Economic Empowerment

Source: UN WOMEN
Date: 22 February - 4 March
Location: United States, New York
The fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 22 February to 4 March 2011. Representatives from Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the session. There will be a number of activities, including interactive dialogues and panels, during the two-week session.

This following highlights key focus areas of CSW 2011.

• Priority Theme: Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work
• Review Theme: The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child
• Emerging Issue: Gender equality and sustainable development

To find more about the 55th session of the CSW, please click here

Source: WomenWatch
Date: 17 January - 4 February
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland, until 4 February 2011
Host / Sponsor: UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold its 48th session 17 January - 4 February 2011

Please Click here for details and country reports

Source: World Health Organisation
Date: 6th of February
Location: Worldwide
The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is observed each year to raise awareness about this practice. Female genital mutilation of any type has been recognized as a harmful practice and violation of the human rights of girls and women. WHO is committed to the elimination of female genital mutilation within a generation and is focusing on advocacy, research and guidance for health professionals and health systems.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Female genital mutilation has no known health benefits. On the contrary, it is associated with a series of short and long-term risks to both physical, mental and sexual health and well-being.

FGM is affecting about 140 million girls and women, and more than 3 million girls are at risk every year. A special focus for WHO this year, is the troubling trend of health-care providers increasingly being the ones performing female genital mutilation, and thereby contributing to legitimize and maintain the practice.

Date: September 23, 2011 - September 25, 2011,
Location: City Hall, Lund, Sweden
The Horn of African conferences have since its inception focused on issues related to peace, security and development. So far, none of the conferences has yet had an explicit focus on the linkages between gender, peace and development. This time the focus of the conference is set on these linkages. We know that the violence has had disproportionate effects on the lives of women. Often as targets of extreme forms of violence, women in the Horn of Africa experience the full impact of violent conflict in the region as civilians and combatants, but are generally excluded from the decision-making processes that ignite wars or put an end to hostilities.

In a joint effort between United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Club de Madrid to promote women’s leadership for peace and security in the Greater Horn of Africa, they described the situation for women in the region:

“Priority is rarely given to developing women’s individual and collective capacity to address these conflicts and to build stable, peaceful and democratic institutions in the Horn of Africa. Women generally remain absent from policy dialogue with government on critical issues for peace and security that have fundamental gender dimensions and implications for sustainable stability. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) was adopted in 2000 for the empowerment of women as peace builders in conflict and post conflict settings, yet most of its commitments have not been implemented.”

Women are important agents for creating stability in the lives of their families and  to promote reconciliation and peace even under very difficult and traumatic situations. However, women's peace building potential have had no significant  impact on policies and decision relating to conflicts because of their absence from the decision making processes and bodies in the region.

The conference aims at raising awareness about the importance of implementation of these resolutions in the Horn of Africa, especially in countries emerging from conflict. The rational behind the conference is to give attention to the situation for women and their concern over peace and development, and to strengthen their role in the promotion of peace and development in the Horn of Africa.

The objective of the conference is to:

• Raise awareness of women’s needs and situation in the Horn of Africa.

• Raise awareness of Horn of African governments' social service expenditures.

• Raise awareness of UNSCR 1325 and 1820 in a Horn of African context.

• Promote the inclusion of Horn of African women in the decision-making positions in their respective governments, as well as in regional and international organizations.

• Promote women's memberships in governmental decision-making institutions.

• Promote the participation of Horn of African women in conflict prevention and resolution processes.

• Promote networking between Horn of African women peace organizations, and other stakeholders.

• Promote maintenance and protection of due process of law and constitutionalism in Horn of African countries

There are special invitations to political scientists, sociologists, historians, economists, practitioners, lawyers, civics, institutions, and policy-makers to conference as presenters. Your inputs and perspectives bring vital insights into peaceful solutions to women’s issues in the Horn of Africa. 

For more information please contact:

Abdillahi Jama, Conference Coordinator
Somalia International Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC)
BOX 974, 
220 09 Lund, Sweden, 
Tel/fax: +46 46-2114502, 
Mobil: +4673-989 75 33, 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., http://www.sirclund.se

Former Ambassador to UN, Count Pietersen, 
Conference Co-Coordinator
Somalia International Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC)
BOX 974
220 09 Lund, Sweden
Tel: +46 46-2115269
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.sirclund.se