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UN-Women Launches Report Spotlighting Gender Equality in Global Universities

On the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly, UN Women have recently unveiled a report by 10 global universities that lays out their concrete commitments and charts their progress towards achieving gender parity. The first-ever “HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 University Parity Report” highlights three important imbalances that universities can address: the ratio of men to women represented in university faculty and senior administrative positions; the fields of study selected by young women versus young men; and the number of female students at universities compared with their equal access to academic and professional career tracks. “Each generation of university students that emerges from these formative years of education is a new chance for the world to make progress,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, in a press release. “Now that our IMPACT Champions are leading such well-targeted initiatives to tackle current barriers to gender equality,…

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Happenings

Gaza holds First International Seminar on Gender-based Violence

UN Women, with support of the Government of Japan, recently opened the first international seminar on “Gender-Based Violence in the humanitarian context of the Gaza Strip”. For the first time in Gaza, more than 250 national and international representatives from civil society, humanitarian, development organisations and donors are convening for 2 days to discuss prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV) in the Gaza Strip. In the presence of Dr. Haifa Al Agha, Minister of Women’s Affairs, Dr. Dubravka Šimonovic, Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, and Mr. Hiroyuki Kajita, First Secretary/ Head of Economic Cooperation – Representative Office of Japan to the Palestinian Authority, the seminar opened with a strong reminder of the responsibility of all actors towards protecting the life and rights of Palestinian women and girls and the need to speed-up progress. “The Seminar comes at a right time” said Dr. Haifa Al Agha in its…

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Happenings

Demand for Inquiry into Police Abuse of Women May Embroil Mexico’s President

By: Azam Ahmed International human rights officials are demanding an investigation into the brutal sexual assaults of 11 Mexican women during protests a decade ago — an inquiry that would take aim at President Enrique Peña Nieto, who was the governor in charge at the time of the attacks. The demand is part of a multiyear examination by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights into abuses during a 2006 crackdown ordered by Mr. Peña Nieto on San Salvador Atenco, a town in Mexico State where demonstrators had taken over the central square. During the operations, which left two dead, more than 40 women were violently detained by the police, packed onto buses and sent to jail several hours away. The case was brought by 11 women to the international commission, which found that the police tortured them sexually. The women — a mix of merchants, students and activists —…

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Governance in Heels

Gender and Politics: Celebrating the Achievements of Women in Parliament across Developing Countries (1)

There are more women than men in parliament in Africa and across developing countries. This is very fascinating. An East African nation, Rwanda leads globally in the percentage of women parliamentary representation with 63.8%, followed by Bolivia with 53.1%, Cuba with 48.9%, two South American countries. Seychelles, Senegal, and South Africa are African countries with over 41% of women representation in parliament. It is indeed enthralling to note that in additional to the remarkable contributions of women in top leading executive positions of Government, such as Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, women are also contributing, very tremendously, to the society as parliamentarians, by making laws that foster inclusive growth and development, empowering and protecting women against violations and other forms of abuses. Over the following weeks, this column will celebrate the achievements of women-dominated parliament and female parliamentarians across developing countries, showcasing their contributions to the society and…

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Happenings

Female Political Leaders like Hillary Clinton Still Extremely Rare

  By: Lyndal Rowlands Despite their prominence on the world stage, female political leaders like Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel are part of a tiny minority of women who have risen to the top of politics. Women “who achieve the highest office are highly visible and extremely impressive (but) they’re still extremely rare,” Anne Marie Goetz, Professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University told IPS. The recent impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Roussef has bought the number of female heads of state and government globally back down to just 16 out of almost 200 countries. That number may go back up again in 2017, should Hillary Clinton be elected as the 45th President of the United States. Other prominent female political leaders include Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia and Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom yet overall the world is still a long way…

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