We The Women

Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for Official Languages and La Francophonie, Josee Verner pronounced two new projects in Afghanistan that would focus the role of women and girls in society. She made the declaration on her visit to the nation with the Ministers of Education and Women’s Affairs, Hosna Bano Ghanzanfar. Elaborating further, she said, ‘These projects also mobilize the power of women as agents of economic development and social change, to improve the well-being of their families and their communities’. The first plan is Girls’ Education Project, which is estimated to round about $14.5. It is to be executed by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in alliance with the Afghan Ministry of Education. The second will aim at Integrating Women into Markets by providing $5 million help to the women folk and is looked after by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) based in Waterloo, Ontario.

According to a recent study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), half of the working women in the Territory take paid maternity leave when having a baby in comparison with the women all over the country. The survey further revealed that approximately a quarter of Northern Territory women don’t return to their original jobs. Moreover, those who return came back after a gap of 33 weeks, which is longest in the country next only to Tasmania. And three-quarters of partners too took leave from work after the birth of a child.

The Australian Active Ageing (AAA) a nationwide study has postulated that women with lower incomes anticipate the danger of violence than old age. The results corresponded with the International Week without Violence (October 25-31) and the national Reclaim the Night women’s march (October 27). Jan Lovie Kitchin an Associate Professor from the Faculty of Health said, ‘Fear of violence needs to be recognised as a barrier to older people’s social connectedness and the health and wellbeing of older women specifically. They might experience feelings of exposure to danger because of their smaller size and lesser strength. But they could also feel vulnerable because of their limited finances and lack of knowledge which might force them to depend on people they don’t necessarily trust’.

Life for women in Afghanistan is as always going through the tough patches however, United Nations program of bee keeping by the female refugees is a ray of hope towards earning their livelihood. Participation of approximately 50 women has been recorded in the program that first started in Jalalabad suburb in end of June this year. They have shown inquisitiveness in learning to rear the bees. After the disintegration of Taliban regime in 2001, Afghan refugees have decided to return to their country however scattering unemployment have made them to struggle amongst themselves.

Ishim, a women’s monastery of St. John in the Tyumen region of Siberia has been freezed by the registration Service of Russia. The state agency said that the monastery, headed by a U.S. citizen, failed to meet the registration rules for NGOs in Russia. On scrutiny, it was discovered that the activities of the organization did not match up to those that declared in its order. Further, the monastery has been moved to its original location, that is, Odessa, Ukraine.

Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Social Services declared that the Ontario government would try to overcome the violence faced by the nomadic women with a $2 million boost for women’s shelters. In a news forum, the Minister said ‘Domestic violence is a lot higher in the aboriginal community, and we’re addressing that today’. Meilleur further added that the fund would also aim towards women of francophone community. Four Ontario women’s shelter will get benefit from the fund.

Two girl karate players compete in the First Women’s Olympics of Afghanistan in the capital city of Kabul, Nov. 6, 2006. The games, which last from Nov. five to nine included basketball, karate, judo, volleyball and taekwondo competitions. Two girl karate players compete during the First Women’s Olympics of Afghanistan in the capital city of Kabul, Nov. 6, 2006. A girl karate player ties waistband for another player (C) during the First Women’s Olympics of Afghanistan in the capital city of Kabul, Nov. 6, 2006.

At the commencement of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (Figo) congress at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said, ‘In some countries, the rate of women dying during the reproductive process is extremely high. Much can be done when governments and the medical fraternity work together. And maternal health is one such area’. Around 8,000 gynaecologists and obstetricians from 130 countries took part in the event. He commended Figo for it’s dynamic position in dealing with the subject of maternal mortality and awareness on cervical cancer among women. He also thanked Figo president Prof Arnaldo Acosta and Figo 2006 organising committee chairperson Lord Naren Patel for their ‘untiring support and guidance for the preparations for the international congress’.

Last week, Madrid was chosen as a fulcrum of meeting point for the Muslim women. Some twelve women from diverse backgrounds and from various countries collected to talk about ‘Islamic Women and their Civil Right’. Spain’s Institute of Women and Movement for Peace planned for the discussion. Asma Lambaret, a spokesperson from Morocco said that re-reading of the revered text should be carried forward but with a feminist’s viewpoint. She offered that there exists a great difference between what the text actually is and what the interpreters construe it. She further said, ‘For fourteen centuries a machismo reading has been imposed on society. On the death of the Prophet, men did not relay his message of the liberation of women. They went back to their old ways and no more was heard of the rights women should have’.

A large number of women, civil society groups, rights activists and student organizations gathered themselves outside the journalist union headquarters in central Cairo to point the finger at ‘the silence of the official media and the government’ on the violence against women. Some women veiled others not carried on their rallies and shouted slogans amidst police officials. During the holy month of Ramadan, a gang of men assaulted and sexually exploited young women while the so-called security guards did nothing to stop the battering. However, the Interior Ministry has rebuffed the whole episode saying that no such events have been reported so far. The irony of the situation is that while the native government has fully ignored the wretched situation of the region but the various blogs have picked up the accounts from eyewitness, which were further circulated by local independent media and the foreign press. Speaking on the issue, a human rights activist, Mona Ezzat said, ‘The Egyptian police are only concerned about the security of the president while the country is going to ruin. It is the police themselves who introduced into our country this type of violent practice against women, assaulting them at demonstrations.’