5 March 2019 (UN Women)* — A woman’s place is in her home. A woman’s place is in the workplace. In the community. On the streets and in public parks. In politics and leadership. In grocery stores, classrooms and on college campuses. A woman’s place is everywhere, and in every space, she has the right to feel safe and welcome.
Children’s area in the Al-Shoka public garden. Photo: UN Habitat
Yet, according to a multi-country study from the Middle East and North Africa, between 40 and 60 per cent of women said they had ever experienced street-based sexual harassment, and in Australia, almost two out of five women (39 per cent) aged 15 and older who have been in the workforce in the last five years, have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
BUENOS AIRES/RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 5 2019 (IPS)* – Designed mostly by men, many digital applications are not suitable for women, but some initiatives are beginning to include them as programmers and beneficiaries in Latin America, where the gender gap is also technological.
Entrepreneurs and beneficiaries of Chicas en Tecnología, an Argentine organisation that encourages the participation of teenage girls in the creation of programmes and digital applications. Credit: Chicas en Tecnología
What would Mahatma Gandhi say about the threat of war between India and Pakistan, which has brought the two nations and the world to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe?
Throughout the struggle for Indian independence, Gandhi was faced with the serious problem of avoiding conflict between religious groups once independence had been achieved.
He made every effort to bridge the rift between the Hindu and Muslim communities.
Gandhi believed that at their core, all religions are based on the concepts of truth, love, compassion, nonviolence and the Golden Rule. When asked whether he was a Hindu, Gandhi answered, “Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew.”
In the news this week are interesting signs positive and negative. The largest empire in between the Roman empire and the US empire (ie. the British empire) shows signs of internal decay but positive actions abound.
The foolish vote to resurrect nationalism under the so called Brexit seems to be fraying. If a new referendum is called, I am sure Brexit will fail.
Further the Zionist interference in British politics with trying to split the labor party (because of Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to speak of human rights for Palestinians) seems to be failing.
(UNFPA)* — A revolution started in 1994, but it is unfinished. Twenty-five years ago, 179 governments agreed that sexual and reproductive health and rights are the cornerstone of global development.
That decision, in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development, recognized that when people are empowered to make their own choices about reproduction – free of force, coercion and fear – the whole world prospers.
Despite this agreement, millions of women and girls have yet to see these promises fulfilled.
At a time when innovation is dominant, shaping and changing the way people live in every part of the world, we have to be intentional about its use to positively impact the lives of women and girls.
(Photo: Marco Grob.) Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is Executive Director of UN Women.. Bio
That means making sure they are not only consumers of innovation, but take their place as innovators.
With their engagement, both design and execution of solutions can address the unique needs of women and girls, from the creation of decent work to delivery of products, services and infrastructure for women in all walks of life.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change” puts innovation at the centre of efforts to reflect the needs and viewpoints of women and girls and to resolve barriers to public services and opportunities.
4 March 2019 (UN Women)* — Globally, 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked, and 56 per cent of them are women, according to latest data from The World Bank. The trend continues in Africa, where up to 95 million unbanked adults receive cash payments for agricultural products, and 65 million save using semiformal methods.
Nairobi, 4 March 2019 (UN Environment)* – From breathtaking advances in synthetic biology to pitfalls in climate adaptation, UN Environment’s latest Frontiers report, launched today, explores the biggest emerging environmental issues that will have profound effects on our society, economy and ecosystems, along with some exciting and novel solutions.
Shifting to renewable energy could save up to 150 million lives by the end of the century amid concerns that six billion people regularly inhale air “so polluted that it puts their life, health and well-being at risk”, a UN-appointed independent rights expert said on Monday [4 March 2019].
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 4 2019 (IPS)* – Crime, a key issue in far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s election in Brazil, has a dimension that is gaining in visibility and could turn against his government: gender violence.
Landscaper Elaine Caparroz, Credit: EBC
Elaine Caparroz, a 55-year-old landscaper, was beaten for four hours in the early hours of Jan. 16 in her own home. As a result, she was unrecognisable, lost a tooth and needed 60 stitches.
This was the highest-profile case in recent days in this country of 209 million people, where so far this year, up to Feb. 22, there were 176 victims of femicide and 109 unsuccessful gender-based murders, according to the daily monitoring of cases by Jefferson Nascimento, a lawyer and researcher from São Paulo, based on press reports.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 