Source: Womens Enews
"Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai" is broadcast tonight on PBS. Here, Lisa Merton looks back on making the film in Kenya and struggling to capture the sense of divinity and hope projected by the recently deceased Nobel laureate.
It was a photograph that shocked the world - an Egyptian military policeman beating a protester in a hijab with sticks and dragging her along the street so that her clothes were torn open. It seemed to symbolise the vulnerability of women in a society that has changed little since last year's revolution.
Source: Voice of America
“A growing body of evidence ... shows how women around the world contribute to making and keeping peace."The Administration of President Barack Obama believes that women are crucial to ending conflict and building lasting security. “A growing body of evidence ... shows how women around the world contribute to making and keeping peace, and that these contributions lead to better outcomes for entire societies,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
"We have enough anecdotal evidence and research that demonstrates women in peacekeeping is both the right thing to do and the smart thing, as well. It’s right, because, after all, women are affected by conflict; they deserve to participate in the decisions that shape their own lives. And it’s the smart thing because we have seen again and again that women participating in these processes builds more durable peace.”
Hundreds of peace treaties have been signed in the past 20 or so years, but a sampling of those treaties shows only three percent of the signatories were women. So President Obama recently launched the first-ever U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security which will accelerate and institutionalize efforts across the United States Government to advance women’s participation in making and keeping peace.
Studies suggest that countries where women are safe and valued by society are more likely to be peaceful. So the United States will invest in early warning systems that incorporate gender analysis and monitor increases in violence and discrimination against women. We will also invest in women and girls’ health, education and economic opportunities to create conditions for stable societies and lasting peace.
We will use diplomatic pressure to push for new laws, policies, and practices that promote and strengthen women’s rights and effective leadership and substantive participation. We will also ensure that relief and recovery efforts address the distinct needs of women and girls so they can help stabilize their conflict-scarred countries.
In order to better enable women’s participation, we believe they should be safe and protected from harm, exploitation, discrimination, and abuse. So we will work with partners to crack down on rape as a tactic of war, hold perpetrators of violence accountable, support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
“Whether it’s ending conflict, managing a transition, or rebuilding a country, the world cannot afford to continue ignoring half the population,” said Secretary Clinton. “Not only can we do better; we have to do better, and now we have a path forward as to how we will do better.”
Source: The Saudite Gazette
The rights of women in general and wives are specifically stated clearly in the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), which makes it crystal clear that women’s rights in Islam are well documented and protected.
There have been jillions of atrocities against women all over the world, many much worse than what happened to the young Egyptian woman who was beaten, stomped on and nearly stripped by the military during a recent demon-stration. Aside from the sheer brutality, what stood out was that she was wearing this gorgeous, sexy, bright blue bra. Under her abaya.
Source: Nairobi Star
GENDER parity in the education sector was better realised last year in Nyanza.
Source: Daily Press
On the second day of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Technical Meeting for the Women Panel, the major items on the programme were: Presentation and Discussions on the Draft IDB Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan (2012 - 2015) and an abridged workshop for Panel members.
Source: DailyTrust
A women group, Proactive Gender Initiatives, yesterday called on the federal government to fight corruption first before removing fuel subsidy.
“The goal for more women in politics is not fewer men in politics but a more equitable society.” This is a popular statement of the United Nations Development Programme which clearly reaffirms abhorrence at the international level for the lingering culture of gender disparity in the structures of power at the national and local levels.
Ethiopia's new plan to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015 cannot be attained unless men are more meaningfully involved in reproductive health, experts say.
The ANC Women's league is deeply disturbed and disgusted by the actions of some men at the Noord Street taxi rank.
Source: The Hearld
CASES of female rapists that had stopped in the wake of the arrest of three suspects in Gweru last year have resurfaced amid reports that two men were sexually abused over the festive period.
Source: Leadership
Widows in Nigeria are in the category of the unheard and the forgotten as they are not part of national discourse. GABRIEL EWEPU examines the predicament of this category of vulnerable women and how the problem can be addressed.
The August 2012 elections in Kenya will open doors to massive political participation by women for the first time ever.
Two months ago I sat for my first year final exams at the Open University of Sri Lanka. Last month’s edition of the Hi Magazine showcased 3 pages of clothes from designer K.T Brown – modelled by me. And in December, I will be on Art TV – as a contestant for the Super Model of Asia Pacific 2011. I suffer from no grandiose illusions about myself.
Source: IPS Gender Wire
Under a new gender quota law introduced in Mauritius, at least one-third of the candidates in local elections must be women. But the adoption of a national quota is not yet on the horizon, even though just 18 percent of legislators are women and there are only two female cabinet ministers.
Source: The Daily Observer
The campaign to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has taken roots in The Gambia through raising awareness and building consciousness amongst the people. The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices affecting the health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) has recently completed a series of training and information campaign activities held in Janjangbureh, Sami Karantaba Tabokoto and Chamen Nainija, all in the Central River Region north.
The teeming Zam Zam camp in North Darfur is home to 200,000 refugees fleeing the civil war in Sudan. Women in the camps cook over open fires and then walk for miles through dust and desolation to search for firewood, often finding only a single tree to chop down.
Source: IPS
Under a new gender quota law introduced in Mauritius, at least one-third of the candidates in local elections must be women. But the adoption of a national quota is not yet on the horizon, even though just 18 percent of legislators are women and there are only two female cabinet ministers.
Source: Daily Nation
Two girls have committed suicide in separate incidents after receiving their KCPE exam results.