 
Women Changing Worlds
When a family in Kibaha, Tanzania, needs dinner the mother has to walk for 3 hours to collect the water. She hikes for over an hour to collect firewood and then returns to prepare the meal. She does this after labouring on a local farm all day. Women in some communities can spend as long as 6 hours a day carrying heavy loads of water and fuel. As a consequence, they are often physically exhausted and are more vulnerable to malnutrition, disease and poor health. Undoubtedly, women bear the greater burdens of poverty. Consequently, they must become a focus for any human development. How might this be achieved? This week's backgrounder explains.
 
Womens' issues threaten to derail Cancun
Women's issues are amongst those putting the WTO summit at Cancun at risk. Wide differences between rich and poor nations, as well as anti-globalisation
protests at the conference site and worldwide threaten failure for the 146-nation
World Trade Organisation's (WTO) fifth ministerial meeting, starting on
Wednesday in the east Mexican holiday resort of Cancun - The Times of Malta
Poverty, Aids Continue to Undermine Women's Development
Poverty and HIV/AIDS are evils that would continue to undermine development, Zambian
Vice-President Nevers Mumba has said. Amongst women, prevalence peaks are at 29.4 per cent in the 30 to 34 age group
whilst for men the peaks are at 22.4 per cent in the 35-39 age group. The UN Appeal stated that 1.8 million children in Zambia were increasingly vulnerable
while the traditional family social safety net is being destroyed by HIV/AIDS - allAfrica.com
Eradication Of Illiteracy Pakistan Govt's Top Agenda
Eradication of illiteracy
has been one of the major concern of the present Pakistan government and
after realizing all shortcomings in literacy programmes, the
government has given due importance to the literacy sector under
devolution plan. Speaking on the occasion, Advisor to Prime Minister on Special Education, Women development and Social
welfare, Nilofar Bakhtiar, stressed the need for female education as it plays a vital role in developing the best in each
generation - Paknews.com
 
Lessons from the Field: ICTs and Women's Empowerment
Throughout much of the developing world, gender discrimination makes it
especially difficult for women to access and benefit from ICTs. Unless women
are actively involved in the planning and use of new information
technologies, there is a risk that ICTs will serve to reinforce, rather than
overcome, gender inequalities. Recognizing the importance of women using
ICTs, many projects are incorporating gender analysis to address women's
access, participation, and determination of how such technologies are
designed and deployed - digitaldividend.org
 
Women: the very devil
The Church has a long and shameful record of discrimination against
women. They are conceptualised as 'the other', defined by their
non-conformity to the church's master narrative of white, heterosexual, middle-class,
Anglo-Saxon males. Think for a moment of substituting the word "blacks" for "women". Would Archbishop Tutu or Nelson Mandela feel that there wasn't a problem
if blacks were only discriminated against in parts of South Africa? Would Indigenous
leaders in Australia and New Zealand feel that there was no racism, if their people
were only denied full equality with whites in some places? How can a woman feel
that the church does not discriminate against women, just because she does not
personally encounter such prejudice? - Caroline Miley
 
Women's World Summit Foundation
Women and children (girls and boys under the age of 18) represent the world's largest
constituency but have almost nothing to say in shaping the economic and political space in which they live. Thus it was considered imperative that their thoughts and visions, intuitive skills, concrete and effective participation in development, and their deep aspiration for a more peaceful world be considered. The Women's World Summit Foundation was created in Geneva on 8 March 1991 (International Women's Day). WWSF programs serve to help implement women's and children's rights, to generate increased commitment and support for the realization of agreed development goals, and to hold world leaders accountable to their promises made at numerous UN summits and international conferences.
 
From the Ursulines
"The last word that I
address to you, and one I
urge upon you with all the
ardour of may soul, is that
you live in harmony,
united together in one
heart and one will. Be
bound to one another by
bonds of charity, treating
each other with respect,
helping one another,
bearing with one another
in Christ Jesus." St. Angela Merici
 
Fearless Stories from Asian Women - Explosive Devices
This series examines the experiences of four women fighting for social justice. Each has their own fascinating story to tell, but all are united by their determination
to stand up for what they believe. They are fighting for recognition of human rights
in their countries-the Philippines, Bangladesh, India and Australia-and across the
globe. In this first episode we meet Doris Nuval, who runs a small educational
television station and is one of the most respected TV executives in the Philippines.
But there was a time when she was the most wanted terrorist in the country. Her
story reads as though lifted from the pages of a spy novel. SBS TV, Friday 12 September, 8.00 pm
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