WUNRN
UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service -
NGLS
International Women’s Day
8 March
2007
International Women’s Day, celebrated internationally on 8 March
every year for over thirty years now, will focus this year on the theme “Ending
Impunity for Violence against Women.” The Day serves to highlight the fact that
securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development
of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of
international peace and security.
UN-NGLS Launches New Publication: The
Unfinished Story of Women and the United Nations
To help commemorate International
Women’s Day, UN-NGLS is pleased to announce its latest publication in
the Development Dossierseries, The Unfinished Story of Women and the
United Nations, which covers more than eighty-five years of history between
women and inter-governmental organizations. Unrecorded by history and untold by
the media, this book recalls the success story of women and the League of
Nations and describes the unfolding history of women at the United Nations for
the advancement and empowerment of women, especially in the 30 years since the
First UN World Conference on Women
in 1975 in Mexico City and up
to the ten-year review and appraisal of the
implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2005. It is available online (www.un-ngls.org/pdf/UnfinishedStory.pdf).
See also the Online Focus archive on the UN-NGLS website on eliminating violence against
women.
Commission on the Status of Women
The 51st session of the
Commission on the Status of Women is being held from 26 February to 9 March
2007, with “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against
the girl child” as its priority theme. The 51st session included a high-level
roundtable on “Elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against
the girl child” on 26 February 2007; an interactive dialogue on “Progress in the
implementation of the agreed conclusions on the role of men and boys in
achieving gender equality” on 2 March; panel discussions on policy initiatives
to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child on
27 February, and “Capacity building on mainstreaming a gender perspective
in the development, implementation and evaluation of national policies and
programmes for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence
against the girl child,” also on 27 February. An informal panel on “Financing
for gender equality and the empowerment of women” was held on 28 February 2007.
Further information on the 51st session of the CSW is available online. A large number of NGO side events were also
scheduled. A comprehensive listing of these events is available online.
Panel Discussion: How to Strengthen
Gender Architecture
On 26 February, a panel discussion on
United Nations Reform: How to Strengthen Gender Architecture? was held as
a side event of the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The
event was cosponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM),
UN-NGLS, the Women’s Environment and Development Organizations (WEDO) and the
Center for Women’s Global Leadership. A report of the panel discussion will be
available soon on the NGLS website.
GA Informal Thematic Debate: Promotion
of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
From 6-7 March 2007, the General
Assembly will hold an informal thematic debate on the promotion of gender
equality and the empowerment of women, with the President of the General Assembly, Haya Rashed Al
Khalifa, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opening the two-day debate. During the 2005 World Summit,
world leaders affirmed their commitment to promote gender equality and the
empowerment of women as an
integral aspect of reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). The two panel discussions will focus on women
in decision making and the empowerment of women including through microfinance.
Further information is available online.
Report of the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
Yakin Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, its causes and consequences, has released her report: Intersections
between culture and violence against women (A/HRC/4/34). Section I of the
report is an introduction, section II summarizes the Special Rapporteur’s
activities in 2006 and section III examines the intersections of culture and
violence against women and contains the Rapporteur’s conclusions. The report
addresses the dominant culture-based paradigms that justify or explain the
violations of women’s rights. In order to successfully uphold universally agreed
values, in particular the principle that no custom, tradition or religious
consideration can be invoked to justify violence against women, the report
identifies the myths around cultural discourses and outlines general guidelines
for an effective strategy to counter and transform culture-based discourses,
which constitute one of the major obstacles to the implementation of women’s
rights. The report is available online.
UN Trust Fund in Support of Actions to
Eliminate Violence against Women
The year 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of
the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence
against Women, which is managed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM). In
establishing the Trust Fund, the General Assembly (resolution 50/166 in 1996)
highlighted eliminating violence against women as critical to accelerating the
implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action. The
Trust Fund is the only multilateral grant-making mechanism that supports local,
national and regional efforts to combat violence. Since it began operations in
1997, the Trust Fund has distributed nearly US$13 million to 226 innovative
programmes to address violence against women in more than 100 countries,
including projects that conduct public education and awareness campaigns, build
coalitions, involve law-enforcement, judicial and government agencies, train
educators, healthcare personnel and police officials to respond to and prevent
violence. Many projects strive to alter community attitudes and involve men as
allies. Further information is available online.
UNFPA: Ending Violence
Against Women
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched
a new publication entitled Ending Violence Against Women: Programming
for Prevention, Protection and Care. The handbook, intended primarily for
development practitioners, provides practical points to consider when designing
and implementing projects addressing violence against women. It is a collection
of good practices drawn from ten case studies described in a complementary
volume Programming to Address Violence
Against Women. The
approaches are based on an appreciation of culture and the role it plays in this
issue.
Ending Violence Against Women is available online. Also available on the UNFPA website is an
Online Exhibition: Ending
Violence Against Women, which includes cultural sensitive programming approaches, case
studies and other related resources.
iKNOW Politics
The first virtual network
linking women in politics throughout the world was launched on 27 February 2007
at the United Nations: the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics
(iKNOW Politics). The initiative was founded in partnership by the International
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the United Nations
Development Programme and the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
The
global platform is specifically designed to promote gender-sensitive governance
and advance the role and number of women in political and public life. It
connects parliamentarians, representatives, candidates, political party leaders
and members, researchers, academia and practitioners across borders, generations
and faiths, equipping them with the materials, expertise and best practices to
make their political mark.
Drawing on a database of over 100 experts on
women in politics, iKNOW Politics allows users to access an online library
with more than 400 reports, handbooks and training materials in English, French
and Spanish from leading international agencies, research institutions, academia
and civil society groups. More information is available online.
ILO--Celebrating working women: Breaking boundaries, driving
change
In keeping with the International Labour Organization (ILO) commitment to
gender equality and the improvement of working conditions for women, the ILO
celebrates International Women’s
Day each year by hosting a
roundtable discussion highlighting the role and/or achievements of women in a
particular field of work.
This year's guest include:
Anousheh Ansari - On
September 18, 2006, she captured headlines around the world as the first woman
private space explorer after she spent eight days aboard the International Space
Station. An active proponent of world-changing technologies and social
entrepreneurship, she is currently the co-founder and chairwoman of the
technology company, Prodea Systems.
Rabiatu Serah Diallo - An active campaigner
for workers' rights since her early youth, she is the first woman to hold the
post of General Secretary of the Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs de
Guinée (CNTG) and the first woman to attain such a position in an African
country. She has been working on all fronts in her country, Guinea, which faces
severe poverty and has been the scene of violent clashes over recent weeks.
Further information is available online.
ILO will also issue a new study entitled
Global Employment Trends for Women, Brief
2007, which provides a
concise overview of the state of women in labour markets worldwide, including
new data on the number of women who are in work, the number who are unemployed
and what it calls the “feminization of working poverty.” The study also analyzes
the evolution of female participation in labour markets over the past decade. It
will be available online.
UNESCO: Women Peacemakers
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) is hosting an international conference on 8
March that will bring together women who contribute, through their work, to the
promotion of peace around the world. In order to face the most complex crises
the world has ever known, and because conflicts have direct consequences on
women, it is fundamental that women participate fully and equally in the
prevention of conflicts, in peacebuilding processes and in the consolidation of
peace.
Further information is available online.
Education
Also on International Women’s
Day, educators worldwide are demanding that governments act to halt violence
that endangers women’s lives, violates their rights, harms their families and
poses an affront to humanity and international law. According to Education
International (EI), the federation of organizations representing over 30 million
teachers and other education workers, women around the world continue to face
systemic discrimination and inequality that restricts their choices, limits
their ability to act and undercuts their enormous potential to contribute to
peace and development.
EI and its member organizations are urging
governments to pursue the Education for
All goals and Millennium Development Goals related to education, by: guaranteeing the
fundamental right to education to all girls worldwide; strengthening
opportunities for post-primary education for girls while meeting commitments to
universal primary education; making schools girl-friendly; recruiting female
teachers from the communities in areas where the school enrolment of girls is
low due to cultural factors and traditional practices that pose impediments to
education; implementing international conventions prohibiting child labour and
setting minimum age for labour; combating violence against girls and women;
taking measures to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons,
especially women and children; and providing sexual health education and access
to quality public services by adolescents, poor women and disadvantaged groups.
More information is available online.
WEDO: Women and
UN Reform
The Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) has produced
an advocacy and activist resource fact sheet on gender equality and UN Reform.
Using clear and simple language, “UN Reform: What’s at Stake for Women?”
outlines the UN reform process and how it affects women’s lives. It provides an
overview of women’s work throughout the process, key demands met and steps to
take to get involved and help make change. UN Reform: What’s at Stake for Women
is available online.
WUNRN
The Women’s UN Report Program
& Network (WUNRN) is a non-governmental organization that strives to
implement the conclusions and recommendations of the United Nations Study on
Freedom of Religion of Belief and the Status of Women From the Viewpoint of
Religion and Traditions (E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2). The study provides a universal and comprehensive UN approach to
intolerance and discrimination against women and girls based on religion and
traditions.
The WUNRN programme represents multisectoral linkages between
governments, the United Nations, civil society, NGOs, academia, religions,
media, foundations and more. WUNRN is an information resource and an advocacy
programme on the human rights, empowerment, and oppression of women and girls
around the world.
The WUNRN ListServe is considered one of the most active and
expansive Gender ListServes in the world. To sign up, send an email request to
WUNRN at mosie@infionline.net.
Further information is available online.
Women’s International
Perspective
The Women’s International Perspective, WIPSM, a news and opinion
website that aims to help set a new standard in online news reporting, will be
launched on 8 March, bringing together women writers from around the world who
provide comprehensive news coverage on global issues and events.
WIPSM aims to address
the under-representation of women in media and to offer breaking news stories
written from the woman’s perspective in order to help enhance global dialogue
and bring divergent cultures, opinions, and ideas together. The WIPSM front page
features news headlines, a unique female byline portal of regional publications
from around the globe, and links to The WIPSM writer contributions. Editorials
are written by both established and emerging writers.
For more information, please
contact: Sarah McGowan, Content Editor, at: sarah.mcgowan@thewip.net. Further
information can be found online.
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For a list of events taking place around the
world, please visit: The International Women’s Day website: (http://www.internationalwomensday.com).
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