Monitoring of the obligations relating to the content of education

77. The content of education as it relates to racial discrimination and religious intolerance falls within the purview of several bodies involved in the monitoring of international human rights treaties whose objects include education, either fully or in part. As we have seen, this is due to the crosscutting nature of the right to education and to the variety of fields in which it is implemented and of...

Leer más...

Scaling up social protection and cash transfers to reduce poverty and girl vulnerability to HIV

Strategies and action implemented at the community level to address intimate partner violence are critical to reducing young women’s and adolescent girls’ vulnerability to HIV. Two randomized controlled trials have shown positive outcomes. The Raising Voices SASA!3 kit was designed to inspire, enable and structure effective community mobilization to prevent violence against women and HIV  Community activists...

Leer más...

Core reasons why young women and adolescent girls are vulnerable to HIV

Every hour, around 34 young African women are newly infected with HIV. The reasons for relatively high rates of infection and low scale-up ofservices for young women in Africa are complex and interwoven.  Changing the course of the epidemic requires addressing the root causes and understanding the core conditions that exacerbate vulnerability. Seven core conditions stand out: inadequate...

Leer más...

Strategies to reduce intimate partner violence and reduce vulnerability to HIV

Strategies and action implemented at the community level to address intimate partner violence are critical to reducing young women’s and adolescent girls’ vulnerability to HIV. Two randomized controlled trials have shown positive outcomes. The Raising Voices SASA!3 kit was designed to inspire, enable and structure effective community mobilization to prevent violence against women and HIV  Community activists...

Leer más...

Women’s agency, participation and leadership

          Women’s collective agency is transformative for society. It shapes the institutions, markets and norms of a society. Empowering women as political and social actors can change policy choices and make institutions more representative of a range of voices . There has been progress in political participation. In Rwanda women make up 63% of all members of parliament, and in...

Leer más...

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 (the anniversary of the day of the murder of the Mirabal sisters) as the annual date for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in commemoration of the sisters. This day also marks the beginning of the 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence. The end of the 16 Days is December...

Leer más...

Maternal Mortality

Key Facts Every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Maternal mortality is higher in women living in rural areas and among poorer communities. Young adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than older women. Skilled care before, during...

Leer más...

A Baby Girl Is Sometimes Thrown Away in a Box

Malika is an illiterate woman from Herat province. Herat– I have heard a lot about women’s rights in Islam, but I never saw it being practiced by anyone in Afghanistan. The revolution, the Taliban, and some other difficulties caused me to remain illiterate. During the Taliban reign, no girls were allowed to attend schools. They destroyed the girls’ schools so that most of the girls and women would...

Leer más...

Little Flowers - Poem

Little Flowers - Poem We are little flowers, don’t let us die, we are fragile. If you throw stones our stems will break. Don’t hit us, we are precious in your life. We are little flowers that can make your garden beautiful. We need shade, love, care. Our dreams can make your life sweet. We are strong, don’t force us to be weak and die in the wind. If you don’t make us cry, we will make...

Leer más...

Fathers Rape with Impunity, Increasing Guatemala’s Teen Pregnancies

Photo by Sarah Bones - International Photojournalist  In Guatemala, most pregnancies among girls under 14 are the result of rape at the hands of fathers or other relatives, but often it is the girl who is forced to leave the family home, and few perpetrators are punished, said a leading rights campaigner. Nearly a quarter of all births in Guatemala are among teenage mothers - one of the highest...

Leer más...

Inkosi Kachindamoto

In June 2015, Senior Chief Inkosi Kachindamoto annulled 330 customary marriages – of which 175 were girl wives and 155 were boy fathers – in Dedza district, in the Central Region of Malawi. The objective was to encourage these youth to return to school, and continue a healthy childhood. Bernadetta Matison, 17, was among them. Married at 15, she became pregnant the same year. “I dropped out of school...

Leer más...

FGM – CONSEQUENCES

 INTERVIEW WITH KENYA WOMAN COUNSELOR Valentina A. Mmaka – 26 September 2015 I wanted to talk about the psychological consequences of girls undergoing FGM and how they relate with others within their community. It was also important to determine what is needed, in this case in Kenya (but it can definitely fit other countries) to educate and train girls and women to end FGM. I spoke to Severina...

Leer más...

Justice for Rokhshana

- Dozens of Afghan activists staged a protest in Kabul Friday to call for justice for a young woman stoned to death by militants after being accused of adultery in central Ghor province. The woman, identified by local officials as Rokhsana and believed to be aged between 19 and 21, had been forced to marry and was caught trying eloping with another man. She was placed in a hole in the ground as turbaned...

Leer más...

Women's Movements in Post-"Arab Spring"

Unexpected and transformative revolutions broke off in North Africa and quickly spread to the Middle East and the rest of the world in 2010 and 2011. Spontaneous, leaderless, youth-driven, and backed by social media, these revolutions called for karamah (dignity) and democracy. Centering on women's movements before, during, and after the revolutions, Women's Movementsin Post-"Arab Spring" North Africa highlights...

Leer más...

No Matter the Age, Women Are Always Victims of Violence

Fatima, 47, lives in Nangarhar. Nangarhar– I am 47 years old. I am married and I have a girl and a boy. I don’t have a job because I am an illiterate woman. I only do the house chores and I am raising my children. I believe human rights include rights for women, but women’s rights are not practiced in Afghanistan. If they were, women would be free from domestic violence. No matter what age, in our society,...

Leer más...

Freedom of Religion and Living Together in a Democratic Society

1. The Parliamentary Assembly notes that religion has gained renewed importance in European societies. Many beliefs and churches are developing in Europe alongside the religions which have influenced the history of our continent. The Assembly notes with great regret and anxiety that this continues to give rise to tensions, lack of understanding and suspicion, and even to xenophobic attitudes, extremism,...

Leer más...