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Jennifer Utz
My name is Jennifer Utz, and I spent 8 months embedded with Iraqi refugees in the Middle East.
Thanks for watching the films. For more films, please visit IraqiRefugeeStories.org. You can also find out more about my work at www.jennyjo.com.
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About Me:
Previous Endeavors:
Jennifer Utz is a multimedia journalist and filmmaker who has worked for The United Nations, BBC America, France 24, IRIN News and CBS News, among others. Her writing has appeared in a number of online and print publications and she is also a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.
Jennifer has covered stories ranging from the Iraqi refugee crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to climate change. As a producer for the acclaimed television and radio program Democracy Now!, Jennifer was able to put her technical and creative skills to use to deliver breaking news stories for a daily show. An accomplished shooter and editor, Jennifer has established herself as a one-woman band to produce timely news pieces on tight deadlines.
In 2006, she was one of the first journalists to highlight the extent of displaced Iraqis as a result of the war in Iraq. Her reports aired on ABC World News Tonight, France 24, Democracy Now! and Current TV. In 2008, she launched Iraqi Refugee Stories, which received praise and coverage from numerous publications and organizations, including Mother Jones, The Utne Reader, and UNCHR.
Her experience with Iraqi refugees inspired her to direct a documentary film, From Baghdad to Brooklyn, which follows the life of a gay Iraqi refugee and his struggle to escape exile in Syria and gain asylum in the U.S. Currently in post-production, the film is fiscally sponsored by Women Make Movies and has received press from GRITtv, Alternet, IndieWire and the New York Press.
Other film credits include Supervising Producer and Director of Photography on the feature documentary, American Radical, which explores the controversial career of the Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein. She also produced and edited a feature documentary about the academic program 1CSemester at Sea, 1D which documented the townships of South Africa, life in Castro 19s Cuba, and the Movement for Landless People in Brazil.
Jennifer has worked in nearly 40 countries; most recently on assignment in Egypt, Bolivia and Israel/Palestine, where she produced short video documentaries on humanitarian issues for IRIN (a project of UN-OCHA). Previously, she spent a year in India teaching members of a women's empowerment organization to produce outreach videos.
In addition to her videojournalism work, Jennifer works as a freelance graphic designer and Flash programmer.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Jennifer has covered stories ranging from the Iraqi refugee crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to climate change. As a producer for the acclaimed television and radio program Democracy Now!, Jennifer was able to put her technical and creative skills to use to deliver breaking news stories for a daily show. An accomplished shooter and editor, Jennifer has established herself as a one-woman band to produce timely news pieces on tight deadlines.
In 2006, she was one of the first journalists to highlight the extent of displaced Iraqis as a result of the war in Iraq. Her reports aired on ABC World News Tonight, France 24, Democracy Now! and Current TV. In 2008, she launched Iraqi Refugee Stories, which received praise and coverage from numerous publications and organizations, including Mother Jones, The Utne Reader, and UNCHR.
Her experience with Iraqi refugees inspired her to direct a documentary film, From Baghdad to Brooklyn, which follows the life of a gay Iraqi refugee and his struggle to escape exile in Syria and gain asylum in the U.S. Currently in post-production, the film is fiscally sponsored by Women Make Movies and has received press from GRITtv, Alternet, IndieWire and the New York Press.
Other film credits include Supervising Producer and Director of Photography on the feature documentary, American Radical, which explores the controversial career of the Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein. She also produced and edited a feature documentary about the academic program 1CSemester at Sea, 1D which documented the townships of South Africa, life in Castro 19s Cuba, and the Movement for Landless People in Brazil.
Jennifer has worked in nearly 40 countries; most recently on assignment in Egypt, Bolivia and Israel/Palestine, where she produced short video documentaries on humanitarian issues for IRIN (a project of UN-OCHA). Previously, she spent a year in India teaching members of a women's empowerment organization to produce outreach videos.
In addition to her videojournalism work, Jennifer works as a freelance graphic designer and Flash programmer.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Current Project/Need:
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: WORLDWIDE
According to Refugees International, "UNHCR has issued a regional appeal for $261 million for 2008. Besides the U.S. contribution of $83 million, the appeal remains largely unfunded. UNHCR in both Syria and Jordan expressed concern that they would have to drastically cut their programs should the appeal not be fully funded.
Donate directly to UNHCR
> http://www.unhcr.org/donate/index.htm
Write your Congressperson
Write to your Congressperson and urge them to increase financial support to UNHCR, WFP, or CERF, to assist Iraqi refugees and displaced people. Tell them to pressure Iraq's government to increase aid to displaced Iraqis and to those living in Syria and Jordan
> www.house.gov/writerep/
The List Project
The List Project is a U.S. non-profit, founded in 2007 with the belief that the United States Government has a clear and urgent moral obligation to resettle to safety Iraqis who are imperiled due to their affiliation with the United States of America. They are the first comprehensive organizational effort to honor the sacrifice of these Iraqis.
> http://thelistproject.org/
No More Victims
No More Victims works to obtain medical sponsorships for war-injured Iraqi children and to forge ties between the children, their families and communities in the United States. We believe one of the most effective means of combating militarism is to focus on direct relief to its victims.
> http://www.nomorevictims.org
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: SYRIA
Concerns about UN operations in Syria need to be contextualized within the challenging operating environment. Given the inability of most refugees to return home, find work, and receive adequate assistance, their needs will continue to increase. Continued and increased financial and political support is essential to ensuring that these needs are met. There are many uncertainties, but the large number of Iraqis and the extent of their growing needs is not one of them.
While there are few NGOs operating effectively with Iraqi refugees in Syria or those displaced inside Iraq, however the following are doing useful work. Please consider donating.
Sisters of The Good Shepherd
Four nuns run Syria's only women's shelter in Damascus, accepting all sects and ethnicities. They also run programs for Iraqi refugees. Donations can be sent to their US or Canadian offices with instructions to forward the funds to Damascus.
> http://www.goodshepherdsisters.org/
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps provides emergency humanitarian aid to displaced people inside Iraq. They have assisted thousands of refugees in Jordan and recently became the first US-based development agency to receive permission to open an office in Syria, where they will deliver occupational training to young Iraqis.
> www.mercycorps.org
Relief International
RI has done effective work with displaced Iraqis, as well as rebuilding Iraqi schools and public works.
> www.ri.org
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: JORDAN
Care International
Care International employs a counseling centre which offers services to refugees four days a week.The centre tries to find possible ways of helping refugees in decreasing the stress that affects their lives through social and psychosocial counseling. The centre also evaluates their financial situation and needs and finds solutions to fight their poverty. In
addition to the cash assistance, the counseling centre provides material assistance such as: diapers, sanitary napkins, and heaters for needy refugees during winter.
Care International also has a Social Activities Centre targeting vulnerable groups referred by the counseling centre, providing them with specialized training courses in addition to a computer lab and library for refugees 19 use. For children, the center provides them area services for under-aged school children and summer camps and other
social activities for other ages. The centre also builds and establishes committees and provides them with meeting and training rooms.
> http://www.careinternational.org.uk/10977/jordan/care-in-jordan-.html
The Jordanian Red Crescent Society (JRC)
The Jordanian Red Crescent Society helps in providing health care and medical assistance through a hospital located in Al-Musdar Area. The clinic is located next to the hospital. The clinic provides general medical examination and free medication.
> http://www.jordanredcrescent.org/
Save the Children
Save the Children, supported by UNHCR and other donors, is implementing the Ta'leem education program for Iraqis and Jordanians aged 6 to 18.
This program helps by:
* Providing and distributing school packages.
* Facilitating access to schools and educational activities.
* Providing, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, capacity-building for teachers and principals.
* Addressing broad community concerns about educational issues.
* Providing remedial classes for public school children.
* Organizing basic literacy, numeracy and activities programs for out-of-school children.
* Developing an outreach mechanism to vulnerable Iraqis.
* Organizing English and IT learning activities.
* Providing non-formal life skills activities.
* Establishing a youth club to meet and act on issues of common concern.
* Promoting community leadership through mobilizing volunteers.
Save the Children is also implementing the Khatawat program, which aims at improving children's access to quality, safe educational opportunities by:
* Renovating, furnishing and fully-equipping public and community-based
kindergartens to meet high-quality, safe standards.
* Facilitating access to kindergarten for Iraqi children aged 3-6 by
covering the costs of enrollment, transportation and basic materials.
* Training and mentoring teachers and supervisors on the
'learning-through-play' curriculum and building their capacities to
work with both Iraqi and Jordanian children.
* Involving parents in children's early learning and development,
in the classroom and home, and helping them better
support their children's psycho-social needs.
> http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/middle-east-eurasia/jordan.html
Jordanian Women 19s Union
With support from UNHCR , JWU provides services to women in Jordan (regardless of nationality) and to their
children and families, with a special focus on the survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The union functions in nine separate locations. JWU Staff at community centers across Jordan include social workers, psychologists, lawyers, and teachers (English, Arabic, math and sciences).
Services offered for women:
* Social, psychological and legal counselling through hotlines
* Family mediation
* Legal literacy courses
* English, Arabic and computer classes
* Social activities
* Authorized space to exercise visitation rights
Services offered for children:
* Art activities
* Playground and toys
* English, Arabic, math and science classes
* Theatre activities
Contact Jordanian Women's Union:
PO Box 960723
Amman, Jordan
Fax: 96-2-66-87-061
Jordan Alliance Against Hunger
Jordan Alliance Against Hunger (JAAH) works on the provision of nutritional needs for Iraqis.
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: LEBANON
The UNHCR office in Lebanon is working with a wide spectrum of active NGOs providing assistance for Iraqis for a better needs identification and response, mainly in areas related to legal aid, education, health, and prevention and response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
UNHCR 19s implementing partners in Lebanon in 2008 include Amel Association, The Middle-East Council of Churches (MECC), CARITAS, RESTART, and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Operational partners include the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the Chaldean Charity Association, Arc-en-Ciel, IOM (for resettlement and departures), ICMC, Médecins du Monde (MDM), AJEM, Frontiers, the Lebanese Association for Development (Al Majmoua), and a number of NGOs providing assistance or legal aid to refugees.
The office has two community centres for refugees and asylum seekers in Lebanon; one is located in the southern suburbs of Beirut and is run by UNHCR partner, Amel Association, the other is located in the east Beirut.
The office also has an office for the rehabilitation of victims of torture and violence run by RESTART, in addition to an Education Resource Center (ERC) run by NRC.
According to Refugees International, "UNHCR has issued a regional appeal for $261 million for 2008. Besides the U.S. contribution of $83 million, the appeal remains largely unfunded. UNHCR in both Syria and Jordan expressed concern that they would have to drastically cut their programs should the appeal not be fully funded.
Donate directly to UNHCR
> http://www.unhcr.org/donate/index.htm
Write your Congressperson
Write to your Congressperson and urge them to increase financial support to UNHCR, WFP, or CERF, to assist Iraqi refugees and displaced people. Tell them to pressure Iraq's government to increase aid to displaced Iraqis and to those living in Syria and Jordan
> www.house.gov/writerep/
The List Project
The List Project is a U.S. non-profit, founded in 2007 with the belief that the United States Government has a clear and urgent moral obligation to resettle to safety Iraqis who are imperiled due to their affiliation with the United States of America. They are the first comprehensive organizational effort to honor the sacrifice of these Iraqis.
> http://thelistproject.org/
No More Victims
No More Victims works to obtain medical sponsorships for war-injured Iraqi children and to forge ties between the children, their families and communities in the United States. We believe one of the most effective means of combating militarism is to focus on direct relief to its victims.
> http://www.nomorevictims.org
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: SYRIA
Concerns about UN operations in Syria need to be contextualized within the challenging operating environment. Given the inability of most refugees to return home, find work, and receive adequate assistance, their needs will continue to increase. Continued and increased financial and political support is essential to ensuring that these needs are met. There are many uncertainties, but the large number of Iraqis and the extent of their growing needs is not one of them.
While there are few NGOs operating effectively with Iraqi refugees in Syria or those displaced inside Iraq, however the following are doing useful work. Please consider donating.
Sisters of The Good Shepherd
Four nuns run Syria's only women's shelter in Damascus, accepting all sects and ethnicities. They also run programs for Iraqi refugees. Donations can be sent to their US or Canadian offices with instructions to forward the funds to Damascus.
> http://www.goodshepherdsisters.org/
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps provides emergency humanitarian aid to displaced people inside Iraq. They have assisted thousands of refugees in Jordan and recently became the first US-based development agency to receive permission to open an office in Syria, where they will deliver occupational training to young Iraqis.
> www.mercycorps.org
Relief International
RI has done effective work with displaced Iraqis, as well as rebuilding Iraqi schools and public works.
> www.ri.org
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: JORDAN
Care International
Care International employs a counseling centre which offers services to refugees four days a week.The centre tries to find possible ways of helping refugees in decreasing the stress that affects their lives through social and psychosocial counseling. The centre also evaluates their financial situation and needs and finds solutions to fight their poverty. In
addition to the cash assistance, the counseling centre provides material assistance such as: diapers, sanitary napkins, and heaters for needy refugees during winter.
Care International also has a Social Activities Centre targeting vulnerable groups referred by the counseling centre, providing them with specialized training courses in addition to a computer lab and library for refugees 19 use. For children, the center provides them area services for under-aged school children and summer camps and other
social activities for other ages. The centre also builds and establishes committees and provides them with meeting and training rooms.
> http://www.careinternational.org.uk/10977/jordan/care-in-jordan-.html
The Jordanian Red Crescent Society (JRC)
The Jordanian Red Crescent Society helps in providing health care and medical assistance through a hospital located in Al-Musdar Area. The clinic is located next to the hospital. The clinic provides general medical examination and free medication.
> http://www.jordanredcrescent.org/
Save the Children
Save the Children, supported by UNHCR and other donors, is implementing the Ta'leem education program for Iraqis and Jordanians aged 6 to 18.
This program helps by:
* Providing and distributing school packages.
* Facilitating access to schools and educational activities.
* Providing, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, capacity-building for teachers and principals.
* Addressing broad community concerns about educational issues.
* Providing remedial classes for public school children.
* Organizing basic literacy, numeracy and activities programs for out-of-school children.
* Developing an outreach mechanism to vulnerable Iraqis.
* Organizing English and IT learning activities.
* Providing non-formal life skills activities.
* Establishing a youth club to meet and act on issues of common concern.
* Promoting community leadership through mobilizing volunteers.
Save the Children is also implementing the Khatawat program, which aims at improving children's access to quality, safe educational opportunities by:
* Renovating, furnishing and fully-equipping public and community-based
kindergartens to meet high-quality, safe standards.
* Facilitating access to kindergarten for Iraqi children aged 3-6 by
covering the costs of enrollment, transportation and basic materials.
* Training and mentoring teachers and supervisors on the
'learning-through-play' curriculum and building their capacities to
work with both Iraqi and Jordanian children.
* Involving parents in children's early learning and development,
in the classroom and home, and helping them better
support their children's psycho-social needs.
> http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/middle-east-eurasia/jordan.html
Jordanian Women 19s Union
With support from UNHCR , JWU provides services to women in Jordan (regardless of nationality) and to their
children and families, with a special focus on the survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The union functions in nine separate locations. JWU Staff at community centers across Jordan include social workers, psychologists, lawyers, and teachers (English, Arabic, math and sciences).
Services offered for women:
* Social, psychological and legal counselling through hotlines
* Family mediation
* Legal literacy courses
* English, Arabic and computer classes
* Social activities
* Authorized space to exercise visitation rights
Services offered for children:
* Art activities
* Playground and toys
* English, Arabic, math and science classes
* Theatre activities
Contact Jordanian Women's Union:
PO Box 960723
Amman, Jordan
Fax: 96-2-66-87-061
Jordan Alliance Against Hunger
Jordan Alliance Against Hunger (JAAH) works on the provision of nutritional needs for Iraqis.
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: LEBANON
The UNHCR office in Lebanon is working with a wide spectrum of active NGOs providing assistance for Iraqis for a better needs identification and response, mainly in areas related to legal aid, education, health, and prevention and response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
UNHCR 19s implementing partners in Lebanon in 2008 include Amel Association, The Middle-East Council of Churches (MECC), CARITAS, RESTART, and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Operational partners include the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the Chaldean Charity Association, Arc-en-Ciel, IOM (for resettlement and departures), ICMC, Médecins du Monde (MDM), AJEM, Frontiers, the Lebanese Association for Development (Al Majmoua), and a number of NGOs providing assistance or legal aid to refugees.
The office has two community centres for refugees and asylum seekers in Lebanon; one is located in the southern suburbs of Beirut and is run by UNHCR partner, Amel Association, the other is located in the east Beirut.
The office also has an office for the rehabilitation of victims of torture and violence run by RESTART, in addition to an Education Resource Center (ERC) run by NRC.
My Life Story in Short:
"Jennifer Utz has been among the pioneers mastering new forms of media in order to keep up with the transformation of journalism."
-International Journalists' Network
Jennifer Utz is a multimedia journalist and filmmaker who has worked for The United Nations, BBC America, France 24, IRIN News and CBS News, among others. Her writing has appeared in a number of online and print publications and she is also a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.
Jennifer has covered stories ranging from the Iraqi refugee crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to climate change. As a producer for the acclaimed television and radio program Democracy Now!, Jennifer was able to put her technical and creative skills to use to deliver breaking news stories for a daily show. An accomplished shooter and editor, Jennifer has established herself as a one-woman band to produce timely news pieces on tight deadlines.
In 2006, she was one of the first journalists to highlight the extent of displaced Iraqis as a result of the war in Iraq. Her reports aired on ABC World News Tonight, France 24, Democracy Now! and Current TV. In 2008, she launched Iraqi Refugee Stories, which received praise and coverage from numerous publications and organizations, including Mother Jones, The Utne Reader, and UNCHR.
Her experience with Iraqi refugees inspired her to direct a documentary film, From Baghdad to Brooklyn, which follows the life of a gay Iraqi refugee and his struggle to escape exile in Syria and gain asylum in the U.S. Currently in post-production, the film is fiscally sponsored by Women Make Movies and has received press from GRITtv, Alternet, IndieWire and the New York Press.
Other film credits include Supervising Producer and Director of Photography on the feature documentary, American Radical, which explores the controversial career of the Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein. She also produced and edited a feature documentary about the academic program 1CSemester at Sea, 1D which documented the townships of South Africa, life in Castro 19s Cuba, and the Movement for Landless People in Brazil.
Jennifer has worked in nearly 40 countries; most recently on assignment in Egypt, Bolivia and Israel/Palestine, where she produced short video documentaries on humanitarian issues for IRIN (a project of UN-OCHA). Previously, she spent a year in India teaching members of a women's empowerment organization to produce outreach videos.
In addition to her videojournalism work, Jennifer works as a freelance graphic designer and Flash programmer.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Pictures/Snapshots:
My Films:
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Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 3mins -
Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 3mins -
Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 2mins -
Iraqi Refugee StoriesDocumentary, 8mins -
Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 4mins -
Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 2mins -
Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 2mins -
Iraqi Refugee Stories:...Documentary, 1min
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