Tag: Women

A Resident Coordinator Blog — Global Issues

“Shortly before the Taliban takeover in 2021, I visited an orphanage in Kunduz, a city in the north of Afghanistan. I was heartbroken when I spoke with a young girl there who had lost her entire family the day before, following intense fighting between the Afghan National Security Forces and the Taliban.

Although she was safe from any immediate danger, had access to food, shelter and other life-saving necessities thanks to the support from our UN team on the ground, I knew that her needs and those of other vulnerable children across Afghanistan were far greater, and the problems faced by their communities more complex. 

Since then, these challenges have grown exponentially and our efforts to build a stable future for children like the ones I met last year in Kunduz have become more demanding. From hunger to chronic poverty, the scale of suffering in Afghanistan continues to rise across many areas since the Taliban advanced on Kabul last summer. 

Over half of the country’s population now live below the poverty line. Nearly 23 million people are food insecure, many of them severely so, and more than two million children are suffering from malnutrition. In June 2022, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck the central region of Afghanistan, killing over 1,000 people and pushing already vulnerable communities to the brink. 

Women ‘relegated to the margins’

I am especially worried about Afghan women and girls, whose lives have changed unrecognizably since the Taliban returned to power last summer. Since 15 August 2021, we have seen a significant rolling back of their economic, political, and social rights and a worrying escalation in restrictive gender policies and behaviours. Without the right to education, work and freedom of movement, women now find themselves increasingly relegated to the margins. 

As these developments began to unfold last year, our UN team vowed to stay and deliver for the people of Afghanistan. Under the auspices of the One UN Transitional Engagement Framework for Afghanistan, the overarching strategic planning document that guides our UN team’s work on the ground, we have been able to save lives whilst sustaining essential services and preserving key community systems.

In the first six months of this year alone, we reached 94 per cent of the overall 24.4 million people in need with some form of humanitarian assistance. Vulnerable households were supported with life-saving and life-sustaining food assistance – from emergency rations, to seasonal support, agricultural supplies and nutritious supplements – to healthcare, emergency shelter and non-food items, hygiene and protection assistance. 

Decades of neglect

Yet despite our unprecedented response, the needs across Afghanistan remain vast. Rates of food insecurity, poverty and debt have soared since the Taliban returned to power last summer, even if the roots of these problems existed long before 15 August 2021 following decades of neglect and underdevelopment in key public services and infrastructure. 

Without access to these services, including strong healthcare, a functioning banking system and resilient agricultural sector, the lives of ordinary Afghans will continue to hang in the balance. The people of Afghanistan deserve a serious commitment and sustained investment in their future, which is why, one year into the Taliban takeover, we are redoubling our efforts to strengthen the fundamental pillars of Afghan society, starting with its economy. 

Guided by the objectives set out in our Transitional Engagement Framework, we will focus on recovering the economy from the bottom up, expanding women’s economic participation and creating more than two million new jobs. With more sustainable sources of income, families will be better equipped to break out of endless cycles of hunger and slowly reduce their dependence on humanitarian assistance.

The full return of women to the workforce is essential to transforming Afghanistan’s economy, which is why we are working hard to support women-led businesses and expand employment opportunities for women across the country. 

Focus on the agricultural economy

A women-friendly health space in Kabul run by UNFPA

Since the majority of people in Afghanistan live in rural areas, we must focus particular attention on sustaining the agricultural economy by strengthening agricultural-food systems and developing stronger links between farmers, food producers and local markets.

Our UN team is already implementing these approaches in rural areas across Afghanistan, including in some of the regions affected by the recent earthquakes. Visiting this area in south-eastern Afghanistan earlier this month, one of the young men I met gave me a handwritten note which listed the immediate asks for his village: clean water, homes, education, health, roads and jobs. The message to the UN was clear: support us with these simple requests now and we can better support ourselves through the uncertainties of the future. 

As we move forward, we will continue to work to improve the lives of people in Afghan – including women and girls. When the Taliban returned to power last summer, we rapidly scaled up the provision of essential health, education and protection services for women and girls. We have expanded this support in recent months, opening new women friendly health spaces in Kabul for increased access to psychological support; scaling up mobile health teams to reach more vulnerable women and children affected by the earthquakes and rolling out more training programmes for displaced and returnee women through our empowerment centres.  

Whatever uncertainties lie ahead, we will place the needs of women and girls at the centre of our recovery efforts and will work every day to ensure that they return to work, go back to school, and are able to resume their right to live free and equal lives.  

Thinking back to this day last year, I am proud of the support our UN team has provided the people of Afghanistan, and the efforts we have made to prevent some of the worst-case scenarios that we feared from playing out. 

Profoundly moved and motivated by ground realities, I look at the challenges ahead, and reiterate our mission to ensure that every person in Afghanistan, including children like the girl from Kunduz, can plan and have a dignified future, well beyond striving for survival today.
 

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Young workers have been hit hardest by COVID fallout, says UN labour agency — Global Issues

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the pandemic has caused many additional problems for 15 to 24-year-olds who’ve experienced “much higher” unemployment losses than older workers since the global health emergency was declared in early 2020.

Young women have struggled more than their male counterparts to find work, while Arab nations are expected to see the highest levels of youth unemployment by the end of the year, compared to the global average.

“We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on youth labour markets around the world,” said Martha Newton, ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy. “It’s exposed a number of shortcomings in the way the needs of young people are addressed, especially the most vulnerable first-time job seekers, school dropouts, fresh graduates with little experience and those who remain inactive not by choice.”

Speaking at the launch of ILO’s report, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022: Investing in transforming futures for young people,  Ms. Newton said that the share of youth not in employment, education or training in 2020 rose to 23.3 per cent.

That represents an increase of 1.5 percentage points from 2019 and represents a level not seen in at least 15 years, the ILO report found.

“This group of young people are at particular risk of seeing their labour market opportunities and outcomes deteriorate also over the longer-term as ‘scarring’ effects take hold,” the report noted.

Gender inequality

The report’s takeaways include the worrying finding that young women are worse off than young men when it comes to finding a job. This year, fewer than three in 10 young women globally are expected to be in work, compared to well over four in 10 young men.

“The gender gap, which has shown little sign of closing over the past two decades, is largest in lower-middle-income countries, at 17.3 percentage points, and smallest in high-income countries, at 2.3 percentage points,” the ILO report stated.

Only high-income countries on course to recover

Latest labour data scrutinised by ILO also indicated that only high-income counties are likely to see a recovery in youth unemployment levels “close to those of 2019” by the end of this year.

In lower-income countries, youth unemployment rates are projected to remain more than one percentage point above pre-crisis values.

In Africa, the continent’s youth unemployment rate of 12.7 per cent masks the fact that many youths have chosen to withdraw from the labour market altogether, ILO said. It noted that “over one in five young people in Africa was not in employment, education, or training in 2020, and the trend has been deteriorating”.

UNICEF

Young girls in Central African Republic. Youth represents 70% of the population in CAR

The Arab States have the highest and the fastest growing unemployment rate of young people worldwide, projected at 24.8 per cent in 2022. “The situation is worse for young women in the region, with 42.5 per cent unemployment in 2022, which is almost three times as high as the global average for young women (14.5 per cent),” ILO said.

In Europe and Central Asia, unemployment among 15 to 24-year-olds is expected to be 1.5 per cent higher than the rest of the world this year (16.4 per cent compared with 14.9 per cent). Although there has been “substantial progress” in reducing youth unemployment for both women and men, ILO said that the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “highly likely to affect the results”.

While the Asia Pacific region is set to see 14.9 per cent of young workers still looking for a job by the end of the year, in line with the global average, the picture will likely remain worrying in Latin America, where the rate is expected to be 20.5 per cent.

“Historically, young women’s unemployment rates have been higher than young men’s (in Latin American countries), but the crisis exacerbated this trend,” ILO’s report stated.

The picture is radically different in North America, however, where the youth and young adult unemployment rate is expected to be well world average levels, at 8.3 per cent.

Solutions are green and blue

To address the problem, the UN labour agency urged governments to implement sustainable green and blue (ocean) policy measures. According to the report, this could generate an additional 8.4 million jobs for young people by 2030.

Targeted investments in digital technologies could also absorb high numbers of young workers, ILO maintained. By achieving universal broadband coverage by 2030, some 24 million new jobs could be created worldwide it said, with young workers taking 6.4 million of them.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Indigenous women’s work to preserve traditional knowledge celebrated on International Day — Global Issues

His appeal comes in a message to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, observed annually on 9 August. 

This year the focus is on the role indigenous women have in preserving and passing on traditional knowledge. 

Cultural champions 

“Indigenous women are knowledge keepers of traditional food systems and medicines. They are champions of Indigenous languages and cultures. They defend the environment and Indigenous peoples’ human rights,” said Mr. Guterres. 

“To build an equitable and sustainable future that leaves no one behind, we must amplify the voices of Indigenous women”. 

Indigenous traditional knowledge can offer solutions to many common global challenges, said the UN chief, recalling his recent visit to Suriname, where he learned how communities are protecting the rainforest and its rich biodiversity. 

Mr. Guterres urged countries to implement the landmark UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to promote Indigenous traditional knowledge for the benefit of all. 

WFP/Nelson Pacheco

Agronomist Deborah Suc, a member of the Poqomchi community, works for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Guatemala.

‘We are the same’ 

In connection with the International Day, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been highlighting the contributions of some of its staff who are from indigenous communities. 

Deborah Suc, an agronomist in Guatemala, is the first woman from the Poqomchi ethnic group to graduate from university.  

Ms. Suc works as a WFP field technician in the San Cristóbal municipality, which is located in Alta Verapaz department in north central Guatemala.   

She supports the implementation of resilience activities in Poqomchi and Q’eqchi’ indigenous communities towards reducing poverty and hunger. Her job involves hosting workshops, leading meetings, or visiting families in their homes. 

“When the women see me driving the car and I get out dressed in my suit, they are surprised and say, ‘We knew you spoke Poqomchí, but we didn’t know you were one of us.’ I tell them that we are the same and that we can all do different things”. 

The way Ms. Suc is treated in San Cristóbal is light years away from her experience at university, where some people would make crude jokes at her expense. 

Pride and prejudice 

Unfortunately, the discrimination did not end when she received her master’s degree. 

“When I get to some places in my suit, they stare at me with contemptuous expressions. On one occasion, while I was waiting to start a workshop at a government institution related to education, a person approached me to hand me the dirty dishes because he thought I was the cleaning person. He was very surprised when he found out that I was going to facilitate the workshop,” she recalled. 

“Before, I was very affected by the way they saw me, but now I don’t take the time to pay attention to it because I feel very proud of who I am, of the mum and dad I have, of the person I am now”. 

WFP/Nelson Pacheco

Guatemala. WFP Staff Deborah Suc International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

Respect for all 

Ms, Suc had always worked outside her municipality, but now that she has returned to San Cristóbal she said “it is a satisfaction to work for my people”.  She also is proud to be an inspiration to her community. 

“Nothing makes me happier than knowing that I can inspire other people and say, ‘Look, if we didn’t have a chance to study, now with these trainings you’re going to have other skills, you’re going to learn other things,” she said. 

WFP asked Ms. Suc what would she like her colleagues to learn on the International Day. 

She said she wanted them to know that indigenous peoples have principles and values, and that they have great respect for nature, which in turn means respect for people. 

“I would like them to learn that we have a lot of respect for the value of the word, we have many cultural values, and we are people who like to get ahead,” she responded. 

“In addition, many of the negative things that are said about indigenous peoples arenot true. The thing is, we haven’t had the opportunities, but when we’ve had them, we were able to do a lot of things.” 

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

‘We cannot wait for famine to be declared; we must act now’ — Global Issues

Due to drought and lack of livelihood support, people living in eight areas of the country could be experiencing famine by September. “We cannot wait for famine to be declared; we must act now to safeguard livelihoods and lives,” Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience said, following a recent visit to the country.

More than three million animals essential to Somalia’s pastoral communities have died so far and crop production has substantially dropped due to unprecedented poor rainfalls and intense dry conditions.

The continuing death of livestock, key commodity prices rising further and humanitarian assistance failing to reach the most vulnerable, have forced many people living mostly in rural areas, to move to displaced persons camps.

Urgent funding problems

In order to assist 882,000 people across 55 districts with immediate lifesaving and livelihood support, FAO Somalia urgently requires $131.4 million. But famine prevention efforts in Somalia are only 46 per cent funded, and the 2022 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan is just 43 per cent funded, as of 4 August.

The latter is part of the FAO’s wider Horn of Africa Drought Response Plan, which also covers Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. “We have urgent problems with funding,” Mr. Paulsen said.

FAO has been “ringing the alarm bells” since April last year and the failure of successive rains, but a response “hasn’t happened at the levels needed”. This has led to vulnerable farmers being “forced to move as livestock are dying and crops failing. Now everyone has to mobilize quickly and at scale” he added.

Impact of drought

“We are deeply concerned about the drought situation and how vulnerable households are being affected,” Mr. Paulsen said, describing how one family of seven travelled over 100 kilometres to reach the displaced persons camp seven months ago.

“They came here because their livestock had died. They came here because they had no means to survive in the rural areas,” he explained.

Agricultural intervention

Agriculture accounts for up to 60 per cent of Somalia’s gross domestic product, 80 per cent of its employment, and 90 per cent of its exports.

Mr. Paulsen underlined how it was vitally important to understand that agriculture is a frontline humanitarian response. “Not only does it meet needs, it reduces the drivers of those needs effectively. Agriculture needs more attention and more funding to enable timely action in response to agricultural seasons,” he said.

Scale up response

According to Mr. Paulsen, the response in rural areas must be scaled up to help vulnerable people “where they are” as this is “more effective [and] more humane”.

He called for “multi-sectoral responses” to support livelihoods, but warned that “more funding from donors,” needed to come in. The focus is on supporting livelihoods, Mr. Paulsen explained.

This involves providing cash to allow people to buy food and keeping their animals alive with emergency feeding, vet treatments, and water supplies. Farmers must be able to plant, particularly in riverine areas where cropping with irrigation is feasible. 

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

10 projects that will change lives of women and girls — Global Issues

The challenge was financed by UNFPA’s Equalizer Accelerator Fund, and implemented in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Trade Centre.

Entrants were given the incentive of a cash prize which would allow them to expand their ideas from the test stage, to full production, for the potential benefit of millions around the world.

The challenge received further funding from the Governments of Luxembourg, Finland, and Denmark. Launched in 2021, UNFPA’s Fund provides equity-free investments in social enterprises that are led or co-led by women, and can show evidence of the impact they will have.

Key to progress

Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s Executive Director said, in relation to the competition that “creative thinking and innovative solutions are key to accelerate progress for women and girls around the world.”

The 2022 challenge is awarding ten women-helmed organizations hailing from five different regions globally.

Initially, a panel of experts received 300 submissions from 61 countries. After 20 finalists pitched their innovative ideas to the panel, the eventual 10 winners then signed nine-month contracts with UNFPA and will be receiving an equity-free investment of $60,000.

The funding will allow winning organizations to transition away from the pilot stage, and begin manufacturing at scale.

UNFPA and its partners will also support the social enterprises with targeted mentorship, training opportunities, interactive workshops, and unique access to the global UN network.

The winning ideas varied in function, but were united in ingenuity, said the agency. Examples of winning designs ranged from a portable diagnostic system for pre-eclampsia, to a board game that disseminates information on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

See below for the full list of winners from around the world:

Foundation Paniamor, Costa Rica

Foundation Paniamor as developed a novel digital toolkit for adolescent girls to help prevent and respond to online violence. 

GerHub, Mongolia

GerHub reaches women and girls in remote areas with information and sexual and reproductive health services through mobile clinics and telemedicine.

The Global Pre-Eclampsia Initiative, Uganda

A portable diagnostic system that helps pregnant women with early detection, timely referral, and effective management of pre-eclampsia – a life-threatening hypertensive disorder causing up to 10 per cent of pregnancy-related deaths in Africa. 

Hillspring Diagnostics, Nigeria

A revolutionary method for detecting ectopic pregnancy, a condition which can have dangerous consequences including death of the mother and baby, if not diagnosed and treated in time.

Impact Innovations Institute, Armenia

The SafeYou app, is a unique digital solution that provides women and girls with security functions to protect them against violence, and offers tools for survivors. 

KızBaşına, Turkey

An immersive augmented reality experience that aims to stop gender-based violence by introducing users to simulations based on women’s real-life experiences.

Tirando X Colombia, based in Colombia

An AI-enhanced chatbot that provides adolescent girls with quality sexual and reproductive health information and services, helping to end the cycle of poverty generated by many teenage pregnancies.

ToguMogu, Bangladesh

A one-stop family health and wellbeing platform that provides access to family planning, reproductive health information, and services for young women and new mothers.

Urukundo Initiative, Rwanda

Urukundo Life Skills Board Game is the first ever licensed low-tech educational game in Rwanda that disseminates information on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Women in Entrepreneurship and Technology (WETECH), Cameroon

A community hub and women’s innovation centre, that offers a digital tool that connects  survivors and persons at risk of gender-based violence via a secure and confidential messaging platform. 

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Women working together, to survive Lebanon’s economic crisis — Global Issues

Al Atayeb (The Delicacies), a Lebanese women-led cooperative based in Kfardebian town, north of Beirut, specializes in producing Lebanese local and traditional food, such as citrus marmalade, fruit jam, fruit paste, and the famous Lebanese Makdous (Pickled eggplants in oil).

The 13 women who make up the cooperative each receive a share of the profits, as well as a salary, earned from their work preparing and processing the food. The local farmers who sell their crops also benefit. 

‘My way of empowering women’

“Teaching food processing skills was my way of empowering women”, says Samira Zoughaib Akiki, the chairperson of Al Atayeb. It also empowered me, given that I was surrounded by generous women with a vision”. 

Ms. Akiki started out in the food industry around two decades ago, running food processing workshops and training sessions for women. This experience led her and her colleagues to form Al Atayeb as a cooperative, create job opportunities, and ensure that all members would share in the success of the enterprise.

When Lebanon’s economic crisis was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Akiki learned that UN Lebanon was providing essential support to cooperatives such as Al Atayeb.

“The UN provided monthly salaries for women to sustain their income, the oil and sugar we use to produce our food, and the jars necessary for preserving produce,” says Ms. Akiki. “This addressed our financial needs, replenishing our capital and compensated our losses: we were able to resume our activities at a time when many businesses were shutting down”.

UNDP Lebanon

Samira Zoughaib Akiki, Chair of Al Atayeb Cooperative, choosing fresh apples for processing.

In all, UN Lebanon has supported 94 cooperatives from different villages in Lebanon such as Deir Al Ahmar, Fneidek, Qana, Harissa, and Lehfed, with a focus on women. This support has been in the form of cash for work and in-kind support such as raw materials, equipment, and tools. At least 6,000 individuals have benefited from the $4.4 million project, funded by the German Development Bank KfW, through the UN Development Programme.

Al Atayeb cooperative has been a key factor in helping many families in Kfardebian survive the crises, making women proud of themselves and their community. “Our cooperative represents the values we believe in”, continues Ms. Akiki proudly. “We work with passion. We help our community and serve the public good“.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Confronting victim-blaming for sexual assault — Global Issues

“A blue dress, black tights and boots. That’s what I was wearing,” said Jessica Long, a sexual violence survivor who has been campaigning for the rights of survivors, for the past six years. “That’s what I was wearing the night I was drugged. I was raped. And I was left alone to die”. 

This and other offensive questions are consistently put to traumatized victims around the world – placing blame on their shoulders for a crime perpetrated against them.  

UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

To highlight the victim-blaming that underpins these kind of questions, US civil rights organization Rise partnered with the UN Spotlight Initiative to stage an exhibition  at UN Headquarters in New York, that confirms the pervasiveness of sexual violence across all cultures and underscores that what a victim is wearing, should have no bearing in the investigation of a heinous crime. 

Search for justice 

Sexual violence is a universal issue that demands greater international recognition.  

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 35 per cent of women globally, or more than one-third of the world’s population, have survived sexual violence. 

This is equivalent to the combined populations of North America and Europe. Rape is an epidemic. 

Clothing is irrelevant, it is never an invitation for violence, and does not cause attacks. Perpetrators do.  

“What I was wearing should not matter,” said survivor Samantha McCoy, an attorney and activist from Texas.  

She stressed that her geographical location should not determine “whether I received proper care”, reminding that consent cannot be given, if a person is “not responsive”. 

Since 2018, through her tireless advocacy work Samantha has been successful in advocating for new legislation on the issue, in Indiana and Texas. And she continues to seek legal reform, on behalf of all survivors. 

Shifting the narrative 

In the fashion world, the question “what were you wearing?” can empower, celebrate creativity and mark influence. But for survivors of sexual violence, it becomes a ritualistic blame tactic.  

Spotlight Initiative

During the launch, Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed observed that “by asking the question What Were You Wearing?, this exhibition flips the narrative on victim-shaming and blaming”. 

“They mirror the diversity of people who experience violence from every region of the world, including a two-year-old child…[and] demonstrate more clearly than any legal argument could, that women and girls are attacked regardless of what they are wearing,” she said.  

General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid said the exhibit “underscored the reality that the threat of rape looms over the lives of all women, regardless of their station in life…their occupation, [or] their clothing choices”.  

“This exhibition should be a catalyst to spur important conversations about our collective responsibility to eliminate violence against women and girls”.  

Setting the stage 

Representing each of the five UN Regional Groups, mannequins were clothed in the outfits worn by women as they were being sexually assaulted – 103 in all, symbolizing the 1.3 billion survivors of sexual violence across the globe. 

“They were worn by women and girls just going about their daily lives – until they were attacked,” said the deputy UN chief. “No one should be assaulted based on their choice of clothing. No one should be abused. Full stop”. 

No one should be abused. Full stop –  UN deputy chief

Survivor Amanda Nguyen, CEO and Founder of Rise, underscored that “what we were wearing at the time of our attack was not an invitation for violence…did not cause the attack…[and] is irrelevant”. 

 “By boldly answering the question and showing the world what we were wearing, we see an opportunity to open minds and shift attitudes about what sexual assault looks like,” she explained. 

Shifting mindsets 

The project highlights the bravery and resilience of survivors. And displaying inside UN Headquarters the visceral and mundane reality of sexual assault, adds a powerful layer of international symbolism.  

Survivor Kadijatu Grace described herself as a “lucky one” who gets to speak for those who cannot, “like young Khadija, my namesake, that was raped and killed two years ago”. 

She recalled that when civil war broke out in Sierra Leone, rebels abducted and raped girls. Then 13-years-old, the young teenager’s mother bought her a boat ticket and in desperation, entrusted Kadijatu’s escape to a stranger. 

“He took me to where the engines were, so nobody would hear, strangled me, put my hands behind my back, stuffed my mouth with his shirt, warned he would throw me over if I spoke out and threatened to go back and kill my mother,” she recounted. 

It took time, but Kadijatu was finally able to acknowledge that she was raped through no fault of her own.  

“You thought you broke me, but you gave me a platform,” she said triumphantly. Now, “I will never stop telling my story”.  

Changing the system 

Back in 2019, Britney Lane was sexually assaulted by a coworker during a night out with friends.  

“I repeated my story numerous times that day, starting with local police and ending with staff from two different hospitals. The first question I was asked by almost every police officer and doctor was: what were you wearing?” 

At the time of the attack, the officer who took her statement advised Britney against pressing charges, saying that there did not seem to be enough evidence.  

“Like many other survivors, I was filled with embarrassment, shame and guilt,” she said. “I can’t change what happened to me that night, but I can work to change the system to ensure no one is failed again”.  

I can work to change the system to ensure no one is failed again –  Survivor-turned-activist

Advocating for justice 

Amanda still remembers spending six hours in the hospital the night after she was raped. 

“I felt so alone”.  

The first time she told her story to public officials, the woman who later founded Rise, went home and cried.  

“They didn’t care. But the next morning, I got back up and I did it again”.  

En route to speak to Congress, Amanda’s stoic Uber driver asked where she was going. After being told, he began to cry, opening up that his daughter was also raped.  

“Can I shake your hand?” he asked upon their arrival. “Thank you so much for fighting for my daughter”.  

Resolution  

Although protesters march worldwide demanding justice for survivors, and hashtags, such as #MeTo, have become massive on social media, the UN General Assembly has yet to pass a resolution focused solely on protection of sexual violence survivors.  

It did however, unanimously adopt a new agenda item that enshrines access to justice for sexual assault survivors and permanently places it on the Assembly’s docket to be the discussed annually by UN Member States.  

At the same time, a resolution has been drafted, which would provide universal jurisdiction to prosecute offences, the ability to terminate legal ties with the assailant, and the ability to report the crime without financial cost to the survivor. 

Paris Hilton, granddaughter of the US hotel magnet, was at age 16, woken up by two men with handcuffs and transported across state lines to a residential treatment facility.  

“For two years, I endured physical, psychological and sexual abuse by staff. I felt so powerless. I’m here today because this abuse is still happening,” she said in support of the proposed draft. 

Video player

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Abortion in CanadaLegal for Decades But Hindered by Stigma — Global Issues

While abortion in Canada has been legal for decades, procuring one is difficult for many. Credit: Gayatri Malhotra/Unsplash
  • by Juliet Morrison (ottawa)
  • Inter Press Service

Ottawa, Jul 19 (IPS) – Toronto resident Miranda Knight describes her abortion experience as relatively simple. After finding out she was pregnant on a Wednesday in 2017, she booked an appointment at an available clinic and got one for the following Monday. She had the procedure that day and left the clinic by noon.

But Knight’s experience is not the reality for all. As Canada’s most populous city, Toronto has several access points to abortion. Despite abortion being legal nationwide since 1988 and officially treated like any other medical procedure, many other parts of the country do not have access points.

The United Nations has highlighted this disparity. A 2016 report from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women encouraged the Canadian government to improve the accessibility of abortion services nationwide.

According to the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC), fewer than one in five hospitals offer the procedure.

ARCC Executive Director Joyce Arthur said access could be a real struggle for those living outside cities or far from the US border. Most access points are found within less than 150 kilometers of a town, where most Canadians live.

“As soon as you’re away from the city, or up north, you often might have to travel for services, sometimes hundreds of kilometers, and even sometimes for medication. Access is pretty good in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec , but the rest of the provinces only have one or two or three or four access points. It’s just not enough,” she said.

Abortion access differs by province partly because healthcare in Canada is a provincial responsibility. According to 2019 figures, Quebec has the highest number of access points with 49 province-wide, while Newfoundland and Labrador have four and Saskatchewan has three.

Abortion in Canada by province. The data was published August 2019 with information from the 2014 Abortion Provider Survey. Credit: Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Healthcare disparities among rural and urban communities are a significant issue in Canada—especially considering the country’s geography. But Arthur told IPS that unequal abortion access went beyond that.

“Canada is a really big country geographically, so other health care procedures might be hard to access, and people have to travel sometimes. But abortion is a very simple procedure. Early-first trimester abortion can be done on an outpatient basis and doesn’t really require a lot of special equipment. Why aren’t more hospitals doing it?”

Arthur believes the culprit is stigma from the anti-choice movement.

“Much of this is due to remaining abortion stigma from before it was de-criminalized. The anti-choice movement has continued to play a big role in reinforcing that stigma and instilling fear in providers. There’s still this feeling of silencing and shame, which comes from abortion stigma,” she said.

Arthur explained it was not that long ago that doctors would get shot for performing abortions in Canada. From the late 1970s until the mid-1990s, there were several instances of violence against physicians in their own homes.

“That permeates on various levels, not just at the level of the doctor or the patient, but also in government and in medical organizations who would rather just not have to deal with abortion and not have to think about it,” she said.

Disparities in access have led community organizers to step up and help those in need get care.

Shannon Hardy, a birth doula, founded Abortion Support Services Atlantic (ASSA) in 2012 after encountering issues related to abortion access across the Atlantic provinces.

“Some things came across my desk about lack of access in Prince Edward Island. And I didn’t actually know that PEI didn’t offer abortion services, like the entire island for 32 years just didn’t offer it. It kind of blew my mind,” she said.

People wanting to terminate their pregnancy can contact ASSA for information, peer support, transport to abortion clinics, or even financial help for travel. In these cases, Hardy told IPS that ASSA would often fundraise to pay for gas, hotels, or flights.

Support services are beneficial for those encountering stigma, Hardy said.

“When a person is facing an ill-timed or unwanted pregnancy, they can immediately feel a stigma around seeking abortion care. Who is safe to reach out to? Will people judge me? Will my doctor/medical center offer me care? My goal for creating ASSA was to have a place where anyone seeking abortion care could reach out and help would just be there.”

Hardy’s work has spearheaded a movement. Many other doula organizations have popped up across the country with a similar model. They also often collaborate with national abortion advocacy organizations to help people access the procedure in circumstances that require on-the-ground coordination and support.

Yet, Hardy believes that the need for organizations like ASSA point to critical access issues across the country and inaction at government levels.

“It’s been frustrating that there’s not more access. We, as a grassroots organization, are the ones responsible for getting people from one small town to access abortion instead of the healthcare system stepping in and saying, ‘you know what, we actually have the resources to offer that medical service. So, we’re just going to do that to make life easier’,” she said.

The proportion of hospitals providing abortions to the female population. Credit: Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Working in Alberta, one of Canada’s most socially conservative provinces, Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson is familiar with how attitudes on abortion can impact care. She founded Alberta Abortion Access Network to help those across the province in 2015.

Reinhardt-Simpson told IPS that those in rural areas face increased access issues because their care is more dependent on the “private moral concerns” of the health care professionals in their area.

This can make trying to get an abortion more complicated, she explained. Many physicians and pharmacists are either unwilling to offer reproductive health services or unaware of their legality.

In one case, Reinhardt-Simpson had to visit ten different pharmacies to find one that stocked Mifegymiso—the abortion pill that became legal in 2017.

“They were saying things like, ‘Oh well, we can’t dispense this, or this isn’t legal yet. Or well, we can’t get the medication.’ And it’s like no, no, that’s not how this works,” she said.

Alberta has only four access points for surgical abortions, all in its cities. Along with another helper, Reinhardt-Simpson services the whole of Alberta’s 661,848 km² (411, 253 mi²) and helps people access abortion services.

In her view, the stigma around abortion care is detrimental. It can even be physically harmful—particularly for those in later trimesters desperate for solutions.

“The stigma is preventing thousands of Albertans from receiving critical and routine health care. Because there are so many hoops to jump through, some people will get tired of those hoops, and they will try to do something themselves. It doesn’t usually end well. the stigma is physically dangerous, it’s emotionally harmful, and culturally it does us no good,” she said.

Being familiar with reproductive justice issues as a community organizer, Knight feels compelled to share her abortion story to combat stigma and normalize the procedure.

She’s currently developing a storytelling project that will feature diverse abortion experiences. Knight told IPS the project’s proceeds would go to improving access across Canada. She hopes to help to improve access for others, considering how essential the procedure was for her.

“My prevailing feeling about the whole thing was just relief. I don’t want to live in an alternate universe where I didn’t have access to abortion. My life would be very different now,” she said.

IPS UN Bureau Report


Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram

© Inter Press Service (2022) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

UN report — Global Issues

The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: a global analysis in the time of COVID-19, was published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).  

It documents a raw gender pay gap of roughly 20 percentage points which jumps to 24 percentage points when factors such as age, education and working time are taken into account. 

Discrimination a factor 

While much of this gap is unexplained, the agencies said it is perhaps due to discrimination towards women, who account for nearly 70 per cent of health and care workers worldwide. 

The report also revealed that wages in the health and care tend to be lower overall when compared with other sectors, which is consistent with the finding that wages often are lower in areas where women are predominant. 

Furthermore, even with the pandemic, and the crucial role played by health and care workers during the crisis, there were only marginal improvements in pay equality between 2019 and 2020. 

“The health and care sector has endured low pay in general, stubbornly large gender pay gaps, and very demanding working conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic clearly exposed this situation while also demonstrating how vital the sector and its workers are in keeping families, societies and economies going,” said Manuela Tomei, Director of Conditions of Work and Equality Department at the ILO. 

Working mothers penalized 

The report also found a wide variation in gender pay gaps in different countries, indicating that these gaps are not inevitable and that more can be done to close the divide.  

Within countries, gender pay gaps tend to be wider in higher pay categories, where men are over-represented, while women are over-represented in the lower pay categories.  

Mothers working in the health and care sector also appear to suffer additional penalties, with gender pay gaps significantly increasing during a woman’s reproductive years and persisting throughout the rest of her working life.  

A more equitable sharing of family duties between men and women could lead to women making different job choices, according to the report.  

The analysis also examines factors that are driving the gender pay gaps in the health and care sector.  

© UNICEF/Ismail Taxta

A healthcare worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Dialogue and action 

Differences in age, education and working time, as well as the difference in the participation of men and women in the public or private sectors, only address part of the problem.  

The reasons why women are paid less than men with similar labour market profiles remains, to a large extent, unexplained by labour market factors, the report said.  

Ms. Tomei expressed hope that the report will spark dialogue and policy action as there will be no inclusive, resilient and sustainable post-pandemic recovery without a stronger health and care sector. 

“We cannot have better-quality health and care services without better and fairer working conditions, including fairer wages, for health and care workers, the majority of whom are women,” she said.   

Jim Campbell, WHO’s Director of Health Workforce, added that the report contains success stories in several countries, including wage increases and political commitment to pay equity, which point the way forward. 

“Women comprise the majority of workers in the health and care sector, yet in far too many countries systemic biases are resulting in pernicious pay penalties against them,” he said.  

“The evidence and analysis in this ground-breaking report must inform governments, employers and workers to take effective action.” 

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Rights Groups Question ‘Pregnancy Register’ for Polish Women — Global Issues

  • by Ed Holt (bratislava)
  • Inter Press Service

BRATISLAVA, Jul 05 (IPS) – Women’s rights groups fear a new legal provision in Poland requiring doctors to collect records on all pregnancies could create what they have described as a ‘pregnancy register’ to monitor whether women are having abortions.

Poland has some of Europe’s strictest abortion laws with terminations allowed in only two instances – if the woman’s health or life is at risk and if the pregnancy is the result of either rape or incest.

Until last year, abortions had also been allowed in cases where the foetus had congenital defects, but this exemption was removed following a legal challenge by members of the ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which some critics accuse of systematically suppressing women’s rights.

Rights groups and opposition MPs say that in light of the tightened abortion legislation, they are worried that the pregnancy data could be used in an unprecedented state surveillance campaign against women.

“A pregnancy register in a country with an almost complete ban on abortion is terrifying,” Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-B?k, an MP for The Left (Lewica) political alliance in Poland, said on Twitter. “Even today, Polish women avoid getting pregnant out of fear that they will be forced to give birth in every situation. There are even more reasons to be scared now,” she added.

The new provision was approved by Health Minister Adam Niedzielski on June 3 and will come into effect in October when medical staff will begin collecting additional information from patients, including data on pregnancies. This will then be entered into the country’s central Medical Information System (SIM).

Critics question why this data is being collected now, and who will have access to it, pointing out that information about pregnancies is already available in medical records, while some Polish lawyers have claimed that police and prosecutors will be allowed access to the data under certain circumstances.

Mara Clarke of the international group Abortion Without Borders said that while the collection of the information may not appear harmful in itself, against the background of the recent tightening of already very strict abortion laws, the move will only increase fears among women in Poland over their reproductive rights.

She told IPS: “There is a difference between information being gathered in a free, democratic country, and being gathered in a state with a regime suppressing women’s rights. Any talk of a pregnancy register cannot be construed as anything other than an attempt to again attack women’s rights. It will only promote more fear among women.”

Some doctors agree, saying patients have already expressed fears about what the data collection could mean.

Michal Gontkiewicz, a gynaecologist at a district hospital in Plonsk, central Poland, told local TV station TVN 24: “As a tool in itself this is not dangerous, but patients may fear it will be used as a tool of the regime. Women are afraid that if they experience a spontaneous miscarriage, which is already a huge trauma for them, someone will accuse them of terminating the pregnancy, multiplying their trauma.”

The Health Ministry has rejected claims that it is trying to create a ‘pregnancy register’ and said the provision is being implemented as part of requirements to meet EU health regulations on patient data.

A spokesman for the ministry told IPS: “We are not creating any register, only expanding the reporting system based on recommendations of the European Commission. Only medics will have access to the data.

“Information about pregnancy is important for medics, because, for example, pregnant women should not undergo a number of medical procedures, and certain medicinal products cannot be prescribed to them.”

Some local doctors have also sought to play down the significance of the data collection, pointing out that bodies such as state social insurance institutions can already check up on pregnancies and that law enforcement agencies can already access medical data in certain instances if approved by a court.

But with questions over the country’s judiciary – Poland has already been censured by the European Commission over a lack of judicial independence – critics of the provision worry the existence of the register will only make an already bad situation worse.

The Polish rights group, Women’s Strike, claims police are already involved in questioning women whose pregnancies have ended, often after being contacted by angry partners.

“Given the current state of the judicial system in Poland and the threat of investigation in cases of undelivered pregnancies, this raises a lot of concerns,” Wiktoria Magnuszewska, an activist with Lex Q, a Polish LGBT+ advocacy organisation, told IPS.

Before the provision comes into effect, activists are trying to reassure Polish women that the provision does not represent a change to legislation on terminations.

Under Poland’s abortion laws, it is not illegal to have an abortion, but it is illegal to help someone do so. Many women in Poland who want an abortion self-administer pills bought online from abroad, or travel to neighbouring countries with less restrictive legislation, such as Germany and the Czech Republic, for terminations.

“Our Polish helpline has already had a few calls from women concerned about what the situation would be if they wanted an abortion. The good news is that there is no danger that women will no longer be able to self-administer abortions,” said Clarke.

However, the fear of how the ‘pregnancy register’ could be used already appears to be driving Polish women away from the country’s doctors.

Eva Ptaskova of the Ciocia Czesia volunteer organisation in the Czech Republic which helps Polish women access reproductive services, including abortions in local facilities, says her group has already been contacted by clients looking not for terminations, but gynaecologists who will treat them during their pregnancy because they do not want their details recorded in Poland.

She told IPS: “The situation in Poland is beginning to look more and more like something from The Handmaid’s Tale. What we are seeing is women with concerns that this could open the door to investigations of pregnancies that are ‘no longer’.

“This could deter women from seeking medical care, for instance, post-abortion care, which could then be very dangerous to their health. I worry it will get to the point where women will be scared to go to a gynaecologist at all because the information will be recorded that could one day be used against them.”

IPS UN Bureau Report


Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram

© Inter Press Service (2022) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version