President Evo Morales begun his second term by swearing in Bolivia’s first cabinet to be comprised of an equal number of men and women. Bolivia now joins Chile as the second country in Latin America to have a cabinet with gender parity, reports IPS News. Monica Novillo, head of advocacy and lobbying for the Coordinadora de la Mujer, a Bolivian coalition of more than 200 women’s organizations, told IPS that the swearing in represents the fulfillment of a promise made by Morales following the adoption of a new constitution in February of 2009. The 10 women in the 20-member cabinet include “singers, lawyers, activists and social leaders, economists, doctors and workers.” In his remarks, Morales also noted that Bolivia now has its first female Minister of Labor.

This development is a testament to the effort and “long-time demand[s]” of the women’s movement in Bolivia, says Novillo. The proportion of women representatives in parliament is also far improved, doubling in percentage share from 14 to 28 percent (46 out of 166) of all seats from the previous Congress. When he announced his new cabinet, Morales said “that Bolivian women’s social conscience, patriotism and dedication to defending national interests, as well as the respect he feels for his mother, sister and daughter, were factors in his decision to break with a long history of discrimination against women.”

Bolivia: Unprecedented Gender Parity in Cabinet -IPS News

The following is a post written by Alison Chatfield, an intern in the Middle East and North Africa Program at Vital Voices. She is a senior at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and is majoring in International Development Studies.

“If a woman feels secure with her rights and her family, she will have the chance to venture out for other things,” MENA Business Women’s Network President Afnan Al Zayani said in a January 18 interview with the Gulf Daily News.

Women in Bahrain are currently experiencing a conflict of interest in making the tough compromises necessary to juggle a professional and a personal life. Ms. Al Zayani asserted in her statements that traditional roles and responsibilities are still preventing many women from entering or re-entering the workplace. She said that these challenges can be overcome if Bahrain were to provide more reasonably priced services that support women who work and also have responsibilities to their families. These services include a reliable public transport system, care centers for infants, affordable home cooked food, and care for the elderly.

Bahrain considers its people as its greatest resource, making it equally important for women to be given the same employment opportunities as men. Without supportive services to facilitate the interconnectedness of many Bahraini women’s professional and personal lives, many feel they cannot cope under the pressure and are therefore much more likely to give up work or not return to work after having children. Agency is a key ingredient to professional success, and an increase in accessible and affordable services in Bahrain would give women the opportunity of a level playing field.

Al Zayani’s statements were issued at the second annual Regional Women and Leadership Conference, the same in which Labor Minister Dr. Majeed Al Alawi stated that Bahrain had allocated a budget of BD 24 million, equivalent to just over 63 million US dollars, to be used to help 4,500 university graduates find jobs in the private sector in the next 24 months. Seventy-five percent of those graduates are women. He added that “Empowering women is not propaganda to show we are a liberal society, it’s about employing 50 percent of all assets. We don’t want to lose them, we want to make sure female talents have equal opportunities as men.”

Ms. Afnan Al Zayani will be recognized for her work both in business and public life in Bahrain at the Vital Voices 2010 Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center on March 10.

Source: Workplace Help for Women-Gulf Daily News

The following is a post written by Mikhail Bell, a Human Rights Program Intern with Vital Voices. Mikhail Bell is a 2008 graduate of Hamilton College (Clinton, NY). He is interested in studying sex trafficking and plans to pursue an advanced degree in International Affairs.

On January 21, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed an attentive Newseum audience. The gathering, sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, outlined the Obama Administration’s plans to increase internet access and freedom of expression within the international community. Her comments, delivered nine days after the Haiti earthquake, positioned “21st century statecraft” as an important tool in America’s foreign policy arsenal.

Even now, state-sponsored technology is helping survivors of Haiti earthquake. The State Department’s text campaign lets mobile users text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 dollars towards American Red Cross relief efforts. The effort, which has raised over $25 million since it began, is one of the few resources that provides emergency alerts and locates victims. Two survivors, a woman and a 16-month old infant, were found beneath the rubble because people texted for help.

Secretary Clinton asserted that technology is forming a new nervous system, which is keeping more governments accountable and increasing transparency in certain places, such as Iran. She also noted that information networks are a double-edged sword. While demonstrations were organized online, the Iranian government also used websites like Youtube to crush protests and locate dissenters.

Encouraging Americans to promote internet freedom, Secretary Clinton declared:

“We cannot be silent about these issues simply because we cannot hear the cries.”

Continue Reading »

Among the thousands lost following the devastating earthquake that struck Port Au Prince on January 12 are three renowned women’s rights activists, Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin, and Anne Marie Coriolan. These women, CNN reports, were “founders of three of the country’s most important advocacy organizations working on behalf of women and girls.” Their deaths leave the women’s movement in Haiti in mourning for three remarkable advocates who devoted themselves to furthering women’s rights in their nation.

Myriam Merlet was a published author and dedicated advocate who was “committed to the process of social and political change in Haiti,” according to V-Day, the anti-violence organization founded by Eve Ensler. Merlet worked to introduce the V-Day movement to Haiti, courageously shining a light on gender-based violence and promoting equality for women and girls. As founder of Enfofamn, Merlet raised awareness about women through the media, documenting their stories. She will be remembered for her tireless spirit, poignantly captured in her own words:

“I look at things through the eyes of women, very conscious of the roles, limitations, and stereotypes imposed on us. Everything I do is informed by that consciousness. So I want to get to a different concept and application of power than the one that keeps women from attaining their full potential…The basis of my work with women is to open them up to other things, give them new tools, give them new capabilities…give women the opportunity to grow…”

Magalie Marcelin was an actress and lawyer who founded Kay Famn, a women’s rights organization that provides shelter and offers microloan services to survivors of domestic violence. Marcelin was passionate in her work as an advocate, calling attention to the inequality and prejudice that women face daily in her community. In public awareness-raising campaigns, stickers are marked with the image of a drum, which Marcelin once explained:

“It’s very symbolic in the Haitian cultural imagination. The sound of the drum is the sound of freedom, it’s the sound of slaves breaking with slavery.”

Ann Marie Coriolan served as a top advisor to Haiti’s Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women and founded advocacy organization Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity with Haitian Women SOFA). As a political organizer, Coriolan was a leader in a movement that “helped bring rape…to the forefront of Haitian courts,” according to CNN. Before her efforts, and those of fellow women’s activists, rape was regarded only as a “crime of passion” in Haiti. Coriolan’s daughter, Wani Thelusmon Coriolan, said of her mother:

“She loved her country. She never stopped believing in Haiti. She said that when you have a dream you have to fight for it. She wanted women to have equal rights. She wanted women to hold their heads high.”

Women’s movement mourns death of 3 Haitian leaders

In the hill state of Uttarakhand, traditionally marginalized women have formed their own cooperative and are producing processed food items that rival multinational brands in local markets, reports IPS News. Limited by the remoteness of their state, social conventions, and often illiteracy, the women of the region have largely been left out of developmental processes. The cooperative has empowered its members and instilled them with self-confidence, as one woman says:

“I had no self-worth. I just looked after the domestic chores and had no say in decision-making matters in the household. Today, I operate the machines at our processing center, carry out money transactions and have become a popular face at the local bank.”

Now entrepreneurs, the 250 women who form the collective, or self-help group, “have been engaged in community-based activities for over two decades now,” according to IPS News. The women train one another, lifting up the next generation and encouraging sustainable farming and economic independence. In large cities like Delhi, where there is a demand for organically grown products, there is high demand for the women’s produce. Contributing a share of their earnings to a collective fund, the women work collaboratively and invest in educational efforts to enhance their marketing and trading skills.

INDIA: Hill Women Form Cooperative, Turn Entrepreneurs -IPS News

Danielle Saint-Lot, Vital Voices Network member and co-founder of our chapter in Haiti, Femmes en Democratie, offers her first-hand account of current conditions and calls for assistance in the post below:

In 2010, the international community marks the 15^th anniversary of the historic Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China in 1995. It was in Beijing that former-First Lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared:

“human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”

In preparation for this significant anniversary, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has requested member governments to respond to a questionnaire on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, which was adopted at the conference to guide progress on women’s rights around the world. UN regional commissions are simultaneously evaluating achievements and considering challenges in the period from 2004 to 2009.

Among the 26 nations to recently submit their questionnaires, Turkey has released a report that highlights legal developments made while noting that implementation of various laws has proven difficult. Gender-sensitive advancements have been made to legislation including the Labor Law, Criminal Code and Civil Code. Adopted provisions now extend equal rights of employment to all women and formally abolish discrimination against women and girls. Patriarchal and derogatory language has been removed from the national Civil Code, replaced with language that emphasizes the joint responsibility and ability of spouses to make decisions in their household. A National Plan has also been developed to guide action on women’s rights in the spheres of education, poverty, health and the environment, among others.

Perhaps the most problematic area for women’s rights in Turkey, as noted in the government’s response to the questionnaire, is the prevalence of violence against women. Despite legal provisions, the implementation of the Criminal Code and violence-prevention measures remains a significant challenge. Further, “the sexist point of view in the societal structure creates barriers against women’s participation in social life and their enjoyment of the existing legal rights.” The report concludes with a call for collaboration between agencies and organizations of the state in an effort to advance gender equality.

Questionnaire to Governments -Turkey Responds

Related:

The Significance of CEDAW in Turkey: Interview with Urun Guner

With critical elections scheduled in April, women in South Sudan are rallying for an increased role in the rebuilding of government infrastructure and civil institutions, reports IPS News. A nation severely weakened by conflict and violence, Sudan and its citizens are in desperate need of reform and development –a process that has many women campaigning for full and fair participation in political life. Hannah Dario, a social worker in Lakeside State, says that it is time for change in Sudan:

“We believe this change will come through an engendered decision-making process, as well as in implementation of these decisions…No one should gamble with the peace for which we have paid such a high price to enjoy.”

Members of grassroots women’s organizations say that the future of their nation should be shaped by an equal partnership between men and women. Sudanese women are gathering to discuss and debate important issues surrounding political, social, and economic life, preparing to offer a unified and representative platform as election season gains way. According to IPS, “the meetings also serve to collect and articulate women’s grievances and issues to be passed on to those women who occupy elected and appointed seats in government.”

Deborah Tito, a housewife and member of the Women’s Union organization, which branches across all states in northern and southern Sudan, says that women must be regarded as equal stakeholders in the political future of the state. Tito goes on to say that women’s leadership must be engaged and recognized in its many forms:

“It’s very unfortunate that the debate about women and leadership has degenerated into the number of seats we can or should have.”

Tito insists that the women’s movement in Sudan be focused on the quality, as opposed to quantity, of leadership as it affects women. The path to equality, she argues, will take more than a high percentage of female representation in government. As Sudan rebuilds, and many women are uniting to join in the effort, still others are struggling to secure basic needs of survival. One government representative says:

“For most women, even with the end of the war, survival precedes all else. As long as they can put something together to feed the family, then all else is luxury, including a more balanced gender make-up in government.”

As elections near, women’s organizations continue to mobilize citizens in an effort to communicate their needs and ideas as a community.

SOUTH SUDAN: Women’s Eyes on the Political Prize -IPS News

We recently ended the Swedish tour of SEVEN in the Hague in the Netherlands. It was a wonderful final to a year of so many meaningful meetings, reactions, actions in response to the testimonies in SEVEN.

We were invited by the Swedish Embassy to open the conference Women in Warzones, an international conference arranged jointly with the Dutch government.

We decided early on that for this occasion we would put together an international ensemble of actors, and with the help of the Swedish embassy and the contacts of Riksteatern we ended up with actors hailing from Sweden, Great Britain, Palestine, Iran/US, the Netherlands and Kamerun/Russia. Continue Reading »

The Jakarta Globe reports that women in Papua are being forced out of their homes as a result of mining expeditions led by the government. In a nation where women struggle for economic independence, Papuan women largely live from their land, and are now threatened by forced evictions. Heidi Maeka, who works for a Women’s Support Group, says that the women are at an added disadvantage because of a lack of adequate education, partly due to the remoteness of Papua:

“Many of them don’t finish school…They are unable, for instance, to write up a good proposal to start up a small business.”

Maeka and her organization plan to set up an informal school “to provide women with basic education and technical skills to sustain livelihoods.”

Women in Papua Continue to Suffer- The Jakarta Globe