Current UN-INSTRAW work/activities
Workshop on Gender and Mine Action Training Kit
UN-INSTRAW participated in the Workshop organized by the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines held on 15 January 2008, Geneva, Switzerland. The objective of the workshop was to obtain inputs from the participants for the preparation of a training kit on gender and mine action which will help in developing projects and programmes on this issue. UN-INSTRAW’s presentation focused on how to collect data disaggregated by age and sex, how to involve local stakeholder and women's organizations, and how to measure the success of Mine Action Programmes from a gender perspective. The objective is to make such programmes more comprehensive and responsive to the different needs of men, women, boys and girls affected by land mines. As many as 78 nations are affected by landmines while 85 are affected by explosive remnants of war. Today, there are nearly 500,000 landmine survivors, of whom three quarters are civilians.
First Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
Director of UN-INSTRAW, Ms Carmen Moreno, attended the First Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held on 15-17 January 2008 in Madrid, Spain. The Forum gathered over 300 representatives of international regional organizations, donor agencies, diplomats, media leaders, academia, grassroots and civil society with the objective of presenting twelve strategic points for the promotion of collaboration between East and West through the creation of joint programmes and projects. Amongst the measures proposed at the Forum are: involving foundations and private enterprises in making important economic contributions to the information and communications fields, the creation of a Solidarity Fund that motivates more employment for the youth, the creation of a mechanism whereby global experts will assist the media in dealing with important transcultural crises and the promotion of educational programmes. In 2009, the Forum will meet again in Turkey.
Assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto
UN-INSTRAW joins the world in condemning the assassination on 27 December 2007 of Ms. Benazir Bhutto leader of the Pakistan People’s Party and former Prime Minister and conveys its most heartfelt condolences to Ms. Bhutto’s family and to the people and government of Pakistan. The global community has lost an important woman leader whose participation in politics and democracy opened opportunities for women in her region and throughout the world.
Gender, Migration and Remittances Programme
UN-INSTRAW has continued pursuing activities that fall under the Gender, Migration and Remittances Programme, amongst which we can name the following:
1) Joint project with the Dominican NGO “TU MUJER” on Remittances and Co-development being implemented in the eastern part of the city of Santo Domingo, whereby UN-INSTRAW provides support in mainstreaming the gender perspective within the project and in joint activities for generating a national political dialogue on the positive impact of migration on a gender-sensitive development. Within the framework of this agreement, the Institute presented a paper on “Migration and Development: Limitations from a gender perspective” at a national seminar on “Remittances and Development held in Santiago de los Caballeros on 4 December 2007;
2) The Institute has signed an agreement with ALMA MATER, a network which gathers 14 public universities from the Coffee-growing Region in Colombia with the objective of including the gender perspective in the Master Degree Programme on International Migrations, and participating in teaching a module within the Programme, as well as carrying out collaborative research.
3) UN-INSTRAW has recently published on its website four working papers on the Institute’s theoretical framework guiding its work during 2007, namely:) Feminization of migrations; Global care chains; Remittances;
Gender, Governance and Women’s Political Participation Programme
Two studies entitled “Women’s Political Participation in Latin America at the Local Level” by Alejandra Massolo and “Political Participation of Indigenous Women in Governance Processes and Local Governments” by Claudia Ranaboldo, Gilles Cliches and Antonieta Castro, have been published. Capacity-building activities in connection to these studies are being organized for implementation in Ecuador and Guatemala and it is expected that similar activities will be implemented in Costa Rica and Bolivia in the first trimester of 2008.
Global Gender News
International Human Rights Day
On the occasion of Human Rights Day, December 10th 2007, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on national actors, governments, civil society and human rights institutions to reaffirm their commitment to the values and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Day marks the 60th Anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Over the years, a whole network of human rights instruments and mechanisms has been developed to ensure the primacy of human rights and to confront human rights violations wherever they occur. In this framework, Ms Arbour referred to the theme of the year-long campaign launched by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - “Dignity and Justice for All of Us” - and expressed her wish that during this period the human rights agenda would be widely endorsed by all United Nations Member States. Read more
Iran to Launch Police Stations for Women
Iran plans to set up police stations in Tehran that will be run by women police officers who will deal only with offences committed by women. Two such police stations have already been launched in the religious, northeastern city of Mashad. Women police officers, who previously had been appointed in administrative departments, have been increasingly involved over the past few years in the enforcement of Islamic rules when dealing with female criminals.
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US$13 Million Grant Boosts African Women Scientists in Agriculture
The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) launched on 5 December 2007 a US$13 million pan-African initiative to increase the role of women scientists in agriculture. One of the main objectives of the initiative is to increase the number of women scientists on the continent, provide role models and address institutional biases that limit women’s participation in agricultural research.
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The Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking
This Forum, which is being organized under the framework of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), aims to mobilize State and non-State players to eradicate human trafficking and will take place on 13-15 February 2008 in Vienna, Austria. Amongst the Forum’s objectives are to: allow for an open environment to enable all parties involved to take concrete steps to fight human trafficking within their spheres of action; act as a catalyst for solution-seeking ideas; increase knowledge and awareness on human trafficking; promote effective rights-based responses; and build capacity of state and non-state players and foster partnerships and cooperation between the public and private sectors and civil society.
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The World Conference of Women’s Shelters
The World Conference of Women’s Shelters to be hosted by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters invites individuals/organizations devoted to the issue of violence against women, to present papers at this event. The Conference is hosted by the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) and will be held 8-11 September 2008 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The event will provide the opportunity to share knowledge, ideas about a theme that is often overlooked when discussing family violence and will increase the capacity of shelters worldwide to increase networking and bring about positive changes in their organizations and their communities when dealing with family violence.
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AWID International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development – The Power of Movements.
The 11th AWID Forum will take place on 14-17 November 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is expected that 1,500 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world will attend the event with the objective of discussing issues related to women's rights, international development, social justice and the power of social movements. The AWID Forum offers Delegates the opportunity to debate on issues related to gender equality and women's human rights and to participate in informal caucuses, gala events, cultural activities, and social and political events geared to global and regional networking and alliance-building. AWID particularly welcomes women and men from the Global South, young women, and marginalized groups that have had difficulty getting their agenda heard on a global stage. The deadline for the presentation of proposals is 28 January 2008.
For more information about the Forum, its objectives, the procedure to submit proposals, click here
Women's World Summit Foundation - Call for Nominations - WWSF PRIZE for Women’s Creativity in Rural Life 2008
The Women’s World Summit Foundation requests nominations for its 15th annual PRIZE for Women’s Creativity in Rural Life Award, honouring creative and courageous women and women’s organisations working to improve the quality of life in rural communities around the world. Prize winners will again be selected in 2008 and several of them will be invited to Geneva to personally present their work at an award ceremony on 15 October – World Day for rural women, which has been declared last November an official United Nations Resolution Day. Nominations, following the guidelines attached, should arrive no later than 31 March 2008.
Email: WWSF Women
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