Climate Change and Gender Equality
The following recommendations in the area of climate change and gender equality were developed on the occasion of the UN Secretary General's High-Level Climate Change Event and the CWWL-WEDO-hbf High-Level Roundtable "How a Changing Climate Impacts Women"
Changing the Climate: Why Women's Perspectives Matter
Produced by Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
This resource draws the links between gender and climate change and lays out why women need to be at the center of the climate change debate and policymaking. A must-read for activists, academics and policymakers.
Debt and Women
Produced by ActionAid, Jubilee Debt Campaign, Oxfam, and Womankind Worldwide
Poor countries around the world are crippled by the ‘debts’ they have to pay to rich countries; the impact on women and girls is particularly brutal. These debts worsen poverty by forcing poor countries to give money to the rich, even though many of the debts are of dubious origin, so-called ‘illegitimate debts’.
Date of original publication: January 2007
Gender Guide to World Bank and IMF Policy-Based Lending
Suzanna Dennis and Elaine Zuckerman, Gender Action, December 2006
This Guide describes the impact on people's lives, especially on women, of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) policy-based loans: loans to developing countries that require governments to reform economic, financial and trade policies.
These “reforms”—also known as loan conditionalities—generally bypass local democratic processes and contribute to the feminization of poverty.
Boom Time Blues: Big oil's gender impacts in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Sakhalin
A Report by Gender Action and CEE Bankwatch Network, September 2006.
Based on research and analysis by Fidanka Bacheva, Manana Kochladze and Suzanna Dennis.
Extractive industries projects are renowned for their negative impacts on a number of different areas, including
the environment and local communities. Large-scale extractive projects bring limited and short-term employment
opportunities, often fail to provide promised support for local communities and fail to alleviate poverty. The economic 'booms' that can accompany such investments are often unsustainable, and their negative side effects disproportionately harm weaker social groups such as women and indigenous people.
Report of the Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence:
'Delivering as One'
Sixty-first session, Agenda item 113. Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit
General Assembly – Distr.: General, 20 November 2006
Gender Equality Now or Never: A New UN Agency for Women
Office of the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, July 2006
Written by Paula Donovan, Senior Advisor, Women's and Children's Issues. With contributions from Anurita Bains, Jan Filipi, Lulu Gabbiano and Marianne Gimon
Maquila Network Update
Produced by: Maquila Solidarity Network (October 2006)
Workers in Thailand resist factory closure, and Bangladeshi unions join forces to raise wages. After an undercover unionization drive, China’s first trade union in a Wal-Mart store has been established. Details on these stories and more in the latest Maquila Solidarity Network newsletter.
In-depth study on all forms of violence against women
Report of the Secretary-General
Condemning widespread global violence against women as a human rights violation, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for more political will and financial resources to fight the scourge, warning that as long as such acts continue there will be no real progress towards equality, development and peace. "Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality," he writes in an exhaustive 139-page study that was presented to the General Assembly’s Third Committee on 9th October 2006.
Made by women: gender, the global garment industry and the movement for women worker's rights
Authors: Ascoly, N.; Finney, C.
Produced by: Clean Clothes Campaign (2006)
This report highlights the importance of gender in the garment industry. As women make up a significant portion of the garment industry's workforce, gender plays an important role in determining working conditions, worker's rights, and wages. This paper highlights a number of gender concerns within this industry, by providing a series of profiles on women workers, activists, and organisations. It also addresses current changes in the discourse of gender in the garment industry, including migrant workers, worker's health, codes of conduct and trade unions.
Analysis: Gender mainstreaming and its consequences in the European Union
Eva Fodor of the Central European University, examines the development of ‘gender mainstreaming’ in this piece first published in the Hungarian magazine 'The Analyst'. The Commission’s Green Paper on corporate social responsibility (CSR) made several suggestions regarding ways to use awards in support of CSR in the workplace. For example, an award for gender equality or a European label to be presented annually to businesses that have developed good practice to promote gender equality has already been agreed within the Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2005).
Reconciled to Violence: State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan
This 140-page report concludes that although Kyrgyzstan has progressive laws on violence against women, police and other authorities fail to implement them. As a result, women remain in danger and without access to justice. Based on in-depth, firsthand interviews with victims of violence, the report tells the stories of women who have been kicked, strangled, beaten, stabbed and sexually assaulted by their husbands. The report also tracks what happens when women seek help from the authorities. Instead of attaining safety and access to justice, they are encouraged to reconcile with their abusers. A 38-year-old woman, "Elmira E." told Human Rights Watch about being beaten by her husband for years and hospitalized, once for a knife wound and another time for a concussion after he kicked her in the head. "The situation was so bad that I thought it would be better if he killed me," she said. Women suffer serious and permanent injury from domestic violence, and many are emotionally traumatized by the abuse, even years later. Left with nowhere to go and no access to police protection, many women lose hope.
Women, War, Peace and Trafficking
One of the most serious challenges facing human rights today is the crime of human trafficking and its various dimensions, including organized crime, prostitution, security, migration, labour and health. Trafficking and sexual slavery are inextricably linked to conflict. Armed conflict increases the risk of women and girls being trafficked across international borders to be used in forced labour schemes that often include sexual slavery and/or forced prostitution. Trafficking flourishes in environments created by the breakdown of law and order, police functions and border controls during conflict, combined with globalization’s free markets and open borders. A country is more likely to become a source of trafficking victims after sudden political change, economic collapse, civil unrest, internal armed conflict or natural disaster. Women and girls who are victims of international trafficking often find themselves forced into prostitution at brothels that service military forces stationed nearby. Members of peacekeeping operations have also been directly involved in trafficking. Refugee and internally displaced women and girls—especially in camp situations—are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation and abuse. Since the entry into effect of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in 2002, the trafficking of women in the context of armed conflict has been considered a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Securing Equality, Engendering Peace
A guide to policy and planning on women, peace and security.
This guide examines one of the crucial steps on the path towards the full implementation of existing laws, namely the formulation and implementation of concrete policies and plans. More specifically, this guide concentrates on the creation of action plans on the issues of women, peace and security.
Global Consultation on the Rights of People Living with HIV to Sexual and Reproductive Health
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 27-30, 2006, Meeting Report
The global consultation on the rights of people living with HIV to sexual and reproductive health, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from March 27-30, 2006, was co-convened by EngenderHealth, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), and the World Health Organization (WHO), with involvement from key partners. The objective of the consultation was to identify key issues related to policies and programmes that support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of people living with HIV. In bringing together leaders from the HIV and sexual and reproductive health fields, as well as representatives of people living with HIV networks to discuss sexual and reproductive health and rights, the meeting represented a major milestone.
The Calm in the Storm: Women Leaders in Gulf Coast Recovery
Co-released by the Women's Funding Network (www.wfnet.org) and the Ms. Foundation for Women (www.ms.foundation.org)
Women have become a critical force rebuilding the Gulf Coast after being disproportionately affected by Katrina. This report reveals that, while the lens of race and class were applied to the natural disaster early on, the gender dimensions of poverty and recovery on the Gulf Coast have largely been overlooked. The report includes amazing stories of women survivors, outlines post-disaster challenges they face, and the actions they've taken as leaders in the rebuilding process in partnership with women's organizations and women's foundations.
Social Watch Report 2006 "Impossible Architecture"
The 2006 Annual Report from the international citizens' coalition Social Watch focuses on the financial means to eradicate poverty and fulfil national, regional and international commitments aimed at achieving this goal. The title of this year's report, "Impossible Architecture", refers to the urgent need to reform the current international financial structure. The report provides new perspectives and ideas for a viable blueprint for action.
For a Press Kit about the report, see:
http://www.socialwatch.org/en/press/index.html
To see the report, that features the Gender Equity Index, a map and articles on Gender, go to:
http://www.socialwatch.org/en/informeImpreso/informe2006.htm
The Mexico 2006 Know How Declaration "Weaving the Information Society: a Gender and Multicultural Perspective"
Hosted by Programa Universitario de Estudios de Género (PUEG) and UNAM, in cooperation with the Know How Secretariat. August 23-25, 2006
We, the Know How community, women and men from 60 countries gathered together at Palacio de Mineria in Mexico City, are a part of the global community of information and communication specialists, librarians, archivists, academics, journalists, politicians, activists, media specialists and representatives of indigenous women's movements, excluded groups and sectors, and rural women's information initiatives. We are dedicated to the creation and dissemination of information and new knowledge for the empowerment of women and the promotion of gender justice. Our goal is to advance gender justice and respect for every nation's cultural diversity within the information society, and to promote access to information and communication as a fundamental women's and human right.
Niger: Agricultural trade liberalization and women’s rights
By 3D —> Trade - Human Rights - Equitable Economy, August 2006
Niger is experiencing the residual effects of 2005’s food emergency, which are expected to
persist for a number of years regardless of a return to normal harvests. Underlying and exacerbating the recent crisis is Niger’s structural food insecurity, which perennially leaves 32 percent of the population undernourished1 and 40 percent of children under five chronically malnourished. Social and cultural patterns of conduct contribute to women’s overrepresentation among the poorest and most vulnerable groups in Niger. Women face a perpetual crisis of access not only to food, but also to income with which to buy food and essential services for themselves and their children. Trade rules currently under negotiation could further exacerbate the discrimination experienced by Nigerienne women, particularly rural women.
Gender, Remittances and Development:
The Case of Women’s Migration from Vicente Noble, Dominican Republic
By Instraw
This case study was carried out using a qualitative methodology that included household
interviews with remittance recipients and the migrants who send remittances to these
households. A rural community in the south-west of the country, Vicente Noble, was chosen
because it was the source of the first massive migratory flows to Spain. The main objective
of the study was to analyze the gender dimensions of migratory processes in this
community, the gender patterns in the sending, receipt and utilization of remittances, and
the impact on gender roles of the sending, receipt, utilization and management of
remittances. An additional objective was to explore the sending and receipt of collective
remittances, and analyze the extent to which local development initiatives are being
supported by remittances.
The State of the Right to Education Worldwide
Free or Fee: 2006 Global Report. By Katarina Tomasevski, Copenhagen, August 2006
Katarina Tomasevski, UN Special Rapporteur from 1998 to 2004, just published a new report on the right to education worldwide. "The State of the Right to Education Worldwide. Free or Fee: 2006 Global Report" summarizes in 281 pages the shortcomings of global educational promises and then examines how the right to education fares in 170 countries. Developing and transitioning countries are divided into five geographical regions and 31 tables highlight the key findings derived from country-by-country surveys. The report highlights the abyss between domestic policies of wealthy creditor and donor governments which keep compulsory education free, and their external policies which have made it for-fee.
Documenting Women's Rights Violations by Non-state Actors
Rights & Democracy
"Honour crimes" in Jordan, "sexual crimes" to terrorize local populations in Colombia, "family violence" in the United States or "sexual slavery" in Ghana. Whatever the terms or examples used, in every case, it is violence against women. Whether committed by a member of the family, of the community or during armed conflict, this type of violence has no boundaries, it is rampant everywhere and takes different forms depending to the context. This manual, specifically addressed to groups and individuals not well versed in legal matters, provides tools to human rights activists and defenders who investigate violence perpetrated against women by non-state actors. Its goal is to offer guidance with regard to the legal definitions and human rights protection mechanisms that may help them compel States to fulfil their obligation to protect. It presents concrete examples of particular forms of violence committed against women by non-state actors and models of strategies that have been used effectively, particularly in Muslim communities.
Women in Prison &
Children of Imprisoned Mothers: Recent Developments in the United Nations Human Rights System
By Laurel Townhead, Quaker United Nations Office, April 2006
Backgroung Project: This project aims to gain a clearer understanding of the particular problems faced by women prisoners and children of imprisoned mothers, and how these problems can be
better addressed.
For Her It's the Big Issue: Putting women at the centre of water supply, sanitation and hygiene
The vital role of women in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions is undeniable. But even though women’s involvement in the planning, design, management and implementation of such projects and programmes has proved to be fruitful and cost-effective, the substantial benefits of this approach are not properly recognised. One result is that, all too often, women are not as centrally engaged in water and sanitation efforts as they should be. This document is a joint undertaking by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and the Water,
Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) that collects and analyses noteworthy examples that demonstrate the widespread impacts of women’s contributions to WASH activities. The report provides further proof that if women play a central role in water, sanitation and hygiene efforts, progress towards achieving all the Millennium Development Goals will be significantly
advanced.
Social Watch 2005 report "Gender and poverty: a case of entwined inequalities"
Poverty and gender are the two central themes of the Social Watch 2005 report, and the national reports provide a series of arguments and evidence about the link between poverty and gender, the characteristics of poor women and the problems they face in relation to poor men.
This article has two intentions. First, to bring light to the methodological problems of poverty measurement which conceal questions of gender. Secondly, to illustrate this through examples taken from national reports written by Social Watch national platforms. The examples are not meant to be representative, but rather illustrative.
The World's Women 2005: Progress in Statistics
This report uniquely focuses on national reporting of sex disaggregated statistics in such areas as demographics, health, education, work, violence against women, poverty, human rights and decision-making. This is the fourth World’s Women report since 1990. The previous three focused on statistical trends in the situation of women. Five years ago, the World’s Women report emphasized that there was a lack of sex disaggregated data and that the improvement of national statistical capacity – the ability to provide timely and reliable statistics – is essential for improving gender statistics.
A Culture of Peace: Women, Faith and Reconciliation
By: Marigold Best and Pamela Hussey. Published by the Catholic Institute for International Relations
Summary: Building a culture of peace is perhaps the biggest, the most complicated
and the most important issue in the world today.
In this Comment, Marigold Best and Pamela Hussey put forward the voices
and perspectives of women from around the world who are making
powerful and innovative contributions to peace building. Together they
provide compelling evidence that the full participation of women, enjoying
equal rights with men, offers a real possibility of peace, reconciliation, and
development.
Beyond Victimhood: Women’s Peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo and Uganda: A new International Crisis Group report
Countries in crisis and the wider international community must do much more to support women’s involvement in solving Africa’s deadliest conflicts. In Sudan, Congo and Uganda, an array of women’s organisations and leaders are doing remarkable work, under difficult circumstances, especially in community organisations and informal conflict resolution mechanisms. Still, women remain marginalised in formal peace processes and post-conflict governments. Donors and others in the international community all need to do much more to offer sustainable support rather than just rhetoric. It is not merely a question of fairness or equity: women make a difference in part because they often adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored. Peace agreements, post-conflict reconstruction and governance work better when women peace activists are involved.
Gender: The Missing Component of the Response to Climate Change
The gender aspects of climate change have generally been neglected in international climate policy. This report, produced by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), argues that gender, like poverty, is a cross cutting issue in climate change and needs to be recognised as such.
(Cross posted from the Siyanda Website)
Resource Book on Women Human Rights Defenders
This resource book is a collection of the presentations made during the plenary sessions at the International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders held on 29 November - 2 December in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The presentations have been edited and transformed into short articles that discuss in more detail and depth the various topics on women human rights defenders included in the program. It aims to capture the varied and complex manifestations of the challenges faced by women human rights defenders working in different regions, on different areas of human rights.
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Exploration 2005
This study presents estimates of the prevalence of FGM/C across the globe and sociodemographic factors that affect the practices. Statistics are discussed in conjunction with cultural and religious beliefs, education, and recommendations.
*Contact: childinfo@unicef.org
Death and Denial: Unsafe Abortion and Poverty
This report provides an overview of unsafe abortion across the globe, a situation which is described as both a cause and consequence of poverty. Written to provoke discussion on an often taboo subject, the report includes statistics, brief case studies, and country profiles.
*Contact: info@ippf.org
Country Profiles for Population and Reproductive Health: Policy Developments and Indicators 2005 (PDF version)(HTML version)
This report details population policy and program information for all countries, with indicators on adolescent reproductive health.
*Contact: martinez@unfpa.org
Croatia Report on Women's Human Rights in 2005
Positive shifts in women’s human rights have been noticed in the area of women’s protection against violence – the beginning of implementation of the National Strategy for Protection Against Domestic Violence for 2005 – 2007 and passing of the Protocol on Response to Domestic Violence.
Iraqi Women Under Siege. A Report by CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Global Exchange
By Marjorie P. Lasky with contributions from Medea Benjamin and Andrea Buffa
From 1958 to the 1990s, Iraq provided more rights and freedoms for women and girls than most of its neighbors. Though Saddam Hussein's dictatorial government and 12 years of severe sanctions reduced these opportunities, Iraqi women, before the occupation, were still active in many aspects of their society. Now that situation has dramatically changed. While women in Iraqi Kurdistan have made gains since the U.S. invasion, in the rest of the country, women today face violence, hardship and fear daily, and their futures are more uncertain than ever.
Proceedings of the International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders by Victoria Collis, River Path Associates
This is a full report of the International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders held on 29 November - 2 December 2005 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This report documents the discussions and analyses of violations and abuses committed against women human rights defenders through a framework of four key sources of violations: state actors, non-state actors, family and community, sex and sexuality-based attacks. It also contains strategies and recommendations made by the participants to better protect women human rights defenders.
LGBTI Organizing in East Africa: The True Test for Human Rights Defenders
This report is the outcome of two processes; an LBGTI research study and
deliberations of an international donor roundtable held in Kenya in October 2005.
The donor roundtable convening was organized by the Urgent Action Fund-Africa
with support from the Ford Foundation Offi ce for Eastern Africa and HIVOS.
The study has reaffirmed that sexuality and sexual matters remain taboo subjects within
most of the region. The gradual but slow realization that same-sex relationships are based
upon fundamental human rights and freedom is slowly though reluctantly “seeping”
across the region.
Still Licensed to Rape
In 2002, SWAN and the Shan Human Rights Foundation published
a report “Licence to Rape” exposing the use of rape as a strategy
of war in Shan State by the troops of the Burmese military
regime. The report, detailing 173 cases involving rape of 625
women and girls, triggered an international outcry. These atrocities must stop. SWAN reiterates that only an end to military rule will protect women in Shan State from this
systematic sexual violence.
Pushed back into the flames
The urgent need for protection of Shan refugees as the Burmese military regime fans the flames of war in Shan State. The Shan Women’s Action Network. September 2005
STOLEN SISTERS: Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women
in Canada
This is a Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns. A shocking 1996 Canadian government statistic reveals that Indigenous women between the ages of 25 and 44, with status under the Indian Act, were five times more likely than all other women of the same age to die as the result of violence. Understanding the true scale and nature of violence against Indigenous women, however, is greatly hampered by a persistent lack of comprehensive reporting and statistical analysis.
Women Testify: A Planning Guide for Popular Tribunals & Hearings
This guide draws on the Center for Women’s Global Leadership’s experiences of organizing women’s human rights tribunals and hearings over the past decade.
Polygamy in Canada: Legal and Social Implications for Women and Children – A Collection of Policy Research Reports
This publication includes the following four reports: How Have Policy Approaches to Polygamy Responded to Women's Experiences and Rights? An International, Comparative Analysis; An International Review of Polygamy: Legal and Policy Implications for Canada; Expanding Recognition of Foreign Polygamous Marriages: Policy Implications for Canada; and Separate and Unequal: The Women and Children of Polygamy.
No one to turn to: Women’s lack of access to justice in Sierra Leone
This briefing paper provides an overview of the barriers that women face in accessing justice that Amnesty International found on a recent visit to Sierra Leon and includes recommendations to address them.
1995-2003: have women progressed?: Latin American index of fulfilled committment
This UNIFEM paper summarises the Latin American Index of Fulfilled Commitment, and includes the measurement of the index from 1995 through to 2003 in 18 countries of Latin America.
"Migration has a Woman Face"
Women are now half the migrant workers in Asia. Factsheet of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) publication.
Summary of "Rising Up in Response: Women’s Rights Activism in Conflict"
This Urgent Action Fund’s (UAF) premier publication explores the relationship between international responses to conflict and women activists responding to crises in their own countries. Are international intervention strategies collaborating with and supporting the important and crucial work being performed by women activists?
Behind Closed Doors: How Faith-based Arbitration Shuts Out Women's Rights in Canada and Abroad
Under Ontario's Arbitration Act (and similar legislation in other provinces), disputants can hire third parties to privately adjudicate their disputes, using any agreed upon rules or laws. The privatization of law is highly problematic. In family law disputes, dispensing justice behind closed doors, especially if religious laws are applied, will have damaging implications for the rights of women and their children.
Cover Letter by Ariane Brunet, Coordinator, Women's Rights Programme, Rights & Democracy
