HUMAN RIGHTS

UN Women Launches 16-Day 'Orange the World' Initiative

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) - On November 25, the United Nations and civil society commemorate the International Day to End Violence against Women. That same day, UN Women – the global champion for gender equality - will kick off 16 days of global activism, until December 10, to halt a gross violation of women’s human rights that affects at least 1 in 3 women and girls worldwide.

"It is a pandemic that we must stop. To do so, we need everyone’s help," says Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 November 2016

Photo: Roundtable. Credit: Nobuyuki Asai | SGI

Faith Leaders Play Crucial Role in Disaster Risk Reduction

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) - Representatives of faith-based organizations (FBOs), United Nations agencies, NGOs and academic institutions have stressed the need for engaging with local faith communities to reduce vulnerability to disaster risk, listening to and taking into account the voices especially of women who are often worst affected.

A round-table ahead of the International Day of Disaster Reduction observed on October 13 also pleaded for supporting local faith communities with local disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities, and maximizing the contribution of FBOs, by ‘using’ their spiritual capital.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 09 November 2016

Photo: Faith Communities Concerned about the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons met with Kim Won-Soo, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs to hand over an interfaith joint statement. at United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Faith-Based Groups Make the Case for Disarmament

Analysis by T.K. Fernandes

NEW YORK (IDN) - Since the deadly use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the international community has been calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Despite slow progress, civil society has continued to tirelessly advocate for a nuclear-free world and is in fact one step closer to its realization in principle.

While speaking to IDN, Director of Peace and Human Rights at Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Kimiaki Kawai noted the importance of nuclear disarmament, stating: “We share common global challenges like climate change, poverty, hunger and disasters – so why don’t we utilize our rich resources for more meaningful purposes?”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 20 October 2016

Farmers in Rwanda use the mobile platform to connect to the agricultural supply chain via text messages. Photo: UN Women

Rural Women Crucial to Achieving Global Development Goals

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) - Rural women make up 25 per cent of the world's population and in developing countries they comprise 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force that produces much of the world's Food.

They are therefore critical to the success of almost all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they all have gender equality and women's empowerment at their core.

Rural women constitute the backbone of rural communities, where, "and in many households they have the key responsibility for food security, education opportunities and healthcare", as the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 17 October 2016

Faith Groups Reiterate Call for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Faith groups have called on the United Nations General Assembly to heed the voices of the survivors of atomic bombings 71 years ago (hibakusha) urging the abolition of nuclear weapons, and vote in favour of the resolution submitted by Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa.

Dr. Emily Welty, Vice Moderator of the World Council of Churches Commission on International Affairs, introduced the joint statement during the civil society presentations at the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security on October 12.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 16 October 2016

Malawi Shines in Ending Child Marriages

By IDN-INPS UN Bureau

NEW YORK | LILONGWE (IDN | UN Women) - On the eve of International Day of the Girl Child, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson visited Malawi on October 10 to shine a global spotlight on the need to end child marriage. She met with traditional chiefs and girls who have returned to school after having marriages annulled.

In 2015, Malawi passed the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act, raising the minimum age of marriage to 18. UN Women, together with partners, played an integral role in advocating the new law and works with traditional chiefs to change local practices. (Click for video here.)

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 10 October 2016

Mountain Women Give a Spin to a Prickly Plant

By Stella Paul

In the upper Himalayan villages of India, hundreds of women have been finding a livelihood in the fiber of a pariah plant: the itchy nettle.

MANA VILLAGE, India (IDN) - Under a grey sky in Mana, the last Indian village before the border of Tibet begins, 36-year-old Bhotiya woman Gayatri Raut is trying hard to sell a basketful of knitwear to the visitors. A few more weeks and the entire population of Mana will migrate to a village far down the mountain to avoid heavy snowfall and extreme cold.

: Stella Paul; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 08 October 2016

Photo: Geneva Liaison Office Opening Photo: UN Women/Elma Okic

UN Women Geneva Office to Expand Crucial Partnerships

By IDN-INPS UN Bureau

GENEVA (IDN) - Keen to provide strategic support and boost efforts for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide, the New York based UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, has opened its Geneva Liaison Office.

Explaining the decision to open the Office on October 6, UN Women said in a media release: "Serving as a gateway to development stakeholders, Geneva is host to over 40 United Nations (UN) entities, more than 400 non-governmental organizations, some 35 international organizations as well as renowned academic institutions, several of which support the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality."

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 06 October 2016

Photo: A group photo of the participants of the conference of nuns and monks. | Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Gender Equality Gathers Momentum Among Asian Buddhists

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 11th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) - The first ASEAN Buddhist Conference held on September 22-23 at Nakhonpathom Rajabhat University, about 100 km from Bangkok, brought together Buddhist Bhikkunis (nuns), Bhikkus (monks) and lay Buddhists from across Asia in a bid to form alliances to empower the increasing community of Bhikkunis in Asia.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 October 2016

Address Multiple Drivers of Migration As ACP, EU Do

Viewpoint by Dr Patrick I Gomes

Dr Patrick I Gomes is the Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States based in Brussels. Following is a slightly abridged version of his statement at the United Nations Summit on Refugees and Migrants in New York on September 19, 2016.

NEW YORK (IDN) - The 79 Member States of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) welcomes this timely and relevant meeting on migration. The ACP-European Union Cotonou Agreement provides for an on-going dialogue on migratory flows which is jointly pursued to address protection of human rights, non-discrimination in treatment of third country nationals, and of strategies to reduce poverty, the basic issue of the ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration.