Issue 31, October 2005
IN THIS ISSUE
EVENTS
HUMAN
RIGHTS
- More Sudanese Women Needed at Peace
Talks, and in Government
GENDER
-
Symposium on Arab women’s Economic
Rights – November 11 - Lebanese NGOs identify ways to end
gender discrimination / 12 – 13 October 05
NEWS
o
Lebanon's WTO entry may hang on
piracy issues
o
INSEE puts Lebanon's 2002 GDP at
$18.6 bln
o
Forum highlights Lebanese
unemployment
o
World Bank urges Lebanon to reduce
size of public sector
MEDIA
o
Labour Reports - Asia, Middle East, and the South Pacific
ENVIRONMENT
o
Capacity Building for
Nile-Basin Water Resources Management
o
Activists in
Lebanon urge drivers to leave cars at home
o
Hundreds protest against Sidon dump/ South Lebanon
GENDER
o
Women's rights
activists dispute Iraq's title of region's most progressive state
o
Follow the Women’ cycling across Middle East in support of peace
o
Stop Violence Against Women
Campaign – Global
DEVELOPMENT
o
Alzheimer's group in
Lebanon assists caregivers and family
o
Middle East
experts call for increased funding for education
o
Lebanon slips in
human development index
o
Money laundering
task force approves wide-ranging regulations to combat terror funding
o
Report: Lebanon
has made impressive advances in field of child education
o
Lebanon: No
excuse for the lack of reliable statistics
INTERNATIONAL
FUNDING
o
FINNIDA
HUMAN RIGHTS
o
Iraq
Constitution: Expectations focus on upcoming referendum
o
Orphanage in
Lebanon sees tragically high rate of arrivals
o
UN human-trafficking
expert slams Lebanese Penal Code
o
Lebanese
homosexuals seek Dutch asylum to escape prison
o
'Citizen-refugees'
overlooked by many
ICT
o
Tanmia’s successful experience
using local projects database
o
Promoting youth income generation opportunities
through information & communication technologies (ICT):
o
Syria: Online
Government Services Will Be Offered
REPORTS &
BOOKS & ARTICLES
DEVELOPMENT
o
E-Commerce & Development Report
2003
o
Designing a national system of
social targets based on international millennium development goals
o
We the people 2005: Mobilizing for
change: message from civil society
o
Non-Profit Management Resources –
Actions without Borders
o
2005 world summit outcome:
Achievements UN brief
o
Globalization and Health
o
Globalization and investment
opportunities: co-integration study of Arab,
U.S. and
emerging stock markets
o
Lebanese Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices - 2004
GENDER
o
Learning in Partnerships
o
Empowering women migrant workers in
Asia: Briefing kit files
o
Gender mainstreaming in development
and trade policy and practice: Learning from Austria,
Belgium, and the UK
o
Progress of the world’s women 2005:
women, work & poverty
o
Muslim Women and Development Action
Research Project - North Africa
o
Female Genital Cutting: Breaking
the Silence, Enabling Change
TRADE
o
Where are we in the Doha Round?
MEDIA
o
Use of Media in Awareness Education
About Prevention and Needs of Disability
TRAINING
MATERIALS/ TOOL KITS
o
IT4Youth – Palestine
EVENTS
Æ
More Women Needed at Peace Talks, and in Government - NAIROBI, Sep 10
A meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi has highlighted the importance of giving Sudanese
women a greater voice in their country's political affairs, if Sudan
is to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More
details:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30215
GENDER
Æ
Symposium on Arab women’s Economic Rights –
November 11
This forum, to be held in Bahrain
from November 11, is part of a partnership among countries of the Broader
Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) region and the Group of Eight (G8)
industrial countries.
Recommendations from the opening symposium, which focuses on reinforcing the
role of Arab women in economic development, will be discussed along with
proposals from other workshops in the UK, US, Jordan and Qatar.
NGOs and activists who wish to register or receive further information on the
symposium should visit http://srawomen.uob.bh/eng.html Registration http://srawomen.uob.bh/regeng.asp
Æ Lebanese NGOs
identify ways to end gender discrimination – October 12 – 13 05
The Arab NGO Network for Development, in association with the Canadian
International Development Agency, the Lebanese Women Network, Oxfam Quebec, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and
the Social Affairs Ministry, addressed the issue of discrimination against
women in a conference held Tuesday 12th of October at Beirut's
Crown Plaza Hotel
Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad said: "Gender
equity was mentioned in the Ministerial statement for the first time in the
history of Lebanon
and that alone is an achievement, although it has not yet been executed because
the Cabinet is preoccupied with strengthening the security situation."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=19237
NEWS
TRADE/
THE REGION
Æ
Lebanon's WTO
entry may hang on piracy issues
Lebanon's chief negotiating team for World Trade
Organization's (WTO) accession announced that Beirut should move fast to
prepare all of the required procedures for entering the trade institution by
the end of 2006. "We urgently need to speed up all the legal,
administrative, and enforcement requirements that will help us join WTO right
before.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18877
Æ
INSEE puts
Lebanon's 2002 GDP at $18.6 bln
Institute National de la Statistique et de Etudes (INSEE),
during the opening of the National Accounting for 1997-2002 conference that was
attended by Premier Fouad Siniora, estimated Lebanon's GDP in 2002 at $18.6
billion, slightly higher than earlier estimates.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18942
Æ
Forum
highlights Lebanese unemployment
Unemployment rate among Lebanese university graduates is
about 70 percent, according to leading industrial lobbyist, a consequence of a
long-neglected industrial sector that has drastically tightened job
opportunities. "Seventy percent of our university graduates are unemployed
according to the head of the European commission.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18497
Æ
World Bank urges Lebanon to reduce size of public sector
The World Bank said Lebanon should reduce the
overstaffed public sector by offering some of the staff early retirement
packages. "Lebanon's
overall public wage bill is relatively low by international standards, yet
opportunities exist for considerable savings through future retirements that
should be used to build a competent civil service capacity
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18994
MEDIA
Æ
Labour Reports - Asia, Middle
East, and the South Pacific
This is a project designed to meet the dual purpose of
providing co-production/training opportunities for Asia-Pacific Broadcasting
Union (ABU) developing country member broadcasters while building awareness and
visibility of specific labour issues within the region. It began with the first
conference and workshop session in Bangkok,
Thailand, from
January 11-13 2005 and will be followed by another later in 2005 or early in
2006. In the interim, participants have returned to their home countries to
produce a series of "Labor Reports"...
http://www.comminit.com/experiences/pds2005/experiences-3307.html
ENVIRONMENT
Æ
Capacity Building for Nile-Basin Water Resources Management
–
Burundi,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania
& Uganda
The goal of this initiative, which is an umbrella for
several communication-centred projects being carried out by partners in this
region, is to secure better access to information on the availability, use, and
development potential of the Nile resources these countries share, to the end
of improving water resource management in the region. Information and
communication technologies (ICTs), as well as face-to-face workshops, are used
as tools to build capacity within particular communities for more cooperative
management of environmental resources...
http://www.comminit.com/experiences/pds2005/experiences-3321.html
Æ
Activists urge
drivers to leave cars at home
Environmental activists gathered at the Press Federation yesterday
to call on all drivers to leave their cars at home today, and find alternative
methods of transportation for a nationwide "Car Free Day." According
to environmental organization Green Line activist Firass Abi Ghanem, "With
1.3 million private cars
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18693
Æ
Hundreds protest against Sidon
dump/ South Lebanon
Representatives from various environment and civil
organizations were joined by hundreds of citizens and the mayor of this southern
port city at the site of a collapsed waste dump yesterday, and called on
officials to end an environmental crisis facing the area.
GENDER/ THE
REGION
Æ
Women's
rights activists dispute Iraq's title of region's most progressive state
Women's rights activists in Iraq say rising extremism is
restricting their freedom, even as the country prepares to vote on a
constitution that is touted as one of the Arab world's most progressive
regarding women. "Women cannot walk freely out in the street," said
activist Ban Jamil, who directs the Rasafa Branch of the Assyrian Women's Union.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=18771
Æ
Follow the Women’ cycling across Middle East in support of peace
More than 300 women from 34 countries are cycling over 300
kilometers from Beirut in Lebanon, through Syria
to Damascus, to Amman
in Jordan and into Palestine to Ramallah from
15-25 September 2005. The women, part of ‘Follow the Women’, an international
group aimed at end violence in the Middle East,
are covering some 50 km a day. They include professional women, nurses,
doctors, policewomen and mothers who say they have decided to take a break ‘for
a good cause’. To learn more, visit www.followthewomen.com
Æ
Stop Violence Against Women Campaign – Global
In the context of the 16 Days Against Gender Violence
Campaign and in honor of the World AIDS Day 2004 theme of Women, Girls, HIV and
AIDS, the USA-based Amnesty International launched a 2-year global advocacy
campaign to stop violence against women. The organization is urging women
around the world to "add your voice to the growing chorus of committed
individuals demanding change… for more information:
http://www.comminit.com/experiences/pds2005/experiences-3275.html
DEVELOPMENT
Æ
Alzheimer's
group in Lebanon assists caregivers and family
On the occasion of World Alzheimer's Day on September 21,
Founder and President of the Lebanese Alzheimer's Association (LAA), Mansour
described her relationship with the disease as "a love story."
"Unless we fight the stigmas of the disease we will
never be able to raise awareness for it and an estimated 30,000 cases of
Alzheimer's in Lebanon
and 1.5 million cases throughout the Arab World are staggering enough to call
for action".
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=18659
Æ
Middle East
experts call for increased funding for education
Education experts from across the Middle
East called for increased funding for what was identified as every
country's most vital sector during the first day of the second Arab Gathering
for Education at the Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel. Kicked off yesterday,
the four-day conference has brought together experts in education from all the
Arab countries for a debate on how to provide education for rural communities
with specific needs. For more information:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18877
Æ
Lebanon slips in human development index
Lebanon has dropped a
rank – down to 81st out of 177 – in the latest edition of the United Nations
Development Program’s Human Development Report HDR. A summary of the 2005
report was distributed during a news conference at UN house in Beirut, titled “Aid, Trade
and Security in an Unequal World.”
For more information:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=18335
Æ
Money
laundering task force approves wide-ranging regulations to combat terror
funding
Cash money
transfers and donations to charity groups will come under tighter scrutiny by
the Arab states that have joined the Middle East and North Africa Financial
Action Task Force which was set up by the Group of 7. Speaking at the end of a
two- day meeting, the president of the MENA FATF Mohammad Baasiri told
reporters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=18846
Æ
Report:
Lebanon has made impressive advances in field of child education
Poverty, disease, the lack of education and protection are
but some of the problems facing over 600 million children in the Islamic world,
according to a new report, which cited Lebanon as one of the countries, that
have made an impressive advancement in the field of child education.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=18721
Æ
No excuse for the lack of reliable statistics
Some researchers believe the deficiencies in official
figures may be intential
For any one who has searched in vain – and with increasing
frustration – for accurate and up-to-date statistics in Lebanon, the
lack of reliable information is more than evident. Obtaining accurate and
recent – or recently accurate – information and statistics from the concerned
ministries in this country has always been problematic. For more info:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=18312
INTERNATIONAL FUNDING
Æ
FINNIDA
Part of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FINNIDA,
the Finnish Department for International Development Cooperation, is a tool of Finland ’s development policy and pursues
objectives in harmony with Finland
’s overall foreign policy. As such,
FINNIDA aims to: promote global security; reduce widespread poverty; promote
human rights and democracy; prevent global environmental problems; and promote
economic dialogue.
Finland channels 10 to
15 per cent of development funds through NGOs. In 2004, support was granted to
nearly 140 Finnish NGOs, with a total of 350 projects in 80 countries. In
addition, FINNIDA also supports international and regional NGOs in the field of
conflict prevention, promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance
and support for civil society. For more information on FINNIDA, visit http://global.finland.fi/index.php?kieli=3
HUMAN
RIGHTS
Æ
Iraq Constitution: Expectations Focus on
Upcoming Referendum
The new Iraqi draft constitution was sent for printing on
September 19th, 2005 after weeks of disagreement between political leaders
mainly regarding the issues of representation of the three majorities, Shia,
Sunnis and Kurds; degrees of autonomy for the regions; and control and use of
oil resources.
Iraqi constitution experts believe that more work should
have been done to bridge differences. A rejection of the document would be a
severe blow to the country’s progress and rebuilding. Failure to agree on the
constitution is seen as likely to deepen the Sunni-Shia divide and lead to more
sectarian violence
The constitution will now be decided upon in a referendum on 15 October, 2005. for
more details:
Æ
Orphanage
sees tragically high rate of arrivals
The year 2005 "was the most difficult" in the
history of the Dar al-Aytam al-Islamiyya (Islamic Orphanage), considering the
big number of children allowed joining the orphanage, according to the director
general of Mohammad Barakat.
For more details: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=18887
Æ
UN
human-trafficking expert slams Lebanese Penal Code
One in three of migrant workers in Lebanon are
estimated to be victims of human trafficking as revealed by a special
rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights. "The [Lebanese]
government appears to have recognized human trafficking as a problem,"
said Sigma Huda, commissioned with a fact-finding mission on human trafficking
of women and children in Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=18538
Æ
Lebanese
homosexuals seek Dutch asylum to escape prison
Lebanese homosexuals have sought political asylum in the Netherlands to
escape their country's tough laws which brand homosexuality an
"unnatural" act and to avoid jail at home. Article 534 of the
Lebanese penal code "bans unnatural sexual relations" although it
does not explicitly refer to homosexuality.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=18694
Æ
'Citizen-refugees'
overlooked by many
Trying to escape the weight of the political, social and
largely economic crisis currently undermining the country, many Lebanese citizens
have been forced to live in the degradation of the country's Palestinian
refugee camps. However in the camp of Beddawi, northern Tripoli, a whole neighborhood of
"purely"
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=18811
ICT
Æ
Tanimia’s successful experience using local
projects database
Morocco's Country
Gateway, called Tanmia, is using the Local Projects Database (LPD) to
facilitate the coordination and transparency of foreign aid in Morocco,
for UNDP. LPD is an open source software created by the Development Gateway.
Tanmia personnel are collecting and entering the data for UNDP, which will
analyze it and distribute findings to the government and donors.
To visit
Tanmia: http://www.tanmia.ma/?intcmp=800
Æ
Promoting Youth Income Generation Opportunities
Through Information & Communication Technologies (ICT):
Best Practices
in Asia & the Pacific - by Richard Curtain
Curtain provides a series of best practice examples demonstrating how young
people have used ICT to generate employment opportunities. On the
low-technology end, these include selling telephone-based services, working as
"information intermediaries" and engaging in e-commerce based
activities in rural areas. In the middle-technology range, telecentres and
cable television providers are being run by young people with equipment such as
printers, photo-copiers or satellite dishes. Curtain emphasizes not only many
cases of success, but also the barriers that many developing countries face in
realizing the potential that ICT offers.
http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1359.html
Æ
Syria: Online Government Services Will Be
Offered
As part of efforts to make use of ICT in some vital
sectors as health, tourism and communication, the Syrian Ministry of
Communication and Technology is planning to launch a project to set up
"The E-Government Gate" to help provide some services with the
cooperation of several state ministries and institutions.
The project envisages setting up 'data gates and state
services' on the Internet to serve as main access points for both the citizens
and state agencies as well. This mechanism would also secure credibility and
privacy of the data as well as the information exchanged between users. For
more information:
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/050810/2005081018.html
REPORTS & BOOKS & ARTICLES
DEVELOPMENT/
THE REGION
Æ
E-Commerce & Development Report 2003:
Chapter 1: Recent
Internet Trends: The global number of internet users continued to grow in 2002,
reaching 591 million people. The annual rate of growth, however, slowed from
27.3% to 20%. If current trends continue, UNCTAD concludes, internet users in
developing countries could constitute 50% of the world total in the next 5
years. In Africa and the Middle East, women
tend to represent less than the 35% of the total internet user population...
http://www.comminit.com/trends/ctrends2004/trends-25.html
Æ
Designing a national system of social targets
based on international millennium development goals
Author(s):
Neri, M.C.; Xerez, M.C.
Produced by: Global Development Network (GDN) (2004)
This paper discusses the idea of adopting social targets
based on international Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in order to encourage
commitment of specific locations at the sub-national level to global targets.
Based on the classic principle-agent framework, the results of the static
models show that adopting transferring criteria according to which the poorest
municipalities receive more resources may induce adverse incentives to poverty
elimination. This is due to the fact that giving the priority to these locations
stimulates the municipal government to reduce its social investments in order
to receive more transfers.
This paper is part of a bigger project called the
Millennium Development Goals and Social Credit: Think Global, Act Local, which
main idea is to offer a framework where specific communities can coordinate
social efforts and to gauge social performance at local level.
Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19654
Æ
we the people 2005: Mobilizing for change:
message from civil society
Author(s): Foster, J.W.; Wells, P.
Produced by: North-South Institute (NSI) (2005)
This document is based on a global online survey of civil
society engagement with the implementation of the MDGs. Over 400 groups from
the North and South provided information about their work on the MDGs and their
assessment of progress.
The report concludes that the best approach to the MDGs is
one of critical engagement and advocates for applying frameworks of social and
economic rights for a renewed and concerted attack on inequality. The report
recommends that radical policy change in each of the areas of trade and
investment, aid and debt cancellation is essential to progress, as are the
building and maintenance of peace. The inadequacy of MDG goals in the areas of
health systems and HIV/AIDS must be transcended in an immediate global action
to save lives. The failure of the goals to deal with climate change and global
warming in any significant fashion requires urgent action.
Available online at:
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19625
Æ
Non-Profit Management Resources – Actions
without Borders
Running a non-profit organization is challenging work, and
it often helps to seek advice from others in similar situations. Action without
Borders provides a guide to resources on running non-profit organizations,
including information on starting an organizations, recruiting and managing volunteers,
and fundraising. View the guide at www.idealist.org/tools/management-resources.html
Æ
Progress of the world's women 2005: women, work
& poverty
This report marks the fifth anniversary of the UN
Millennium Declaration and the tenth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for
Action. It argues that unless governments and policymakers pay more attention
to employment, and its links to poverty, the campaign to make poverty history will
not succeed, and the hope for gender equality will founder on the reality of
women's growing economic insecurity. Author(s): Chen, M. et al, United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (2005). http://topics.developmentgateway.org/mdg
Æ
2005 world summit outcome: Achievements UN
brief
Author(s): United Nations
Produced by: United Nations and Global Security (2005)
This fact sheet summarizes the agreements made by the
world's leaders, meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York September 2005, on the action to be
taken on a range of global challenges, and changes to be made within the UN
system. Areas of action are available online at:
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19739
Æ
Globalization and Health
This online journal is a free, peer-reviewed publication
focused on globalization and its effects on health. The journal will address
issues raised by the increasing international proximity in which humans live
and the effects of market liberalisation and technological advancement on
healthcare and welfare...
http://www.comminit.com/materials/ma2005/materials-2431.html
Æ
globalization and investment opportunities:
co-integration study of Arab,
U.S. and
emerging stock markets
Author(s): Elfakhani, S.; Arayssi, M.; Smahta, H.
Produced by: Islamic Research and Training Institute
(IRTI), Saudi Arabia
(2004)
There is a debate in the investment circles on whether
international diversification is still possible despite growing globalization
and the consequent integration between various stock markets all over the
world. This study explores whether Arab markets can offer international
investors unique risk and return characteristics to diversify international and
regional portfolios.
The results of the paper as well the recommendations are
available online at:
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19504
Æ
Lebanese Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices - 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor – February 28, 2005
Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking
in Persons
The Constitution provides for equality among all citizens;
however, in practice, some aspects of the law and traditional beliefs
discriminated against women. Although the law reserves a percentage of private
sector and government jobs to persons with disabilities, there were few
accommodations made for them. Discrimination based on race, language, or social
status is illegal and was not widespread among citizens; however, foreign
domestic servants often were mistreated. There was credible evidence that
foreign domestic servants suffered physical abuse, had pay withheld or unfairly
reduced, or were forced to remain locked within their employer's home for the
duration of their contracts. More details: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41726.htm
GENDER/ THE
REGION
Æ
Learning in Partnerships
The paper describes a trend toward including "unheard
voices" and diverse groups in international development. Learning "is
increasingly recognized as an active and ongoing process....This contrasts with
traditional notions of teaching that emphasize the 'transfer' of technology or
knowledge." Furthermore, partnerships no longer revolve around discrete
project funding; social and economic life is organized through "global
flows of information, financial resources, and power in a 'network society'."
http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1031.html
Æ
Empowering women migrant workers in Asia: Briefing kit files
Author(s): UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia
Regional Office Produced by: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
(2004)
This kit explores migrant women's experiences through
real-life stories, facts about women's migration for work in Asia,
accounts of gendered violations and impacts throughout the migration cycle, and
the contributions and capacity of women migrants. It explores the the links and
differences between trafficking, smuggling and migration and provides practical
leads on what can be done: strategic interventions, examples of good practice and
tools and references for gender- and rights-based programming. Available online
at:
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19676
Æ
Gender mainstreaming in development and trade
policy and practice: Learning from Austria,
Belgium, and the UK
Author(s): Painter, G.
Produced by: Women in Development Europe
(WIDE) (2004)
This paper reflects studies of gender mainstreaming in the
development and trade policies and practices of Austria,
Belgium, and the UK,
commissioned by WIDE. The author presents each countries' policy framework for
development and trade, examines gender mainstreaming strategy and practice, and
highlights successes and challenges. The findings reveal that while progress
has been made, much work is needed to turn political will into reality.
Available
online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19551
Æ
Progress of the world’s women 2005: women, work
& poverty
Author(s): Chen, M. et al
Produced by: United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) (2005)
This report marks the fifth anniversary of the UN Millennium Declaration and
the tenth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. It argues that unless
governments and policymakers pay more attention to employment, and its links to
poverty, the campaign to “make poverty history” will not succeed, and the hope
for gender equality will founder on the reality of women's growing economic
insecurity. Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19511
Æ
Muslim Women and Development Action Research
Project - North Africa
The Research Project was undertaken to explore the complex
links between women's perceptions of Islam and their rights to reproductive
health and education. The project aimed to provide awareness to enable
culturally aware and gender-sensitive public policy decisions to be made in
areas such as reproductive rights and education, both at the national and
international level. Action research was undertaken in partnership
between research associates recruited from the Netherlands and partner organizations
in selected North African countries. The project produced: country resource
books and synthesis report; policy guidelines on themes researched; videos of
exchanges between women as support to the resource book; a video entitled
"We cannot dream alone", capturing women speaking about their lives
and researchers talking about their learning; and publications on Islamic
ethics, gender and human rights.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds72004/experiences-2619.html
Contact dvl-info [at] minbuza [dot] nl
Æ
Female Genital Cutting: Breaking the Silence,
Enabling Change
by Julia M. Masterson & Julie
Hanson Swanson
This publication examines the occurrence of female genital
cutting (FGC) and common rationales for its practice. Historical efforts to
eliminate the practice are explored within the context of an emerging human
rights framework, and a synopsis of three concrete strategies and their
results, implemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Egypt, The Gambia, and Senegal, is
provided. The projects examined were: using a Positive Defiance Approach
(PDA) to identify positive role models who had withstood social pressures and
not had their daughters cut or who advocate against the practice; working in
collaboration with various stakeholders, community members, circumcisers,
religious and local leaders, to design and alternative rite of passage
curriculum for the traditionally very important girl initiation ceremonies; and
Tostan who designed and conducted education classes for over 900 women in 30
villages, providing instruction in human rights, reproductive health,
problem-solving and health and hygiene.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2005/materials-2263.html
TRADE
Æ
Where are we in the Doha Round?
Author(s): Halle,
M.
Produced by: International Institute for
Sustainable Development (IISD) (2005)
This paper provides an overview of the Doha Round process, noting that it revolves
around the liberalization of agriculture, as the 'last frontier for trade
liberalization' and the arena where most gains stand to be made. However, it
cautions that whom these changes will benefit is a matter of conjecture. The
papers head points and conclusions are Available online at:
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18124
MEDIA
Æ
Use of Media in Awareness Education About
Prevention and Needs of Disability
This 5-page Executive Summary describes this India-based
study as having three objectives: examining the role-played by both print and
electronic media in creating awareness among the people at large about
prevention of disability and the needs of the disabled; examining the extent of
impact among the disabled; and offering recommendations for media to adopt
effective communication methodology...
http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1275.html
TRAINING MATERIALS/
TOOLKITS/ PROGRAMS
Æ
IT4Youth – Palestine
The
International Youth Foundation and the Welfare Association are offering
enhanced education and job training to youth in isolated rural areas in Palestine. The programme
aims to equip approximately 6,000 students and youth per year, as well as
teachers, parents, and community members, with information technology
(IT)-related skills. A particular emphasis is placed on expanding access to IT
education and training for girls. While the use of IT for education, learning,
and access to jobs is a key focus, boys and girls from economically poor
neighborhoods and refugee camps come to the centre daily to create music and
art with digital technologies.
http://www.comminit.com/experiences/pds72004/experiences-2011.html
Contact Patricia Langan plangan [at] iyfnet [dot] org
OR Sana
Abu Bakr abubakrs [at] jwelfare [dot] org