Current UN-INSTRAW work/activities

In Southern Africa Women are Changing the Face of Migration
Gender, Remittances and Development: Preliminary Findings from Selected SADC Countries, published by UN-INSTRAW and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), highlights the growing impact of women’s migration on households, families and communities in selected countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The total value of remittances has quadrupled in the past fifteen years and migrants are increasingly women. Most women migrants in this region work in the informal economy, which generally provides low incomes. This, in turn, affects women’s ability to send remittances, which are most often used to purchase essentials such as food, water, healthcare, electricity and education. The study found that women migrants suffer violence, overt hostility, social exclusion, and economic exploitation. The study also calls for increased dialogue on the policy context of migration that takes into account women’s changing role in migration and mobility, access to employment, personal security, and access to financial services
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UN-INSTRAW collaborates to strengthen the capacities of Colombian women migrants
As part of its project “Gender and remittances: Strengthening the capacities of Colombian women migrants as development agents from a human rights perspective,” UN-INSTRAW is providing technical assistance to SISMA Mujer, an organization that monitors women’s human rights in Colombia. The project’s aim is to design a tool to analyze the experiences of Colombian women living in Spain who remit their earnings home and the experiences of women who receive remittances from abroad. UN-INSTRAW will then be able to make recommendations on improving the impact of remittances on recipient communities, on fostering better labour and living conditions for migrant women and on strengthening the capacity of women migrants’ associations, enabling them to play a more important role in decision-making on migration-related issues.
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Women and the Media: New Challenges
The media has incredible potential to be a change agent in relation to gender equality. Considering that women are the central focus of only 10% of news stories, mass media in general does not give an accurate representation of reality or take into account the current changes in perceptions or gender norms and roles. This was one of the central points of the presentation given by Carmen Moreno, Director of UN-INSTRAW, during her participation in the Seminar: “Women and the Alliance of Civilizations: Opportunities and Challenges” that took place on 28 and 29 April, 2008 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Presided over by President Fernández de Kirchner, the seminar covered four themes: 1) women and education, 2) youth as a means of solidarity and mobilization, 3) women and migration, and 4) women and the media.
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Including the needs of women and men means saving lives during disasters
The panel on “Risk Reduction in Disaster Situations” was held on 22 April 2008 at the XI International Book Fair in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). The Panel was organized by UN-INSTRAW and the Programme to Prevent and Address Disasters (PPD) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and led by Maria Civit Teixido, Specialist in Disaster Prevention of UNDP and Nicola Popovic, Specialist in Gender, Peace and Security of UN-INSTRAW. The panel aimed to show the need for implementing a gender perspective in risk management in order to reduce the vulnerability of the population in general and particularly of women, who are often the hardest hit by disasters such as Tropical Storms Noel and Olga.
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Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World
The Conference “Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World” is being co-convened by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ), the Global Justice Center, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW). This international working conference aims to probe and address global acquiescence to impunity, gender violence and exclusion that continue to obstruct peacebuilding and deny human security. This event will be held 24-26 September 2008 at the IPJ, University of San Diego, California.
The deadline for the submission of applications is 12 September 2008.
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Crimes of Honor UN Resolution in 19 Languages - Working towards the elimination of crimes against women and girls committed in the name of honour
In October 2004 the United Nations General Assembly passed a historic Resolution (A/C.3/59/L.25: 15 October 2004) on the elimination of crimes against women and girls committed in the name of honour. The Resolution stressed the need to treat all forms of violence against women and girls, including crimes committed in the name of honour, as a criminal offence, punishable by law; emphasized such crimes are incompatible with all religious and cultural values; called upon all States to continue to intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate crimes against women and girls committed in the name of honour, which take many different forms, by using legislative, administrative and programmatic measures; and requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution in his report on the question of violence against women to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session. The importance of this General Assembly Resolution has been translated into 19 languages.
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"Making Governance Gender Responsive" - Training
The UNDP Pacific Centre is partnering with the Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP) to run CAPWIP’s course on “Making Governance Gender Responsive” (MGGR) for Pacific civil society organisations. This course will be held in Suva, Fiji, from 26 to 30 May 2008. The course aims at improving the skills of participants on general gender principles and issues and on other topics such as gender analysis, gender auditing, gender budgeting and change management. The deadline to submit applications is 5 May 2008.
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Guatemala Approves a Law to Stop Femicide and Violence Against Women
The Congress of Guatemala unanimously approved a law establishing penalties of 20 - 50 years imprisonment for femicide. Punishments for sexual, physical, psychological and economic violence will vary from 5 to 8 years, depending on the severity of the crime. According to the National Institute for Public Defence, over 22,737 women suffered sexual harassment last year in Guatemala. The majority of the perpetrators were partners or relatives of the victims. Because no law existed against sexual harassment, only 1.8% of cases were defined as criminal conduct in court. The impunity for crimes against women makes Guatemala one of the most violent countries in the world for women.
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Expert group meeting on violence against women
From May 26 to 28 at the United Nations in Vienna, the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDAW/DESA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will convene an expert group meeting on lessons learned regarding violence against women legislation. The group will analyze various legal approaches for addressing all forms of violence against women and identify best practices. The group seeks to create guidelines and a strategic framework to assist governments in enhancing and developing new legislation on violence against women. The final report is expected to contribute good practices for the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women.
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Press Contact:
Valeria Vilardo
Communications Associate
INSTRAW
Tel: +1 809 685 21 11 ext. 227
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Website: www.un-instraw.org