Category Archives: WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Argentina: Massive march against gender violence in front of the Congress

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Diario La Prensa (translated by CPNN)

The petition circulated within the #NiUnaMenos march against femicide called for “comprehensive” implementation of the law against Gender Violence, enacted in 2009 and regulated a year later. Thousands of people marched today [03.06.2015] in the main cities of the country against the femicide that has taken the life of 277 women and girls in 2014. The main march took place in front of the National Congress where protesters demanded the implementation of the law against gender violence.

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The march in the city of Buenos Aires, led by women’s organizations and a group of actresses, journalists and activists who had made the call on social networking sites with the slogan #NiUnaMenos was also replicated in Uruguay, Chile and Miami.

At he ceremony in the Plaza de los Dos Congresos the noted cartoonist Maitena Burundarena and the actors Juan Minujín and Erica Rivas read a document to be signed by legislators and politicians as a compromise in the implementation of actions to prevent violence gender and femicide. The text highlighted what is missing in the missing in the Law 26.485 against Gender Violence, enacted in 2009, including the establishment of a National Action Plan for the Prevention, Assistance and Eradication of violence against women.

“As it stands the law is insufficient to prevent an increase in gender violence,” said Minujín as part of the reading of the document. He demanded implement of the initiative “with all necessary resources and monitoring”.

Furthermore, they demanded that the victims’ access to justice be guaranteed, that prosecutors and police have staff “trained and qualified to receive complaints”, unification of the civil and criminal jurisdictions, and access by victims to free legal support throughout their process.

Another demand referred to the development of a single official record of victims of violence against women and femicide with official and updated information on statistics, because “only by measuring what happens can allow the design of effective public policies.”

They also requested the guarantee and improvement of comprehensive sex education at all educational levels, “to teach equality and freedom from discrimination and gender violence and to sensitize and train teachers and principals”.

“Ensuring the protection of victims of violence and implementation of electronic monitoring of offenders to ensure they do not violate restrictions, are other demands put forward.

In this context, the text emphasized that “the judiciary is not sufficiently helping victims” who should receive “the contribution of witnesses and evidence” and that the judiciary “does not sufficiently guarantee effective measures” to prevent gender violence.

(click here for the original article in Spanish)

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Question related to this article:

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

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“This is institutional violence,” said Minujín, and received applause from the protesters, just as when he said that “many victims have already made allegations”.

The text also referred to women victims of trafficking in persons “whose fate remains unknown. For them also we ask for justice”. There was also reference to the treatment of victims of gender violence in the media.

The event began with a video on gender violence and it included participation by survivors and relatives of victims, who had previously begun to focus on the area and tell their experiences to the media.

Among the posters were “No to violence against women”, “Stop femicide”, “Right to Life” and “For you, Iris, Marcela, killed by femicide”.

One participant said that “for us it is a great triumph of the women’s movement. The state leaves us completely alone” and urged that we unite “together to prevent violence and defend our rights.”

Among the participants were politicians, actors, actresses, activists, journalists, the Madres del Dolor and relatives of the Argentine teenager, Lola Chomnalez, who was murdered in Uruguay.

The mobilization surged on May 12 after the femocides of the pregnant adolescent, Chiara Paez, in the town of Santa Fe Rufino, whose body was found buried in the house of her boyfriend two days before the convening of the march, and the lawyer Gabriela Parra, who was murdered by her former partner in a candy store in the neighborhood of Caballito, on 3 March.

(Thank you to the Good News Agency for alerting us to this event.)

June 24, 2015Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITYLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

10 More Ways Syrian Women Are Building Peace and Democracy

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Kristin Williams for The Institute for Inclusive Security

What does bravery look like? What strength and character does it take to risk imprisonment, torture, and even death for the sake of a future you may not see?
I know what it looks like. I’ve witnessed it in Syrians of all ages, religions, and ethnicities. I’ve seen it in hundreds of simple and not-so-simple acts of defiance, retold to me matter-of-factly over tea. I marvel at it every time the women who travel from inside Syria to attend our trainings manage to laugh or smile, which is often. When they willingly return to their besieged country vowing to work even harder for peace, its presence overwhelms me.

Participants at a Syrian Women’s Peace initiative (Photo: Nada El-Kouny)

Syrian women have made the exceptional ordinary. The stories I’ve heard over the last few years are only a fraction (in case you missed it, here’s another 10 Ways Syrian Women Are Building Peace and Democracy), yet they epitomize what is possible in this “intractable” conflict.

So what does bravery look like? It looks like this.
Note: because of the security risks, all names and exact locations have been omitted.

1. Stopping child marriage

To cope with the economic devastation of war, many Syrian families are selling their teenage daughters into marriage. In one ISIS-controlled city—where foreign fighters, in particular, offer hefty dowries—an estimated two in ten girls are victims of this practice.

There, a group of female activists is going house to house to convince families that early marriage is damaging to girls’ physical and mental health. If ISIS finds out, they’ll execute the women. But the group uses this conservatism to their advantage—under the full-length abayas they’re forced to wear, the women are free to move through checkpoints without being identified. They’ve saved at least 50 young girls over the course of three months.

2. Uniting refugees and host communities

Four million Syrians have fled the country to seek safety in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. This influx, now going on four years, has understandably caused tensions between refugees and the communities that host them. It costs governments significant money to host large refugee populations, and Syrians may compete with locals for employment.

One group of female refugees in southern Turkey is trying to bridge the gaps between their Turkish and Syrian classmates at university. They’ve developed activities to help students recognize and discuss common areas of interest, such as literature and history. Another group is providing refugees with Turkish language training, the first step toward communicating across divides.

3. Policing the streets

By now, you’ve heard about the female Kurdish peshmerga fighters who are battling the Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq. But there are other women providing much-needed security and rule of law in one opposition-held city. Two years ago, 20 of them banded together to form an all-female police brigade. At first, the community shunned them; but now they’ve gained trust, respect, and even their own station.

They’ve proven particularly adept at working with female victims—especially of gender-based violence—who report crimes more often to the women’s brigade. Unlike policemen, they can enter conservative households when only women are present, providing families with critical services.

4. Listening to marginalized groups

Women in rural villages face a unique set of challenges. Their political, economic, social, and security needs may be different from those of women in large and small cities. Yet, because of their remote location, they are often overlooked.

Female activists in one region controlled by the al-Nusra Front organized a campaign to conduct a series of consultations with 10 villages in the neighboring mountains. They found out about many problems, including that al-Nusra militants were randomly arresting young men from one of the villages. With the local women, they staged a sit-in; the detainees were released two days later. They are also developing economic empowerment programs for rural women to address crippling poverty.

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Questions for this article

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

How can there be a political solution to the war in Syria?

(Article continued from left side of page)

5. Reopening schools

In ISIS-controlled areas, where one of the extremists’ first actions was to stamp out education, opening a school is among the riskiest endeavors anyone can undertake. Despite that danger, one group of women negotiated to open two private schools. They marched to the office of a local leader and convinced him that Islamic scripture favors education.

They can only keep the schools open two hours a day because the electricity is out the rest of the time. But they’ve enrolled hundreds of children who had been denied education for much of the last year; thus far, ISIS has left them alone to teach.

6. Helping families survive

The lack of job opportunities inside Syria and within refugee communities makes women and children particularly vulnerable. In addition, women are not always able to work outside the home, both because of their family duties and because their movement may be more restricted.

Several groups of activists are developing women’s professional skills, teaching them computing, first aid, English, and how to make handicrafts and clothes. In one area near Idlib, they formed an institute that’s trained over 300 people. Another group in a refugee area of Turkey established a cheap hostel for single Syrian women, to reduce the risk that they may turn to prostitution, forced marriage, or other exploitative activities in order to survive.

7. Reforming corrupt courts

The judicial system in Syria is shattered. The regime uses courts, including a special one set up via a sweeping “Counterterrorism Law” two years ago, to stifle dissent and punish peaceful activists. The Islamic State and others implement sharia courts that have publicly executed hundreds of people for petty “crimes.”
In one Kurdish area, there’s a different problem: the reigning political party established autonomous “people’s courts” that follow neither Syrian nor international law. One group of female activists, including several lawyers, is challenging this system, which they say allows loyalists to escape punishment while targeting those who support the opposition. They are uniting different groups to speak out against the sweeping authority of these judicial dictators.

8. Vaccinating children

Women have distributed and monitored humanitarian aid throughout the war. Many are also stepping in to provide essential services that, in peacetime, would be the responsibility of the government.

For instance, a group of women near Idlib led a campaign to vaccinate newborns during the critical first few days of life. Partnering with a local medical aid organization, they spent seven months bringing vaccines directly to people’s homes, since the regime continues to bomb the city. They successfully immunized about 600 children during each month of the campaign.

9. Disarming youth

In one city near Idlib, many children between the ages of 13 and 18 have obtained weapons, attempting to imitate their fathers. But the proliferation of arms is turning schoolboy fights into dangerous street brawls. In addition, there are many militias in the area that are recruiting youth for the frontlines.

A group of women is pushing the local council to stem this dangerous trend. They’ve asked the authorities to pass a law stating that children under age 18 cannot carry weapons and that arms purveyors cannot sell to them. The local council promised to do so months ago, but the women are maintaining pressure until the law passes.

10. Mobilizing a movement for peace

All of the women Inclusive Security trains, with our local partner the Center for Civil Society and Democracy, commit to mobilizing a “peace circle” of at least ten other women when they return to their home communities. Most of the activities above were initiated by these leaders, who taught others the same skills: how to analyze the problems in their local areas and determine strategies for addressing them.

In addition, “peace circles” have run awareness raising campaigns for coexistence and human rights, supported current and former detainees with legal and psychological counseling, successfully lobbied to remove names from the regime’s list of wanted activists, and much more. The energy and creativity of these women is boundless. They are Syria’s best hope for a peaceful future.

June 23, 2015Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITYMideastCPNN Coordinator

A Century of Women Working for Peace

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

Amy Goodman, Truthdig (reprinted according to terms of fair use)

One hundred years ago, more than 1,000 women gathered here in The Hague during World War I, demanding peace. Britain denied passports to more than 120 women, forbidding them from making the trip to suppress their peaceful dissent. Now, a century later, in these very violent times, nearly 1,000 women have gathered here again, this time from Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as Europe and North America, saying “No” to wars from Iraq to Afghanistan to Yemen to Syria, not to mention the wars in our streets at home. They were marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of WILPF, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

click on the photo to see the video of the WILPF conference: Shown from left to right: Nobel laureates Mairead Maguire, Leymah Gbowee, Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams

Dr. Aletta Jacobs, a Dutch suffragist who co-founded the group a century ago, said the purpose of the original gathering in 1915 was to empower women “to protest against war and to suggest steps which may lead to warfare being an impossibility.”

Among the women here were four Nobel Peace Prize winners. Shirin Ebadi was awarded the prize in 2003 for advocating for human rights for Iranian women, children and political prisoners. She was the first Muslim woman, and the first Iranian, to receive a Nobel. Nevertheless, she has lived in exile since 2009, and has only seen her husband once since then. “Had books been thrown at people, at the Taliban, instead of bombs, and had schools been built in Afghanistan,” Ebadi said in her keynote address to the WILPF conference this week, “3,000 schools could have been built in memory of the 3,000 people who died on 9/11—at this time, we wouldn’t have had ISIS. Let’s not forget that the roots of the ISIS rest in the Taliban.”

She was joined by her sister laureates Leymah Gbowee, who helped achieve a negotiated peace during the civil wars in Liberia; Mairead Maguire, who won the peace prize in 1976 at the age of 32 for advancing an end to the conflict in her native Northern Ireland; and Jody Williams, a Vermonter who led the global campaign to ban land mines, and who now is organizing to ban “killer robots,” weapons that kill automatically, without the active participation of a human controller.

These four world-renowned Nobel laureates were joined by nearly a thousand deeply committed peace activists from around the globe. Madeleine Rees, the secretary-general of WILPF, recalled the history of the first gathering in 1915, and how it was organized: “It wouldn’t have happened, but for the suffrage movement,” she told me, “because you don’t just start a mass movement. You actually have to have an organizational structure to make that happen. That had started with the suffragette movement. … Every single one of those women who went to The Hague … were demanding the right to vote. They saw, quite rightly, that the absence of women in making decisions in government meant a greater likelihood of war.”

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Question for this article

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

(Article continued from left side of page)

Kozue Akibayashi is WILPF’s new president. After World War II, the U.S. required that Japan’s Constitution explicitly forbid it from pursuing war to settle disputes with foreign states. “The majority of people in Japan support the peace constitution,” Akibayashi explained. President Barack Obama, however, like George W. Bush before him, is pressuring Japan to eliminate the pacifistic Article Nine from the Japanese Constitution. He hosted Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in Washington this week, celebrating Abe as he works to restore Japan’s military to its former offensive capacity. Akibayashi and thousands of others also are protesting the planned expansion of the U.S. military presence on Okinawa.

Africa activist Hakima Abbas was also in The Hague. I interviewed her hours after mass graves were reported in Nigeria, containing victims of the militant group Boko Haram. The story of Boko Haram, she told me, “is an intersection with violent Islamist fundamentalisms, with global capitalism and with militarization … fundamentalisms, though, don’t start and end with Islamic fundamentalisms in Africa. We’ve seen Christian fundamentalisms in Uganda, and the persecution of LGBTQI people.” She then made a connection to the street protests in Baltimore this week: “In your own country,” she told me, “the white supremacist and Christian right fundamentalisms are exacerbated by the gun culture and the promotion of an armed police force, which is killing black women, men, trans people and children. … So fundamentalisms is really something that we have to address globally.”

I asked Shirin Ebadi if she had advice for the people of the world. She replied with a simple yet powerful prescription for peace, laying out the work for WILPF as it enters its second century: “Treat the people of Afghanistan the same as you treat your own people. Look at Iraqi children the same as you look at your own children. Then you will see that the solution is there.”

May 6, 2015Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITYEuropeCPNN Coordinator

International Conference: Building Global Support for Women Human Rights Defenders

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

an article by Nobel Women’s Initiative

We are very excited to invite you to join us online for our 5th biennial conference, Defending the Defenders! Building Global Support for Women Human Rights Defenders. Over 120 women – including Nobel peace laureates and frontline activists from the Middle East, Africa and Central America—will gather in the Netherlands this week [April 20] to discuss how the international community can protect women human rights defenders across the globe.

“Women activists are on the frontlines of some of the globe’s most pressing conflicts,” says Jody Williams, Nobel peace laureate (USA) and chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. “These women play an essential role in pushing back against those wishing to repress basic human democratic rights.”

Williams will be joined at the conference by sister Nobel peace laureates Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Mairead Maguire (Northern Ireland) and Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), as well as globally-known human rights experts.

Women human rights defenders are targeted for a wide range of violence around the world—from verbal harassment to systematic rape, torture and assassinations. Often these women are targeted for violence because they are defying traditional gender roles and represent a threat to the “status quo”.

Among those at highest risk are women resisting mining and other mega-developments in their communities and women facing new threats from extremist groups such as ISIS. Women are at the forefront of creative and innovative nonviolent action. By listening, learning, and amplifying women’s voices, we hope to bring attention to incredible and important work being done by women front-line defenders, as well as strengthen networks for support and protection.

Stay tuned in the coming days on Facebook, Twitter (#DefendingDefenders), Instagram (@nobelwomen), and our Defending the Defenders Blog as we post photos, videos, facts and quotes and spotlight some of our extraordinary participants!

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

Question for this article:

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

The 47 CPNN articles devoted to this theme suggest that indeed progress is being made.

See comment below about Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, as well as our recent article A century of women working for peace

April 21, 2015Europe, WOMEN'S EQUALITYEuropeCPNN Coordinator

Battered Women’s Support Services commemorates Prevention of Violence Against Women Week

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

an article by Battered Women’s Support Services (abridged)

Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) is committed to taking action and preventing violence against women. Each year we commemorate Prevention of Violence Against Women Week held during the third week of April. This year, during Prevention of Violence Against Women Week (April 12-19 2015), BWSS features the following events:

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You Could Do Something to End Violence against Women – Bus Shelter Ads

Violence against women in intimate relationships is a learned behaviour so BWSS has launched an awareness campaign drawing attention on the effects witnessing abuse has on children. You Could Do Something To Prevent Violence Against Women bus shelter ads are positioned around the Vancouver, BC. People are invited to share photos of the ads through social media with the hashtag #BecauseYouCan.

YOUth Ending Violence Volunteer Training Program

Youth are powerful agents for change and BWSS successful Youth Ending Violence trains young women and young men to facilitate workshops on dating and sexual violence prevention. BWSS Youth facilitators learn differences between healthy and abusive relationships, dynamics of abuse, learn where and how to obtain help, understand the impact of media and social media on youth in dating relationships and how to be an empowered bystander. BWSS Youth Ending Violence program reaches 2,000 youth annually.

Boys will be Boys: Fighting Sexism in Media and Journalism

The Jian Ghomeshi scandal shocked the country, but maybe we needed to be shocked. Despite all the gains made over decades for women’s rights and gender equality, even our trusted public broadcaster had failed us.

Newsrooms have long been a man’s world, and while women are occupying positions as journalists, editors, producers, and broadcasters more than ever before, it’s clear that sexism, sexual harassment, and even sexual assault remains a problem in the industry. Whereas women remained silent for years, fearing they’d lose their jobs and ruin their careers if they spoke out about the misogyny they experienced working in media, they are finally beginning to speak out, buoyed by the courage and righteous anger of their female colleagues.

This panel [Vancouver April 11] features four prominent and courageous women who are experts on the issue of gender discrimination, violence against women, and sexism in the media. They will address the history of this insidious problem, the current climate, and the real-life impact of sweeping sexist practices and behaviour under the rug.

#BecauseYouCan Blog

Once again, we have convened a few serious feminist writers to contribute to our blog Ending Violence this year featuring violence prevention along with an old concept with a new name “A First Responder”. Ending Violence Blog is at www.bwss.org/endingviolence.

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

Question related to this article:

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

April 13, 2015North America, WOMEN'S EQUALITYNorth AmericaCPNN Coordinator

African Women’s Journal: African Women in Power/Politics

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

an article by Nebila Abdulmelick, Head of Communications, FEMNET communications (abridged)

In this issue of the African Women’s Journal, dubbed African Women in Power/Politics, we seek to explore both the individual and collective experiences of past, aspiring or current women in power/politics. . .

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Amina Mohammed shares her personally journey, from growing up in North-East Nigeria to her current position as special Advisor to Ban Ki Moon on Post-2015. She challenges us that it is not enough to simply have a seat at the table, but we must speak truth to the establishment and make that seat count for the countless who are not at the table. She reminds us that each of us must play our part, using our positions of power, small as they may be, to create a just and prosperous world where all people realize their rights and live with dignity and hope.

Annie Devenish takes a closer look at an eco- feminist and ultimately political movement; the Green Belt Movement, as well as the trailblazing woman at its forefront; Wangari Maathai. This case study provides an alternative model of leadership and participation; with women tapping into power through taking control of natural resources and articulating their struggles and concerns.

Bertha Rinjeu introduces us to a number of resilient women who find innovative ways around the threats, public shame and humiliation they face while on their political journeys. She touches on culture, patriarchy and strategies women employ to overcome obstacles placed in their paths to power.

Gavaza Maluleke looks at women fighting both a racist and sexist apartheid in South Africa – in particular focusing on the role of rural women, and the multiple ways in which women can participate and tap into power – both as individuals, and perhaps most importantly, as a collective.

Louisa Khabure delves into patriarchy, political global violence and the increasingly monetized nature of campaigns. She presents the nature and extent of challenges women face when seeking political leadership and examines this within the context of a broader political culture in Kenya. She also proposes actions to remedy the ills of the political landscape.

Aminatta L. R. Ngum presents the case of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who ironically held the position of Minister of Family Welfare and the Advancement of Women’s Affairs in Rwanda and who was the first and only woman tried and convicted for the crime of genocide as well as rape as an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Nimmo Elmi takes a look at the case of women in Somalia relegated to the private sphere despite their active engagement prior to the civil war. Through Serah Kahiu and Sara Longwe’s reflections of their own political journeys in Kenya and Zambia respectively, we come to understand that the personal is truly political.

Whether we engage at local, national, regional or global levels, we continue to wrestle with power, make our voices heard and bring about lasting change which can be felt by the coming generations. We’ve heard a few of the stories and journeys here in this issue, but of course there are countless others whose stories have neither been told nor heard.

A lutta continua.

Question for this article:

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

This question pertains to the following articles:

South Sudanese women take the lead in local peace building
Women take ownership of Great Lakes peace efforts
Les Femmes de Mali S'engagent pour la Paix
The Women of Mali Engage for Peace
Meet the Tanzanian Woman Who Said No to a Forced Marriage
International Women´s Day: Interview With Leymah Gbowee (Liberia)
Announcing: Women of Congo Speak Out!
Samba-Panza’s election represents a bright future for African women in politics
Nobel Women wrap up delegation to eastern Congo
Towards the creation of a network of women for a culture of peace in Africa
Meet Carine Novi Safari, Democratic Republic of Congo
Esther Abimiku Ibanga, Founder and president of The Women Without Walls Initiative to receive the Niwano Peace Prize
African Women's Journal: African Women in Power/Politics

March 24, 2015Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITYAfricaCPNN Coordinator

UN Commission on the Status of Women revamps working methods

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

an article by ONU Mujeres

The UN Commission on the Status of Women concluded its 59th annual session today [March 20] with an agreement by UN Member States on steps to boost its efforts to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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Governments attending the meeting agreed on new working methods for the Commission to continue setting standards related to the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and strengthen its role in global policy- making and coordination of actions around implementation.

They affirmed the commission’s central contributions to shaping the landmark post-2015 sustainable development agenda slated for adoption by a global summit of heads of state and government in September.

As the primary UN body for advancing intergovernmental commitments to gender equality and follow-up to the Beijing Platform, the Commission will further align its work to the Economic and Social Council and the new UN High- level Political Forum. This will strengthen efforts to integrate gender equality across all global debates and actions on sustainable development.

Since a large number of government ministers now attend the Commission, Member States agreed to create a ministerial segment starting at the next session in 2016. It is expected to heighten the visibility of current concerns, and offer opportunities to demonstrate high-level political commitment to accelerated progress towards gender equality, empowerment and the full realization of women’s human rights.

Congratulating the Member States, civil society and the UN system for “a forceful, dynamic and forward-looking session”, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo- Ngcuka said in her speech, “We are all aware that there are no shortcuts to realizing gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls. Based on the road we have travelled, we know that there are more challenges ahead of us. We know we must continue to work, systematically and relentlessly, to bring about transformation in our families, societies, economies, and political and public spaces.”

Governments agreed to sharpen focus of the Commission’s annual review theme. Moving forward, case studies will demonstrate lessons learned in implementing commitments made in previous Commission sessions. The Secretary- General will issue a targeted report on progress on the theme, drawing on national data and other inputs. The process will help close gaps between promises made and measurable change, and offer concrete evidence of how international norms can be translated to make a major difference in the lives of women and girls.

The 59th session included a range of high-level roundtables and panels on critical topics ranging from scaled-up financing for gender equality, to responsibilities of men and boys, to improved gender-disaggregated data. Discussions on lessons from the Millennium Development Goals will further shape the post-2015 development agenda.

Learn more about the Commission on the Status of Women.

(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?

The following article by Lyndal Rowlands in the Inter Press Service, suggests that the UN is not making much progress on its commitments for women’s equality:

2015 marks anniversaries for two significant commitments made to increasing women’s participation at peace tables.

Yet despite the Beijing Platform for Action and the Security Council Resolution 1325 both committing to increasing women’s participation in peace building 20 and 15 years ago, respectively, there has been very little progress to report.

The latest available statistics show that women made up only 9 per cent of negotiators at peace tables between 1992 and 2011. That the most recent data is from 2011 shows that more work is needed even in basic areas such as data collection and reporting of women’s participation in peace building.

IPS summarises here four reasons we should value women’s participation at the peace table more, based on discussions at the 59th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) over the past week.

Beijing Platform for Action Section E

Women and Armed Conflict Diagnosis

Strategic objective E.1. Increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels and protect women living in situations of armed and other conflicts or under foreign occupation. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.2. Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.3. Promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution and reduce the incidence of human rights abuse in conflict situations. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.4. Promote women’s contribution to fostering a culture of peace. Actions to be taken

Strategic objective E.5. Provide protection, assistance and training to refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women. Actions to be taken.

Strategic objective E.6. Provide assistance to the women of the colonies and non-self-governing territories. Actions to be taken.
Women Bring Commitment and Experience to the Peace Table
Often the first people invited to participate in formal peace negotiations are the people holding the guns and the last are women who have expertise in building lasting peace.

Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told a CSW side event on Tuesday last week, “In the Central African Republic, the only community where they were not killing each other was a community where the Christian women said, ‘These Muslim women are our sisters.’

“Why? Because the women in the community said, ‘We have lived together for the last 100 years’,” Bangura said.

In the Phillipines, Irene Santiago was a member of the government panel that negotiated peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Santiago came to the table with years of experience working with Christian, Muslim and Indigenous women leaders for peace.

Speaking at a CSW side event at the International Peace Institute (IPI) on Thursday, Santiago said that she knew that her years of experience working with civil society for peace stood her in good stead to make a significant contribution to formal peace negotiations, which she did.

Speaking with IPS, Santiago said women’s voices not only have to be heard, but that they also have to be acted on.

“For women. It’s almost never always about themselves, it’s always about our children, our husbands but also about our communities,” Santiago told IPS.

In Africa, women have fought to be included in peacemaking, even when their contributions have not been recognised.

Bineta Diop, Special Envoy on Women Peace and Security to the African Union, says that mediators need to be held accountable when they only invite the people who hold guns to the peace table and ignore women’s contributions.

“I have been involved in many crises where women were knocking at the door and saying we want to be at the table,” Diop said.

Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, known as the father of Security Council Resolution 1325, said that the determination of African women to be involved in peace negotiations should be seen as an inspiration by other countries.

Despite serious difficulties, war and conflict, African women have shown continued determination to hold their countries accountable, Chowdhury said.

Gender Equality in Peace Time Prevents Conflict
Also speaking at the IPI, Valerie Hudson, co-author of ‘Sex and World Peace’, said that her research has shown that the way women are treated within a country is one of the most accurate indicators of the quality of relations that country will have with other countries.

Diop agreed with Hudson, saying that countries that are likely to fall into conflict have higher levels of discrimination and inequality.

“Discrimination against women, especially the non-participation and non-inclusion of women in democracy is … one of the root causes of the conflict,” Diop said.

Ambassador Choudhury agreed with these sentiments, telling IPS, “I believe that no country can claim that their country is not in conflict if women’s rights are denied, if women’s equality is not ensured, if women’s participation at all participation levels is not there.

“I think that if we women are violated, if women’s equality of participation is not there we cannot say that we are at peace, we are in conflict with ourselves. This is a conflict which is happening within ourselves and within the countries. We don’t have to go into the traditional description of conflict, civil conflict or fighting with another country,” Chowdhury added.

Dr. Youssef Mahmoud, Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute also speaking at the IPI event said, “A world where 51 per cent are ignored is a dangerous world for everyone. I can’t imagine why any men would be indifferent to this.”

Women Are Active In Civil Society
Several discussions at the CSW questioned why militaries were the primary actors in peace building, while non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society’s expertise was not called on.

U.N. Says Maternal Mortality Rate Has Nearly Halved since 1990

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

an article by Josh Butler, Inter Press Service (reprinted by permission)

The global rate of maternal deaths is reducing faster than any time in history, according to a new report presented to the United Nations on Tuesday.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

The ‘Every Woman Every Child’ initiative has saved 2.4 million women and children since its inception in 2010, claims the report Saving Lives, Protecting Futures, presented by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The report states maternal mortality has been nearly halved since 1990, and in 2013, 6.4 million fewer children under age five died compared to 1990. Every Woman Every Child states 11 million more women have given birth in a health facility, 8.4 million more women and girls use modern contraception, and post-natal care for women increased 25 percent.

“Our task now is to maintain and build on that momentum, complete the unfinished health MDGs, end the appalling tragedy of preventable deaths and invest in the futures of women, children and adolescents,” Ban wrote in the report’s foreword.

“Yet we can and must do much more to provide access to the health care that women need… we must work to ensure that children are born into a safe environment where they will receive necessary vaccines, nutrition and care. There is still too much needless suffering.”

More than two-thirds of the $60billion pledged to the initiative by partner countries and institutions has been distributed and used. Speaking at the launch of the report, Ban said signs of progress were encouraging.

“More women are giving birth in a health facility, more women and girls are receiving the sexual and reproductive health services they want and need, and more pregnant women are receiving anti-retrovirals to prevent HIV transmission to their babies,” he said.

Every Woman Every Child describes itself as an “unprecedented global movement that mobilizes and intensifies global action to improve the health of women and children around the world.” The programme began in response to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four and five, concerning maternal health and child mortality, which were seen as the MDGs “were lagging furthest behind.”

The report urges partner to keep reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health “high on the global agenda in the post-2015 era.” The initiative has set its goal as reducing the global maternal mortality rate to 70 in 100,000 births, and newborn mortality rates to 12 per 1000 births.

[Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.]

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