen previously in his works but rapidly ratchets up the tension for a shattering climax. Deftly and daringly blending fact and fiction, it shares DNA with István Szabó's 1981 Nazi-era drama Mephisto. Like Mephisto, it is about a self-seeking actor whose arrogance gets him into bad company. Fares plays George Fahmy, the biggest movie star in Egypt. They call him 'The Pharaoh of the Screen,' and that adoration has been the ruin of him. Having abandoned his wife and son, he lives with his girlfriend Donya (Lyna Khoudri), a beautiful aspiring actress young enough to be his daughter. George's career is mapped out in the opening credits, a sequence made up of lurid film posters (including, we later find out, for one called The First Egyptian in Space). Somehow, George has kept Donya under the radar, but there have been rumblings about his behavior for some time, as is about to become apparent. More from Deadline Cannes Film Festival 2025: Read All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews Cannes Film Festival Photos Day 7: Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, A$AP Rock at 'Highest 2 Lowest' photocall, Dakota Johnson & More Breaking Baz @ Cannes: Nicole Kidman, "The Barefoot Queen Of Cannes", Wanted To Party On The Beach But Had To Fly Home For Her Kids' Exams Taking Donya on a date, George encounters a coterie of his peers, who try to involve him in the informal militia they have formed. 'We all have to protect our country,' says one. 'The enemy is everywhere.' George declines their offer but becomes concerned when his latest co-star, Rula Haddad (Cherien Dabis), comes to his house, claiming she is being forced into a TV interview where she will be pressured to dish dirt on him. Rula keeps mum, but their new film together already is in trouble with the country's hatchet-faced panel of censors, since it involves a scene in which an unmarried couple suggestively share their cigarettes. 'What's this disgrace?' says one. 'Everything you do is a sin.' His long-suffering manager Fawzy (Ahmed Kairy) spells it out for him ('George, they are after you'), and while driving out late at night the actor is pulled over by a soldier who shows him a picture of his son and warns of the high incidence of traffic 'accidents' that happen at the American university where he is studying. Shaken, George goes straight to his ex-wife's house, where the boy is, thankfully, unscathed. 'Whose wife or daughter did you sleep with this time?' she sneers. 'Aren't you too old for that?' RELATED: Full List Of Cannes Palme d'Or Winners Through The Years: Photo Gallery Feeling the heat, George accepts an offer to take the lead in a largely fictional and completely hagiographic biopic of (current) Egyptian President Al-Sisi. George resists at first, but it soon becomes clear that dark forces are at play, none darker than the sinister Dr. Mansour (Amr Waked), a shady government official supervising the film and effectively serving as producer. George brings in a friend to direct, asking him if he can 'turn this shit into something decent.' George Fahmy doesn't make bad films, says George, but he does make bad choices, and this one could end up being the death of him. Saleh, and Fares, have a lot of fun with the character of George, notably in a very funny scene where the aging lothario stops off at a pharmacy to buy Viagra. The pharmacist recognizes him ('I download all your movies!') and demands a selfie, adding that Cialis is a better alternative ('It will make you harder than the Sphinx!'). After this, however, Eagles of the Republic becomes exponentially darker, as George finds himself getting deeper and deeper into the president's pocket, to the point that he even agrees to make a speech at an important military parade to commemorate the Yom Kippur War. As in the previous films in the trilogy, there is a certain sense of inevitability to the events that follow, spiraling out of control in ways that George cannot fight, certainly not after he blithely embarks on a dangerous affair with a senior politician's wife — unaware that Dr. Mansour has him under close surveillance and that he is being manipulated by rival factions within the military. Unwittingly, George pulls everyone and everything down with him, finally facing the consequence of his actions in a harrowing helicopter ride. Although it is of a kind with the other Cairo movies, Eagles of the Republic arguably is the strongest, possibly because there's so much rich real-world source material to draw on. It's also a brilliantly executed satire on the film industry, and a haunting reminder of what happens when you lie down with dogs. Title: Eagles of the RepublicFestival: Cannes (Competition)Sales: Playtime GroupDirector-screenwriter: Tarik SalehCast: Fares Fares, Lyna Khoudri, Zineb, Amr Waked, Cherien Dabis, Ahmed KairyRunning time: 2 hr 9 min Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies In Order - See Tom Cruise's 30-Year Journey As Ethan Hunt Denzel Washington's Career In Pictures: From 'Carbon Copy' To 'The Equalizer 3'
CairoScene
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Moscow Reflects on Fractured Youth in New ‘Ard El Nifaq' EP
The project features two singles, 'Donya' and 'Gonya,' both produced by Big Moe. Apr 26, 2025 Egyptian rapper Moscow explores fractured youth on 'Ard El Nifaq', which features the tracks 'Donya' and 'Gonya,' both produced by Big Moe. 'Donya' addresses themes of systemic poverty, social disillusionment, and survival in Egypt's urban landscape, combining raw lyrics with cinematic production by Big Moe. The music video depicts youth exploitation and intergenerational violence. 'Gonya,' the EP's second release, shifts to a more introspective focus, exploring themes of memory, loss, and existential struggle. The song's music video, produced in collaboration with SONY, features cinematic visuals that emphasize the track's emotional depth. Together, the two releases present contrasting portraits of external and internal battles within contemporary Egyptian life.
