Category Archives: WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Photos: A look at International Women’s Day marches around the world

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

A photo essay by Dayana Morales Gomez for the Public Broadcasting Service

On International Women’s Day, women around the world celebrated by marching in more than 50 countries, taking off from work to make clear what “A Day Without A Woman” would look like and wearing red in solidarity. In New York, a bronze statue of a girl was installed to stare down the iconic Wall Street Bull over gender inequality.

The day was first observed in 1908 in New York City, where women marched for suffrage and workplace improvements. After several years of continuous demonstrations across the U.S. and Europe, March 8 was officially designated as International Women’s Day. The date is significant because it was the day a women’s march in Pretograd, Russia led to the start of the Russian Revolution.

This year, the United Nations used the day to shine a light on the 2030 Agenda, an ambitious plan to ensure girls and boys have equal access to education, that discrimination and violence against women are halted, and that forced marriage and female genital mutilation end.

Below, see photos of International Women’s Day demonstrations from around the world [click on photos to enlarge].



A woman holds a placard during a rally on March 8, 2017 for gender equality and against violence towards women on International Women’s Day in Kiev, Ukraine. Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters.


Bangladeshi activists and garment workers attend a rally on March 8, outside National Press Club during International Women’s Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo by Zakir Chowdhury/Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)


Thousands of demonstrators attend a rally for International Women’s Day on March 8 in Melbourne, Australia. Marchers were calling for de-colonisation of Australia, an end to racism, economic justice for all women and reproductive justice, as well as supporting the struggle for the liberation of all women around the world, inclusive of trans women and sex workers. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images


Nigerian women gather on March 8 to protest violation and sexual abuse against women during the World International Women’s Day in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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Costumed women shout slogans during a march on March 8 as part of International Women’s Day in Kiev. Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images


Georgian feminist supporters attend a rally on March 8 to mark the International Women’s Day in front of the Georgian parliament in central Tbilisi. Photo by Vano Shlamov/AFP/Getty Images


Palestinian women take part in a demonstration on March 8 to protest against sexual discrimination during the International Women’s Day in front of the unknown soldier’s monument in Gaza City, Gaza. Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images


A man and his dog walk past the sculpture of a woman covered in paper and ropes as part of a performance to protest the lack of visibility of women in public spaces, on March 8, International Women’s Day in Oviedo, Spain. The covered statue is “La Pensadora” (The female Thinker) by Spanish artist Jose Luis Fernandez. Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters.


A statue of a defiant girl stands facing the Charging Bull sculpture in the Financial District of New York on March 8. State Street Global Advisors, a nearly $2.5 trillion investor and unit within State Street Corp., installed the bronze statue in front of Wall Street’s iconic charging bull as part of its new campaign to pressure companies to add more women to their boards. Photo by Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

global, Uncategorized, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Iceland Will Be First to Require Proof of Equal Pay

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Vala Hafstad in Iceland Review

Iceland will become the first country in the world to require companies to prove they pay all employees the same, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and nationality, the country’s government announced yesterday, on International Women’s Day, the StarTribune reports. The story, originally from the Associated Press, has been covered by numerous foreign media.

The government stated it would introduce a bill in parliament this month that will obligate every company with 25 or more employees to obtain a certificate proving they provide equal pay for work of equal value. While equal-salary certificate policies exist in other countries, Iceland is believed to be the first country planning to make it mandatory for both public and private companies.

The plan is to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022. Minister of Social Affairs and Equality Þorsteinn Víglundsson said, “the time is right to do something radical about this issue.”

He continued, “Equal rights are human rights. We need to make sure that men and women enjoy equal opportunity in the workplace. It is our responsibility to take every measure to achieve that.”

The World Economic Forum has ranked Iceland the best country in the world for gender equality, but Icelandic women still earn between 7 and 18 percent less than men, according to the Center for Gender Equality [Jafnréttisstofa] in Iceland.

Thousands of Icelandic women all over Iceland walked out of their workplaces at 2:38 pm on October 24 last year to protest the gender pay gap. The timing, 2:38 pm, was no coincidence. Compared to men’s earnings, organizers of the event estimated that women work without pay after that hour every day.

Question for this article
Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Nonviolent Peaceforce in South Sudan: The extremes of the human spirit

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Mel Duncan of Nonviolent Peaceforce

I have just returned from South Sudan. I am heartbroken and inspired. Adequate adjectives escape me. In such extremes, words can lose their meaning. How easily terms like famine, gender based violence, internally displaced, etc. can become abstractions even for the most compassionate of us. I was overwhelmed with anger as I stood with people in the dust, heat, and destruction while armed men lurked close by.


Yet, even in those conditions, I saw glimmers of resilience forming into action. For example, I sat in a hot, dark hut with 100 women, most of whom are rape survivors, as they talked about preventing children from becoming soldiers, intervening when violence flares and organizing rallies to bring opposing clans together. They told me about transporting a rape survivor in a wheelbarrow to a medical clinic. Even with limited resources, these women tirelessly work to protect themselves and others. They want a voice at the peace talks! Seldom have I felt such energy and spirit!

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

Can peace be achieved in South Sudan?

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NP’s teams are training and supporting these women peacekeepers ̶ close to a thousand at work in five locations. Regardless of how bleak the prognosis, we will align with those who without particular power or skill are nonviolently changing the world. The lead article in Sunday’s New York Times, War Consumes South Sudan, a Young Nation Cracking Apart illustrates the horror in places like Bentiu ̶ where we have a team of 21 civilian protectors. Amid the Times’ stories of murder, starvation and gang rape they neglect to tell about these remarkable women who have stepped through the brutality and are working to protect themselves and others. These women not only represent a personal resilience but more importantly, they embody the deepest strength of the human spirit.

    “My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
    so much has been destroyed
    I have to cast my lot with those
    who age after age, perversely,
    with no extraordinary power,
    reconstitute the world.”

    ― Adrienne Rich

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

A Tribute to Woman Peacemaker Joan Bernstein

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Sherry Zitter for Nonviolent Peaceforce

Joan Bernstein — advocate, activist, peacemaker and passionate organizer — was sadly struck with Multiple System Atrophy (a Parkinson-like disease) several years ago that cut short her life’s work of bringing peace to our nation and the world through Nonviolent Peaceforce. Joan died December 19, 2016 at 65 years old.


Joan was the heart and soul of the U.S. and Canadian chapters of NP for many years. She helped organize the founding conference for NP, and later the annual conference of North American chapters. She provided us with vision, inspiration, resources, skills — and the endless belief that we could rise to any challenge. In fact, one of her greatest skills was making us believe that her pet project was our own idea and at the top of our priority list!

I first met Joan when the Boston chapter of NP was in its childhood. We had coalesced around Elise Boulding‘s well-known workshop: “Imaging a World Without War,” which Elise suggested we change to “Imaging a World with Nonviolent Peaceforce Instead of War.” Firmly believing that a society cannot reach a goal until we have a clear vision of it, Elise, at 85, trained several of us to run her workshop under NP’s auspices.

Then Joan came along with a vision of her own: a community training model that would teach ordinary US citizens basic conflict resolution skills while they learned about NP’s work and became inspired to support it. Joan was not a trainer, and asked for volunteer trainers to help write the manual and run pilot workshops. I started out telling her I didn’t have time for this project and ended up spending more hours on it than any other over the next several years!

Joan’s vision of a self-duplicating model of trainings in the US to build support for global NP was smart, and it worked in many ways. Lack of consistent volunteer time and budget constraints slowed the progress of the trainings, but many hundreds of new adherents to NP bought Peace Bonds, contributed regularly, and were able to solve neighborhood or family conflicts better than before. Joan wholeheartedly gave technical and emotional / spiritual support to our cadre of trainers in a consistent and deeply devoted manner.

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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Her vision of the Listening Project, where inner city voices were amplified by NP volunteers, was another example of Joan’s endless creativity — and how she got volunteers in many cities around the US to join her on this effort.

Joan’s life and peacework may have been cruelly shortened, but we all can carry it on!

I will long remember what she taught me, and will always miss her.

Joan’s Song

CHORUS:
A Woman of Peace, a fighter for change,
A powerful mind with a limitless range,
Holding a vision of the way things could be,
Joan, you leave us a rich legacy.

1. You could have used your brains toward money and power,
Instead you helped justice and equity flower…
Devoted your life to nonviolence and peace,
Our respect for you will never cease! (Chorus)

2. Your dedication to what’s right and true,
Was matched only by Don’s dedication to you,
With no words to guide him, through fatigue and despair,
So loving was his tender care! (Chorus)

3. Delegating to others was your asset so strong —
We thought the idea had been ours all along!
You brought out our best, ‘though I never knew how —
Bet you’ve organized Heaven by now! (Chorus)

4. Your last years were fraught with a sorrow so deep,
Your vital life’s vision you could not complete,
That damn illness silenced the fine work you do,
Now we all must carry on for you! (Chorus)

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

USA: “Day without a woman”

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

Compiled by CPNN from various media as indicated

In the United States, millions of women took part in a “Day without a woman” to mark International Women’s Day, March 8. It was organized by means of social media in the same way as the women’s demonstrations January 21 in which over 2 million protested the policies of the newly inaugurated President Trump.


Members of Congress, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., walk down the steps of the U.S. Capitol to observe “A Day Without a Woman” on Wednesday. Speakers discussed the importance of female workers to the economy and renewed a commitment to women’s equality and rights. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

Here’s how it was portrayed on the website of the January women’s marches: “In the same spirit of love and liberation that inspired the Women’s March, we join together in making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, recognizing the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system–while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity. We recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression and political targeting. We believe in gender justice. Anyone, anywhere, can join by making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, in one or all of the following ways:

* Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor

* Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small, women- and minority-owned businesses).

* Wear RED in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman”

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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We have not found any way to measure how many women stayed away from work or to what extent their refusal to shop led to decreased sales, but there were many descriptions of the day in the mass media.

It was reported by United Press International that “schools in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Alexandria, Va., closed for the day because so many teachers opted to stay home. In Rhode Island, a municipal court was forced to close because several clerks and an administrator took the day off.” They also carried the above photo of Congress members leaving the capitol to mark the event.

The website Deadline described actions at a number of media networks, including NBC, Netflix, A&E, Fusion TV and MTV, with the latter turning the “M” upside down on its logo to read “W”.

The website Hollywood Reporter described special editions and other actions by women’s publications, including Teen Vogue, Glamour, Jezebel, Who What Wear, Elle, The Cut (New York Magazine) and Marie Claire.

Adweek described how the following advertising agencies marked the day: 360i, Brand Union, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, Huge, Ogilvy, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Heat, David&Goliath, Zambezi, ustwo, Eleven and SS+K.

The website Eater described actions at many restaurants, including some that closed completely to mark the day. They compared the results to those of the Day without immigrants on February 16 in which many immigrants stayed away from work in order to show their crucial importance for the American economy.

Several sources collected excerpts from social media to show how women throughout the country took part in actions to mark the day. These included the Huffington Post, Vocativ, Daily Caller, and Mother Jones . Gossipcop , Elle, and Indie Wire feaureed social media messages by celebrities.

North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

ICC: Meet the justice activists breaking the mold

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (abbreviated)

This International Women’s Day – 8 March 2017 – we join the UN in calling for gender balance in the work force. To provide just that inspiration we are celebrating the women leading the fight for global justice for the worst crimes. Be brave when you find gender perspectives are missing: countless of our civil society representatives from around the world have dared to break the mold – so can you. Read their stories and be inspired.


Photos of the 8 women described below in order upper left to lower right
(click on photo to enlarge)

Adriana Maria Benjumea Rúa, Director – Corporación Humanas Colombia

Adriana Maria Benjumea Rúa is a lawyer, researcher and feminist whose work with Humanas, including on the issue of gender and political influence, has led to the organization becoming a leading advocate of inclusive perspectives in the Colombian peace process.

Adriana is the director of Corporación Humanas Colombia. As a lawyer, researcher and feminist working on the issue of gender and political influence, Adriana’s work includes the important work of monitoring public policies around care for victims and ensuring that they are not implemented without a gender perspective.

Adriana’s extensive socio-legal research on gender justice and violence against women in armed conflicts as well as her strategic litigation work in cases of sexual violence in transitional justice frameworks have contributed to the leading role of Humanas among civil society engaging in the Colombia peace talks. . .

Nancy Lopez – Lawyer – Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos

Together with a team of committed men and women from the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, as well as victims and their families, Nancy Lopez confronts issues of justice denied in Mexico, exploring possibilities for international justice before mechanisms like the ICC.

With the Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, Nancy plays a critical role within Mexican civil society by bringing into focus the country’s need for the global fight against impunity – to ensure the non-repetition of international crimes like enforced displacement, enforced disappearance, torture, executions and sexual crimes in the country; but also to lay groundwork for solutions to many of Mexico’s social issues.

With the Comisión Mexicana coordinating Mexican civil society activities around the ICC, Nancy advocates for the Mexican government to honor its commitment to ensure that international justice is respected and enforced, and that the state abides by its obligations as an ICC member state. Such advocacy has included pushing Mexico to implement the Rome Statute, including its pivotal state cooperation provisions. . .

Rebecca Lozada – National Coordinator – Philippine National Coalition for the ICC

A year after Rebecca Lozada took the helm of the Philippines National Coalition for the ICC, the Philippines became the 117th ICC member state. Setting an example for the majority of states in Southeast Asia, with Rebecca’s coordination Philippines civil society has been mobilizing to ensure a framework is in place to deliver those who commit the most egregious international crimes to justice.

Under Rebecca’s leadership, the Philippines national Coalition for the ICC (PCICC) has been working to ensure individual perpetrators of the most heinous crimes – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity – are brought to justice. In 2010, one year after Rebecca took up the position of National Coordinator of the PCICC, the Philippines government ratified the Rome Statute to become the 117th ICC member state. . .

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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Brigitte Chelebian – Executive Director – Justice Without Frontiers

Brigitte Chelebian is an Attorney at Law and the Executive Director/Founder of the organization Justice Without Frontiers (JWF), which works towards the advancement of international criminal justice– the first organization of its kind in Lebanon. In a part of the world with little support for the Rome Statute system, JWF campaigns for the ratification and implementation of the Statute within national laws, including promotion of the rights of women who are victims of armed conflict and sexual violence.

As Founder of Justicie Without Frontiers, Brigitte has led pioneering work in Lebanon and the wider Middle East to promote the rights of atrocity victims, including women and children affected by sexual violence in conflict, build stronger national and regional institutions to protect against these crimes, and create access to legal support for victims. . . .

Tetiana Pechonchyk – Chairperson – Human Rights Information Center

Tetiana Pechonchyk is a leading advocate for international justice in her home country, Ukraine, where her and her organization’s first-of-its-kind work from 2014-2016 documenting crimes in both occupied and government-controlled territories continue to make the global fight against impunity a reality in Ukraine.

As Chairperson of the Human Rights Information Centre (HRIC), Tetiana conducts one-of-a-kind work to raise awareness and seek justice for victims throughout Ukraine’s conflict-affected areas. Despite political challenges to her organization’s work, Tetiana and HRIC continue to fight for justice both on occupied and government-controlled territories of Ukraine. . . .

Brigid Inder – Executive Director – Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice

. . .Brigid Inder, OBE, is the Executive Director of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ). Among her many efforts with the Women’s Initiatives, Brigid’s influential advocacy with the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2004 has been applauded for helping to establish the investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes as a substantive priority within the work of the OTP.

As the Prosecutor’s Special Advisor on Gender from 2012-2016, Brigid co-wrote the Policy on Sexual and Gender-based Crimes with the Office of the Prosecutor, the first such policy developed by an international court or tribunal. Through WIGJ’s advocacy on the ICC’s substantive work, along with its focus on the integration of women within legal proceedings as well as the institutional development of the ICC with respect to gender and geographical diversity amongst elected officials and senior managers, Brigid supports the ICC in becoming an institution capable of delivering on its mandate and ensuring women and gender issues are included within the Court’s structures and its justice outcomes. . .

Mama Koité Doumbia – President – Malian National Coalition for the ICC and Board Member – Trust Fund for Victims

Mama Koité Doumbia has made an impressive career in promoting women’s rights and gender-justice related issues. She continues to fight tirelessly in multiple capacities to reinforce women’s access to justice and empowerment within her home country of Mali, across the African continent and in many supranational organizations.

Among her many roles and experiences, Mama Koité is well known nationally and internationally as a union leader, teacher and determined activist in finding ways to reinforce the capacities of women’s NGOs. She fights passionately against social injustice and violence. Mama Koité has worked with the Women’s Coordination of Mali, and she was President of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2003 to 2010. From 2005-2014 she also chaired the Gender and Related Issues Cluster and vice-chaired the Economic and Social Council of the African Union. Mama Koité also worked as a member of the Réseau Paix et Sécurité de l’Espace CEDEAO/Mali. She is a founding member of the Réseau Mondial Francophone Egalité Femmes Hommes.

Urantsooj Gombosuren – Chairperson – Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

As chairperson for FORUM-ASIA, Urantsooj works towards the strengthening of human rights and gender-equality in Asia.

Based in Bangkok, Thailand, FORUM-ASIA has worked alongside human rights defenders and other civil society organizations in Asia for over 25 years promoting and protecting human rights in the region. FORUM-ASIA works to enable a sustainable environment of peace, justice, and gender-equality based on collaboration, advocacy, and cooperation. They conduct their work throughout Asia and across the globe. . .

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

CSW at UN: Supporting People’s Actions to Empower Women at the Margins

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An announcement by the International Institute for Peace Education

Pasos Peace Museum and the International Institute on Peace Education invite you to join in a participatory, action-planning program to build solidarity with women’s movements to claim rights proclaimed by the world community in international human rights instruments, yet denied or ignored by national governments. Among the relevant rights instruments are: UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, all of which have the potential to empower citizens to advance their full participation in striving toward a just and peaceful world. Within the context of the potential of law and international standards the symposium will comprise action-planning discussions based on women’s experience with self-empowerment campaigns.


Click on the image to enlarge

Women’s international efforts toward the implementation of UNSCR 1325 through civil society initiatives at the local and regional levels in Africa and Asia will be introduced by Mavic Cabrera-Balleza of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders and Asha Hans of Sanristi, India. National campaigns to assert the civil and political rights of Native Americans and African Americans will be introduced by Betty Lyons of the American Indian Law Alliance and Farah Tanisof Black Women’s Blue Print.

As the conclusion of our action planning discussions law students will reflect on how their future professional endeavors might enhance gender justice, social equity and political equality using law and international standards as practical and strategic instruments of justice.

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Question for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

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Please consider reviewing these legal instruments and important background documents in preparation for your participation.

* UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security

* the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

* the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Book Party

You are also cordially invited to a celebration of the publication of Openings for Peace: UNSCR 1325, Women and Security in India, Edited by Asha Hans and Swarna Rajagopalan. A presentation of the book will be made by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury and Asha Hans.

The book party will begin at approximately 4:15pm and conclude at 5:30pm.

RSVP Required: Please RSVP for the book party using the registration form below.

Register / RSVP
Registration for this year’s event is $20. Registration fee covers lunch and the post-event book celebration and reception.

A two-step registration is required.

1) Please complete the registration form for each individual who will attend.

2) After registering please submit your registration fee using the PayPal button below. (Your registration fee will be paid to Pasos Peace Museum)

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

UN Commission on the Status of Women – 2017

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

A press release from UN Women (abbreviated)

The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session.


Click on the image to enlarge

Download the CSW61 Brochure for more information:
Arabic | English | French | Spanish

Themes

Priority theme: Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work

Review theme: Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls (agreed conclusions of the fifty-eighth session)

Emerging issue/Focus area:The empowerment of indigenous women

Preparations

Regional CSW61 Preparatory and Consultative Meetings

Multi-Stakeholder Forum On 30 January 2017, UN Women convened a forum to engage a range of stakeholders in the preparations for CSW61 at UN Headquarters in New York.

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(Click here for a Spanish version of this article or here for a French version)

Question for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

(continued from left column)

Expert Group Meeting: In preparation for the sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women convened an Expert Group Meeting on the priority theme: “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work.” The Expert Group Meeting was held with the technical contribution and support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) at ILO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 to 28 September 2016.

Organization of the session

The Commission’s two-week session includes the following activities: Organization of work

Agreed conclusions

The outcome of the Commission’s consideration of the priority theme takes the form of agreed conclusions, negotiated by all States: Draft agreed conclusions

Official Documents

Official documents for the session

NGO Participation

Modalities of NGO participation

Eligibility

Registration

Opportunities for NGOs to address the Commission

Side events

Information about side events and activities organized outside the formal programme of the session

More information regarding the 61st session (2017) of the Commission on the Status of Women to be uploaded as it becomes available.

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Women Unite for Global Action on Peacebuilding: The Women’s International “Peace Meet” (Jalgaon, India)

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Anne M Pearson published in December 2016 Newsletter of Women’s Peace Brigade International (Mahila Shanti Sena)

From October 2 to October 13 2016, I had the privilege of participating in a gathering of 41 women from 24 countries, along with over 150 Indian women at the impressive location of the recently built Gandhi Peace Research Centre in the Jain Hills, near Jalgaon, Maharashtra. We were invited by the organization Ekta Parishad, a Gandhian-inspired NGO who have worked with India’s landless and poorest of the poor for almost three decades. Toronto-raised but long-standing Indian resident and Hindi-speaking Jill Carr-Harris was the chief organizer who welcomed us and set the theme for the meeting.


(Click on photo to enlarge)

It was an extraordinary opportunity to meet and learn from women of diverse ages, education and cultural backgrounds, each dedicated to promoting peace and social justice in her own home country. At the gathering, fifty “peace champions” from localities throughout India were honoured for their courageous and tireless work for their communities. Key questions addressed throughout the four days of plenary sessions and workshops were: How do women cope with the deep injustices and violence they encounter in their everyday lives? And, what nonviolent strategies have worked to address those injustices?

There was a remarkable consistency in the stories we heard from such disparate countries as Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, Kampuchea, Philippines, and Nepal and of course India. But even from the so-called “North”, women from Spain, Sweden, the US, Canada, Germany, and Azerbaijan confirmed the prevalence of (systemic and reactionary) violence, mistrust, and fear being allowed to flourish through forces of division and disintegration. At the same time, we also heard positive stories, from all the women, of the forces of integration and community building, and specific forms of nonviolent activism that is taking place. Thus, what we heard and learned evoked both feelings of deep sadness and outrage on the one hand, and admiration and hope on the other.

Following the Jalgaon meeting, most of the international women and a group of Indian women and men, pre-divided into five subgroups, left Maharashtra by train and went to different areas of Madhya Pradesh to begin four days of visits to Dalit and Adivasi villages whose populace had been working with Ekta Parishad. My group went to Gwalior to begin with, and after an overnight stay and meetings with journalists, Gandhian activists and academics, we proceeded to visit villages in the Chambal and Shivpuri Districts. While this short article cannot begin to capture all that I learned, I share a few highlights, including these facts: 50 million people in India have no land
title and can be evicted at any time for any reason; there are many “pro-poor” policies and pieces of legislation in India, but they don’t tend to be implemented—not without sustained pressure from the people. “Pro-rich” policies are implemented.

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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In each village we met with women (who warmly greeted us with hand-made malas), and heard their concerns, challenges and successes in overcoming barriers. All of the villages were composed of Sahariya Adivasis, considered by many Indians, we were told, as the “lowest of the low”. In Chambal district the main problems identified were conflicts with the National Forestry Department over land use, food and water security, conflict over resources, and violence against women, including the kidnapping of girls (for ransom or sometimes as wives for boys, due to big gender gap in this region).

In India, we were told, women are not recognized as farmers; men are farmers because they are the recognized “owners” of the land, even while women work the land at least as much as men do. This practice is starting to change as land is being registered in both the names of the wife and the husband as villagers begin to receive, after years of agitation, their certificates of land ownership.

In one village, we heard that 15-20 years ago the villagers collected firewood from the forest and took it to Gwalior to sell. Prior to 30 years ago families had occupied the “forest land”. They had cleared some of the land of shrubs to plant seasonal food crops, but forestry officials would come and destroy their crops or otherwise harass them, for example, by spreading seeds of the large thorn bushes called “bulbul’ (the removal of which was dangerous). Then, some 20 years ago, they met Ekta Parishad workers and were inspired to form a grameen bank to pool their resources and they filed claims for rights to forest land. Three or four times their claims were rejected at the sub-divisional and district levels. Villages were united and had the funds for collective action—to engage in marches and regular follow-up with the officials. They filed claims for 72 families; now 35 have received certificates of land ownership for a total of 132 acres of land. Nowthey can grow enough food to feed their families.

Lee McKenna, from Toronto, who was in another group, shared a description from talking with a woman leader in the village of Tulgat (Budelkhand district): The villagers had been having conflict with Forest Department and the women were fed up and gathered in a large group in front of the Forest Department office. The police came. They asked the women: Who is your leader? They replied: “We are
500 leaders. Bring 50 trucks and be ready to take us all, including the mice of the fields!” The police asked the women: “Who gave you permission (to gather like this)?” They replied: “We took the permission of our hunger!” The police tried to take the men away, loading them up in trucks from the back. The women yanked the men out from the front. “We made chapatis and brought them to the men.” The police said “these women are so troublesome!”

Clearly, women (and social-justice-seeking men) need to be “troublesome” if we are
to advance towards a culture of peace that so many of us yearn for. Gandhi’s voice was ever in the background of our conversations: “Nonviolence must express itself through the acts of selfless service of the masses”, and “If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with women.”
Plans are underway for future gatherings of international women in 2017 and beyond.

South Asia, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

UN Women: 16 days of activism against gender violence

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from UN Women

From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world. The international campaign originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991.

In 2016, the UNiTE campaign strongly emphasizes the need for sustainable financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls towards the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
One of the major challenges to efforts to prevent and end violence against women and girls worldwide is the substantial funding shortfall. As a result, resources for initiatives to prevent and end violence against women and girls are severely lacking. Frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes a specific target on ending violence against women and girls, offer huge promise, but must be adequately funded in order to bring real and significant changes in the lives of women and girls.

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(Click here for a Spanish version of this article or here for a version in French.)

Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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To bring this issue to the fore, the UN Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women’s call for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in 2016 is ‘Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls’. The initiative provides a moment to bring the issue of sustainable financing for initiatives to prevent and end violence against women to global prominence and also presents the opportunity for resource mobilization for the issue.

Join us!

Share your photos, messages and videos showing how you orange the world at facebook.com/SayNO.UNiTE and twitter.com/SayNO_UNiTE using #orangetheworld and #16days. For more information about “Orange the world,” see this year’s Call to Action and download the fundraising toolkit. For more information about Orange Day, please contact Anna Alaszewski, UNiTE Campaign Coordinator,  anna.alaszewski[at]unwomen.org

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article)

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,