Migration Category: Global Old Site

Fawzia Koofi is the first person to announce an intention to run for the presidency in Afghanistan. Koofi, a women’s rights advocate, was elected to parliament in 2005 and was reelected in 2010. Earlier this year, she received acclaim for her memoir, “The Favoured Daughter,” in which she details how she was left outside to die immediately following her birth because she was a girl and how she became the first woman in her family to receive an education.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai must step down in 2014 due to term limits. Some western officials and women members of parliament have expressed concern that Karzai is trying to broker a power-sharing compromise with the Taliban to bring an end to the war. Koofi told Reuters, “He has lost the trust of this part of society – women, the civil movements, the activists, the Afghan youth and the intellectuals. That is why he is trying to now rely on conservative forces.”

Koofi is outspoken against the Taliban and has decried Taliban rule. In an article for the Daily Beast, Koofi wrote, “can anyone really believe the Taliban will share power and be willing to sit in a democratic Parliament alongside a woman? I do not believe it.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, of the National League for Democracy party, won a seat in Myanmar’s (previously Burma) parliamentary election last weekend. Her victory opens the possibility that the National League for Democracy party, which won 40 of the 45 contested seats, could take control of Myanmar’s government in the next election in 2015. Nevertheless, the military, which holds a majority of the 664 parliamentary seats, continues to exert great influence over Myanmar’s government.

Suu Kyi stated following the election, “We hope this will be the beginning of a new era…[the win] was not so much our triumph, as a triumph of the people.” The White House issued a statement today, which said “This election is an important step in Burma’s democratic transformation, and we hope it is an indication that the government of Burma intends to continue along the path of greater openness, transparency, and reform.”

The National League for Democracy party has not won an election since 1990, although the results were then annulled by the army-junta that was in power at the time.

“Multiple Deprivations and Maternal Care in India,” a study conducted by Sanjay Mohanty and published in the March issue of International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, found that in India, impoverished women who lack education face significant barriers in their access to maternal healthcare, including antenatal and post natal care, as well as medical services at the time of their delivery. Low education was more strongly correlated with women’s lack of access to reproductive health care than poverty or lack of adequate nutrition.

According to the study, “Only 25% of women with a combination of low education, poverty and who were underweight received the recommended number of antenatal visits, compared with 71% of women who did not have any of these characteristics; just 17% of these women gave birth with medical assistance, compared with 69% of other women; and 20% received appropriate postnatal care, compared with 61% of other women.”

The authors of the study recommend that local healthcare workers, as well as mass media, be used as tools to inform women with less education about maternal health care services.

The first-ever nationwide study of abortion in Rwanda, conducted by the National University of Rwanda’s School of Public Health and the Guttmacher Institute, indicated that 60,000 women obtain abortions annually in the country, amounting to 25 abortions for every 1,000 women who are of reproductive age. Moreover, in 2009, one in 40 women of reproductive age (between 15 and 44) had an abortion.

The researchers found that most of the abortions in Rwanda were performed in secret and were considered to be medically unsafe. According to the study, “25,000 women – more than 40% of women who had an abortion – suffered complications that required medical treatment. However, 30% of these women did not receive the medical care they required, indicating a greater need for postabortion care than is currently being provided.”

Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda’s Minister of Health stated, “Reducing maternal mortality and ill-health is a priority for Rwanda. These important findings will help us better address the issue and improve the health and well-being of Rwandan women and their families. The fact that so many women are suffering complications from unsafe abortion and that so many are not receiving the care they need is very concerning. It is clearly an issue we must address.”

According to the World Health Organization, 17 percent of all maternal deaths in Eastern Africa are caused by unsafe abortions. Dr. Fidel Ngabo, Director of the Maternal and Child Health Unit at the Ministry of Health in Rwanda, noted, “Unintended pregnancy is the root cause of the vast majority of abortions. Addressing the unmet need for modern contraception is critical in order to reduce unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortions in Rwanda.”

Events will take place around the world in honor of International Women’s Day today, both documenting progress made for women’s rights and noting the remaining challenges to women’s equality worldwide.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stated, “As we commemorate Internationals Women’s Day, 8 March 2012, gender equality and the empowerment of women are gaining ground worldwide. There are more women heads of state or government than ever, and the highest proportion of women serving as government ministers. Women are exercising ever greater influence in business. More girls are going to school, and are growing up healthier and better equipped to realise their potential. Despite this momentum, there is a long way to go before women and girls can be said to enjoy the fundamental rights, freedom and dignity that are their birthright and that will guarantee their well-being.”

In Washington DC, the World Bank, the Nordic Trust Fund, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, and the United Nations Foundation are holding events throughout the week on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In addition, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are hosting the annual International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony today.

A delegation of 20 high school and middle school student leaders of Girls Learn International chapters from across the country, together with 25 parents, teachers, GLI Board members and staff are participating in six full days of workshops, panels and presentations in and around the U.N. during the 56th annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW56).

On the opening day of CSW 56, delegates heard from Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women and former president of Chile, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee of Liberia. Both Bachelet and Gbowee emphasized the imperative to increase the representation of women at decision-making tables worldwide in order to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, including widespread poverty, health crises like AIDS, and war and conflict. Along with other speakers throughout the day-long session, they also emphasized the critical need to address women’s and girls’ reproductive health and rights, including access to contraception and maternal health care.

During the week, GLI students will lead a Girl-Boy Dialogue on how gender inequality affects their everyday lives, their economic self-sufficiency, and the ways they can support and promote gender equality in the global economy. The students will also participate in sessions dealing with ending early and forced marriage, violence against women and militarism, elimination of violence against girls, and engaging young women and men in advancing gender equality. GLI delegates are also the leaders of an all-student committee to draft and debate a Girls Statement for presentation to the CSW on education, violence, and trafficking of women and girls. The statement will be read on the floor of the UN during the second week of the CSW meetings.

GLI will also partner with the US Mission to the UN in a session exploring strategies to increase girls’ political representation, activism and leadership in the US and globally.

GLI student delegations have come from Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. Girls Learn International is a program of Feminist Majority Foundation. Students active in GLI clubs at their schools learn about issues dealing with human rights and girls’ education and develop critical thinking and advocacy skills essential to effective leadership. Every year, GLI organizes an official delegation of students to attend the CSW. GLI co-chairs the Task Force on Girls’ Participation for the UN-affiliated Working Group on Girls with the Girl Scouts of the USA.

This week, government officials, representatives from the United Nations, private sector officials, and rural women will convene at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW56). The focus of this year’s session will be on improving the situation of rural women and the elimination of hunger and poverty, as well as current challenges to development.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet stated, “Rural women and girls comprise one in four people worldwide and they constitute a large share of the agricultural workforce. Listening to and supporting rural women is fundamental to ending poverty and hunger and achieving peace and development that is sustainable…Research shows that empowering women is not just good for women. It is good for all of us – for peace, the growth of our economies, for food security, for human security – in short, for the well-being of current and future generations.”

Rural women face significant discrimination in terms of their access to public services, social protections, local and national markets, and employment opportunities. For instance, UN Women reports that women in rural sub-Saharan Africa have access to less than 10 percent of available credit. In addition, women make up the majority of the unpaid labor force.

CSW56 calls on policy makers and national governments to make greater investments in initiatives and community-based schemes to benefit rural women. According to UN Women, “If rural women had equal access to productive resources, agricultural yields would rise and there would be 100 million to 150 million fewer hungry people.”

Currently “925 million people were chronically hungry, of whom 60 percent were women.” Moreover, 884 million people in the world lack access to potable drinking water; 2.6 billion people do not have access to sufficient sanitation facilities; and 1 billion people to not have adequate access to roads and transportation systems.

David Bahati, a member of the Ugandan Parliament and one of the leaders of the Family or Fellowship of C Street fame (see Jeff Sharlet’s latest book on C Street), reintroduced an anti-gay bill today. Bahati first introduced the bill in 2009. It called for the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality,” for engaging in same sex relations with someone who is HIV positive, and life imprisonment for having sex with someone of the same sex.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill went before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in May but was dropped from the Parliament’s agenda following condemnation from the President, the Secretary of State, members of Congress, and human rights groups. Bahati has since indicated that he would be willing to drop the provision of the bill calling for the death penalty.

Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries with the exception of South Africa, which recognizes gay marriage, but even there, anti-gay practices such as “corrective rapes” of lesbians, are commonplace.

For International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM/C today, the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme for the Acceleration of the Abandonment of FGM/C released a new report, Key Results and Highlights 2011, which indicates that approximately 2,000 African communities have abandoned female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).
UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, stated, “These encouraging findings show that social norms and cultural practices are changing, and communities are uniting to protect the rights of girls and women. We call on the global community to join us in this critical effort. Together, we can end FGM/C in one generation and help millions of girls and women to live healthier, fuller lives, and reach their potential.”

In 2011, the UNFPA reports that 18,000 community education sessions were held to discourage FGM/C. As a result, almost 2,000 communities renounced FGM/C practices that year alone in Burkina Faso, Dijbouti, Ethiopia, Gambia, Senegal, Kenya, and Somalia.

Internationally, an estimated 100 million to 140 million women and girls have undergone an FGM procedure, with the practice widely being regarded as a human rights violation. The procedure, which involves the partial or total removal of external genitalia, is designed to decrease women’s sexual desire and is seen in many cultures as essential for a women’s suitability for marriage. The practice is also known to both increase the risk of HIV transmission and infant and maternal mortality rates.

In a speech to the African Union Summit in Ethiopia, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the end to discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. General Ban Ki-moon encouraged renewed efforts to ensure women’s greater representation in parliaments in African countries and stated the importance of ensuring that women are part of the peace process in Africa.

He remarked, “We must ensure that women are fully represented in in decision-making bodies, including in Egypt and Tunisia where they played a role” in the protests of the Arab Spring. He also described women as “champions of peace.”

The Secretary General denounced discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is criminalized in many African countries, saying, “This has prompted some governments to treat people as second-class citizens, or even criminals. Confronting discrimination is a challenge.” Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries with the exception of South Africa, which recognizes gay marriage, but even there, anti-gay practices such as “corrective rapes” of lesbians, are commonplace.

“Induced Abortion: Incidence and Trends Worldwide from 1995 to 2008,” a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization and published in the Lancet, indicates that since 2008, the decline in the worldwide rate of abortions has stalled. According to the study, “between 1995 and 2003, the overall number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (14-44) dropped from 35 to 29.” However since 2008, the rate as remained at 28 per 1,000.

Gilda Sedgh, the lead author for the study, stated, “The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion of abortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is often clandestine and unsafe. This is cause for concern. This plateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake. Without greater investment in quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist.”

The researchers also noted that approximately 50 percent of abortions performed in the world are unsafe, and 13 percent of all maternal deaths could be attributed to unsafe abortions in 2008. The findings also indicate that restrictive abortion laws do not necessarily result in lower rates of abortion.

Two years since the earthquake in Haiti, UN Women and UNFPA Haiti, in collaboration with the Ministry for Women Conditions and Women’s Rights (MCFDF), have worked work to improve conditions for women, who still face rapes and gender-based violence at an alarming rate. To help address this problem for the over 500,000 people still residing in camps, UNFPA Haiti installed 200 street lamps in 40 of the camps near showers, latrines, and water distribution areas last year.

UNFPA is also working to address maternal health and the growing pregnancy rate in the wake of the earthquake by building maternity clinics. The fourth clinic is currently being built, although Haiti still needs 84 more clinics to adequately address the health needs of pregnant women.

According to UNFPA, “In Haiti, only 25 percent of all deliveries occur in health institutions, and the maternal death rate is 630 mortalities per 100,000 live births, the highest in the Americas.”

According to “Condom Use Before Marriage and Its Correlates: Evidence from India,” a study published in International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, the majority of people in India having premarital sex between the ages of 15 and 24 did not use condoms. “Only 7% of young women and 27% of young men who had had premarital sex had ever used condoms.” Moreover, of the 2,408 people surveyed, only 3 percent of women and 13 percent of men reported that they used a condom every time they had sex.

K.G. Santhya, Rajib Acharya and Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, who conducted the study, found that both men and women cited their discomfort with approaching a pharmacist or medical provider as their primary reason for not obtaining and using a condom. In addition, many of those surveyed did not believe they were at risk for becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted infection: “Only 40% of the 106 women who discussed the risk of pregnancy reported having worried about becoming pregnant. Similarly, only eight of the 51 men who discussed pregnancy reported they had been worried about their partner becoming pregnant.”

The authors of the study recommend that educational programs be established to encourage condom use among young people. They also advocated for the greater accessibility of condoms.

Last week, an administrative court in Egypt banned virginity tests for women who had been arrested.

In May, a senior Egyptian general confirmed findings in an Amnesty International report that during the uprisings in Egypt, military officials conducted virginity checks on women who were arrested during the uprisings. The general stated that the virginity checks were conducted so that the women could not claim that they had been raped while in military custody. Amnesty International indicated that over 18 women were tortured, beaten, and subjected to electric shocks while being held in military detention.

Amnesty International strongly denounced the treatment of the women in its statement: “Women and girls must be able to express their views on the future of Egypt and protest against the government without being detained, tortured, or subjected to profoundly degrading and discriminatory treatment.”

On Tuesday, thousands of women gathered in Cairo as part of the “Million Women March” to protest police brutality towards female protestors. The march follows a widely broadcasted incident last weekend in which security forces brutally beat, kicked, and dragged a woman protestor. According to the New York Times, “Historians called the event the biggest women’s demonstration in modern Egyptian history, the most significant since a 1919 march against British colonialism inaugurated women’s activism here, and a rarity in the Arab world.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out against the violent treatment of protestors in a speech at Georgetown University: “women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. Women protesters have been rounded up and subjected to horrific abuse. Journalists have been sexually assaulted. And now, women are being attacked, stripped, and beaten in the streets. This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people.”

According to the Huffington Post, more than 14 people have died and over 300 people have been wounded during the clash between protestors and police forces and Tahrir Square which began Friday.

A new program in Sierra Leon, established by the Gloag Foundation, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Airtel, enables women to call a toll-free number and speak with nurses to determine whether they are eligible to receive treatment for fistulas. Since the hotline was launched in October, 119 women have undergone treatment, with an 85 percent rate of success.

Ann Gloag of the Gloag Foundation stated, “This approach might be very effective to recruit fistula patients-always a challenge considering the stigma associated with the condition-and, perhaps, a useful approach in other countries as well.”

Sia Koroma, first lady of Sierra Leon remarked, “Most of the women living with fistula are uneducated. They live in the countryside with little or no access to health facilities, ante-natal or post-natal care. The situation is particularly difficult for girls, who are not physically mature and are especially vulnerable to complications in childbirth.” Obstetric fistula primarily affects girls ages 15-19. Approximately one in eight pregnant in Sierra Leon develop a fistula.

The UNFPA describes obstetric fistula as an injury to the pelvic organs that most often occurs when a young woman undergoes long and obstructed labor, sometimes for as long as 5 days. Often, the woman cannot reach or afford the necessary medical care, which then causes her to suffer extensive tissue damage that eventually leads to the death of the baby. Another problem associated with obstetric fistula is that the injury also causes women to lose control of their bowels and bladder unless treated appropriately.