Gender Equality Archives - Page 15 of 15

Gender Equality2016-06-012023-07-10

A Violent Gang Rape in Rio: Zero Retribution to Zero Tolerance

Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director

NEW YORK (IDN | UN Women) – The drugging, abduction and violent gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, calls us all to turn the tide of sexual violence against women and girls in Brazil and in every country in the world.

Her silence was broken by the men who boastfully posted their images of the rape, deepening her abuse by showing her body to the world, in the confident expectation of approval by their peers and impunity from punishment.

This is Brazil’s moment to shake that confidence to its core and reassert the rule of law and its respect for human rights. This is the time for zero tolerance for violence against women and girls.

Gender Equality2016-05-312023-07-10

Making Men Understand the Other Side of the Sex Divide

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Over 200 years we have watched with a mixture of fascination and horror the explosion of population in most parts of the world. In the 1960s and 70’s many people were convinced that it was the single most important issue of our times.

Government aid agencies, especially in the Western world, gave overriding priority to distributing condoms wherever and whenever they had the chance. Some people like the bishops of the Catholic Church and the mullahs of Iran got very hot under the collar. Indeed, these two groups would unite together to vote the “no” in UN population conferences.

In the Third World militants argued that this was one more perfidy carried out by the West – to rid the world of dark skinned people.

Gender Equality2016-04-292023-07-10

Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh Defend Right to Learning

News Feature by Naimul Haq

COX’S BAZAR | Bangladesh (IDN) – Many young girls drop out from schools in Bangladesh largely due to poverty and poverty related causes. But strong motivations for continuing education have changed the scenario over the past few years.

Despite the practices of patriarchy and traditional beliefs against girls’ education and employment in mostly poor families in the rural areas, adolescent girls in many regions of Bangladesh have demonstrated how defying such traditions can actually benefit their lives.

Shonglap – or dialogue that calls for capacity building or developing occupational skills and offers livelihood opportunities for marginalised groups of people in the society – has made a positive impact encouraging them to learn.

Ummey Salma, who quit school in 2011 due to extreme poverty, has joined Shonglap in South Delpara of Khurushkul in coastal Cox’s Bazar district. In a group of 29 adolescent girls, Ummey, who lost her father in 2009, has been playing a leading role among the girls who meet six-days a week in the Shonglap session held at a rented thatched home in suburb Delpara.

Gender Equality2016-03-082023-07-10

OECD Countries to Improve Gender Equality in Public Leadership

PARIS (INPS | OECD) – The 34 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have strengthened their determination to work towards greater gender equality in public life – including in governments, parliaments and judiciaries – with concrete measures to improve women’s access to leadership and decision-making roles and integrate more of a gender perspective into public policies.

The OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Public Life, launched on International Women’s Day and in the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, calls on member countries to ensure fair pay and equal opportunities for women and men at all levels of government, in parliaments, judiciaries and other public bodies, enacting pay equality laws where necessary.

Gender Equality2016-03-082023-07-10

Rome UN Agencies Vow to Achieve Gender Equality Worldwide

ROME – Leaders of international organizations based in Rome gathered on March 8 to highlight the achievements and the real prospects for achieving gender equality. The speakers all agreed accelerating the empowerment of women everywhere is fundamental to achieving a zero hunger world and reaching the world’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The dialogue, ‘Planet 50:50: Step It Up for Gender Equality & Zero Hunger’, was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO).

Gender Equality2016-03-072023-07-10

‘Step Up Action to Protect Refugee Women & Children from Violence’

BERLIN | NEW YORK | HAMBURG (INPS | World Future Council) – In a powerful joint statement, members of the World Future Council have urged governments, international organizations, humanitarian actors and civil society to step up action to protect refugee women, children and unaccompanied minors from violence.

Signatories including former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador María Fernanda Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Combating Desertification, Monique Barbut, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Scilla Elworthy, former Member of Parliament Tony Colman and Co-Founder of ‘Rising Women Rising World’ Rama Mani, called on world leaders to introduce comprehensive legal measures and services to ensure women’s and children’s safety in transit and reception facilities.

Gender Equality2016-01-222023-07-10

UN Acts To Achieve Complete Gender Equality Ahead Of 2133

BERLIN | DAVOS (IDN) – Declaring that the empowerment of the world’s women is “a global imperative”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the first-ever High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment.

The establishment of the Panel, backed by the United Kingdom, the World Bank Group and UN Women, was proclaimed in Davos, Switzerland, the venue of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), on January 21.