Newsletters 2011
Use Search to find areas of interest in the newsletter archives.
Other newsletters:
2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2001-2003 | 1998-2000
Newsletters – 2011
Our best wishes for a good and peaceful
2012, with happiness, strength and wisdom for you all!
The year 2011 was an interesting year for women, for example during and
after the Arab spring. Women were also more active in Durban at the
Climate Change Conference. "There were more gender, women and climate
change side events than ever before", Soon-Young Yoon wrote from
Durban. "Women will also move forward with more confidence towards
COP18 in 2012".
Also in this newsletter: 'Human rights issues are high on the UN agenda
in the ASEAN region'. LGTB rights, another human rights issue, was
discussed openly by Hillary Clinton in Bonn.
Women in Afghanistan are claiming their rights and they want to play a
part in the future of their country, in particular in the peace and
reconciliation process. There is even slight progress for all those
children involved in the sex trade in Cambodia. During the last 10
years there are less victims, and traffickers are going to jail.
In these last weeks of 2011 IAW members
have to decide if they will go
to the Commission on the Status of Women. If you are going, have a look
straight away at the notes from IAW General Secretary Lene Pind.
Surfing the net for news on women we found a mixture of progress and
saddening failures.
The Global Gender Gap shows that gender equality ratios have improved
in 85% of countries, but can there be a 'gap' in the investigation?
Bangladesh gets applause for its advance in health programmes for women
and children, but the figures on child labour and under-age marriage
for girls in Central Africa and also the figures of children killed and
raped in India are very worrying.
Rural women in Latin America are confidently marching forward to the
Conference on Climate Change in Durban. In the Human Rights Council
participants are worried about 'mercenaries
In this newsletter a look at the IAW
Board Meeting held in the beautiful country of Iceland when Board
members evaluated 2011 and prepared for 2012. See also the inquiry of
the IAW Commission on Health on the IAW website.
This month the world will welcome its 7 billionth baby, probably born
in the Asia and Pacific Region. If it is a girl, will there still be a
Commission on the Status of Women when she is twenty? Anyway, the main
topic of CSW, the position of rural women, is momentarily discussed
worldwide by many women organisations. Registration will be opened soon.
We were pleasantly surprised this month when three women activists
received the Nobel Peace Prize.
The position of women in the Middle East has improved, but there is
still a long way to go. There is also improvement in acknowledging the
important role of women in food production, in guarding the environment
and in fighting desertification, but will women get the necessary
tools, such as the right to own land and to be educated?
Still, there are opportunities. In Papua New Guinea women are calling
the shots on a big Copper Mine - no opening without preserving human
rights, social cohesion, environment and culture.
Next month the world's population will
top 7 billion people and the UN is looking at all of its vast
implications. For example, a new risk report and index 2011 helps
identify vulnerable women.
In Pakistan that index will be needed. Floods are (again) spreading,
with 230 people killed, more than 300,000 others displaced and 1.1
million homes destroyed or damaged.
In the region of Europe, 53 countries altogether are tackling TB,
Alcohol, HIV/AIDS, Antibiotic Resistance and other Non Communicable
Diseases or NCDs.
Shelters for children can be cold, loveless and violent places. As in
Mumbai, India.
In Papua New Guinea a reserved seats bill for women in Parliament was
accepted and in the USA feminists are wondering if they will vote for a
women like Michelle Bachmann as US President.
In Kenya a law was passed against FGM - Female Genital Mutilation - and
there are still nine countries to go!
In the month of July a most
important UN meeting took place, the ECOSOC Substantive Session. If you
have time to look at the reports, the content will give you a
'helicopter' view of the problems the UN is trying to cope with. For
women in politics there can be eye-openers for future decisions. There
is one important question to ask: "Where are the women?"
Education and the 'Improvement of the situation of (poor) women in
rural areas' (CSW) will be items on the agenda of the Board Meeting in
Iceland. Land ownership and inheritance for women have been an issue of
IAW for years. Even a prosaic item like 'To build a better toilet', and
general healthy solutions for sanitation can save thousands of lives,
mostly of children.
Another item in this newsletter is the Arms Trade Treaty. Maybe it
seems a lost cause for women against the enormous sums of money of the
weapons industry but we should always keep on entering the discussion,
continuously and persistently asking: "Where are the women?
Future events, publications, links etc. are, as always, at the end of
the newsletter.
In this newsletter attention is drawn to several IAW activities: The preparations for the Board Meeting in Iceland, an incoming letter from Cameroon, an invitation for a conference on Health and a description of a Fair Play Flash Mob7 by our Affiliate in Australia.
Progress in fighting Female Genital Mutilation is slow, also in the European Union. FGM is an exceptionally brutal crime, says one of the most important EU politicians, Catherine Ashton. Yes, but what measures will be taken and when? Even her own country, the UK, fails in taking measures against FGM.
In India some child marriages are still arranged by parents, although authorities can intervene. Women in the Arab Spring are fighting for more equality in politics. The Human Rights Council has elected the first female President. The Communications Procedure of the Commission on the Status of Women has been published and the UN is preparing the conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.
Congratulations from us all for
Soon-Young Yoon, who has become the new chair of NGO/CSW/NY. With every
good wish for the future!
In this newsletter you will find a short description why five countries
are the worst place where women have to live. Those five were mentioned
in many national papers. We ask you urgently to use your political
influence to improve the way of life for the women in those countries.
Many organisations are working for peace in conflict areas; for
example, ending the use of child soldiers in Chad, at an Arms Trade
Treaty, to install Peace Keepers and to appoint more female UN police.
Also in this newsletter: the rights of indigenous people; a report of
the IAW Health Commission; tobacco control legislation; rights for
women in Turkey; the adoption of a UN standard for domestic workers;
the EU on prostitution and on a gender-responsive financial framework.
And, the Human Rights Council passed a resolution on violations based
on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Good news: Rwanda is planning to start a
nationwide campaign to eliminate the transmission of HIV from a mother
to her child. Excellent also is the breakthrough on the risk of
transmitting the HIV virus to an uninfected sexual partner. Other good
news is the decision by the British government to cut emissions by 50%
; it puts Britain well ahead of the 27-member EU bloc. And Soon-Young
Yoon, IAW Chief Representative to the UN in New York, mailed us the URL
of an excellent newsletter, which can assist us on the Road to Rio+20.
CEDAW notices with grave concern that there are continuing cultural,
traditional and economic pressures which help to perpetuate harmful
practices, such as female circumcision.
Also in this newsletter Women and Politics, news of the Conference on
Least Developed Countries, decent work for domestic workers and figures
on young women marrying before 18.
Surfing the net for news on climate
change and at the same time looking for the position of women, I found
an excellent website, showing the way we have to go to get a better
planet. The material is very complicated and maybe we, as women and as
members of IAW, have to focus on a few aspects only. In that way we can
give it more force in the political decisions that will follow after
the experts have done their research. There is the IAW Board Meeting in
Iceland to discuss strategies for example!
Here is a selection of the news this month. UN Women designed an
inspiring quiz on violence against women and point out the needs of
widows in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. There is CEDAW, World No Tobacco
Day, the projects of the Aunties in Cameroon, the worrying boys/girls
ratio in India, the High-Level Meeting on Youth on 25/26 July.
There are dates of some of the UN conferences in the coming months: the
Least Developed Countries in Turkey; Sustainable Development in New
York; Aids, also in New York, and Human Rights with the UPR in Geneva.
To new members, please browse through this newsletter to see where your
interest are. If you miss a topic you like in particular, please let us
know!
March was a turbulent month. Tension in
the Middle East and a heavy earthquake followed by
a tsunami and by big trouble at the
nuclear power plants in Japan. The images of the suffering of
civilians, many of them women and children, during armed conflicts and
during environmental disasters shocked us all.
At the beginning of this month IAW was focussing on the outcome of
negotiations of the Commission on the Status of Women. Tension there
too, but all went well in the end.
We describe the result of research after Chernobyl, in the light of the
many nuclear power plants that are already built or are being planned.
There is a call for grant applications for projects on forms of
contemporary slavery. The Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi will be
repeated, now against corruption in India. Domestic workers
are taking action to secure decent work.
Female Genital Mutilation is seen as an 'exceptionally brutal crime',
and a survey on sexual violence by men in India, Brazil, Chile,
Croatia, Mexico and Rwanda shows there are
differences in the kind of sexual violence by men per country.
The first delegations for CSW have arrived in New York. IAW is well prepared and has organised several events. We, at home, are waiting for news by sms, blogs, twitters, tweets and so on.
In this newsletter three UN Women: Navi Pillay, Josette Sheeran and Valerie Amos are speaking up: for human rights, for a plan to be prepared for rising food prices and for finding a political solution for the homeless in Somalia. Soaring food prices are giving the UN a lot of concern. Demonstrations in the Arabic States and promised reforms afterwards can bring a ray of hope that more women will become directly involved in politics, particularly in Egypt. This last two months saw a lot of worldwide UN conferences. Coverage of some of them is at the end of the newsletter for those who are interested in the subjects.
Good news! In this first newsletter of 2011 we can announce the start of UN Women on January the 1st, with a new website too. More good news is the nomination of the Women of Distinction Award for Dr. Kaosar Afsana, Bangladesh!
IAW is preparing for CSW – with two Parallel Events. There will be at least 17 IAW members attending CSW including those in delegations from several countries. The new IAW Executive team has been busy finalising the minutes of Congress and updating the IAW website.
The many natural disasters during the last year is very worrying. There should be more preventative measures, good governance and scientific research on climate change, yes, but where are the women?
Also (again) news of atrocities against women in Congo and a letter from a young women from Pakistan, written for the International Day of Violence against Women.
Women of South Sudan are dreaming of independence. We found an interesting NGO on the internet, the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD). Highly recommended!
And the number of women in leading
positions in the world is slowly but steadily rising; we even have more
women on stamps!
