Female president elected in India
Lawmakers elected India’s first female president, officials announced Saturday, in a vote seen as a step forward for the millions of Indian women and girls who face bitter discrimination in everyday life. The position is largely ceremonial. But observers said the selection of Pratibha Patil, 72, in a vote by the national parliament and state politicians will widen the role of women in the country’s often male-dominated political scene.

The Washington Post, July 22, 2007

Kolkata’s ‘Project Sukanya’, a helping hand for poor women
A Kolkata woman has launched a project to provide employment to poverty-ridden women. Apartna Banerjee’s Project Sukanya is essentially a chain of stores managed by women, selling wares made by them. The mobile outlets are called ‘Bou Carts’ (daughter-in-law’s carts) and are visible at key points in the city.

DailyIndia.com/ANI, July 21, 2007

Empowerment through education
As one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, Bangladesh is regularly ravaged by cyclones and floods. The sad reality is that women and children are the most vulnerable during these disasters because they lack information about what to do during an emergency.

Reuters Alertnet/British Red Cross Society, July 19, 2007

Iraq: Continued violence causing gender role swap
Iraqi men are traditionally the breadwinners, while most women take care of other duties inside the house. Iraq’s continuing violence, however, especially with threats against men, has forced some women to take on more family responsibilities – a phenomenon called “gender role swap” by some specialists.

IRIN Middle East, July 18, 200

‘It is as if I am dead already’
They have fled torture, rape and oppression, often leaving their children behind, in the hope of finding sanctuary. But once here, they have to contend with destitution - and a government system geared up to sending them back. Louise France on the desperate lives of the UK’s women asylum seekers.

Guardian Unlimited, July 22, 2007

Smart Economics
“With just eight years remaining to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the global community is focused on what’s being done to halve poverty from 1990 levels by the target date of 2015 and to meet several other objectives, including improving health and education. But much lower on the radar is the third of the eight United Nations goals (MDG3), which calls for redressing gender disparities and empowering women. Greater focus on MDG3 is critical because – although valuable in its own right as an important development objective – it is also a key to achieving several others, such as universal primary education (MDG2), a reduction in under-5 mortality (MDG4), improvements in maternal health (MDG5), and reducing the likelihood of contracting HIV/AIDS (MDG6).” Mayra Buvinic and Elizabeth M. King

Finance and Development: A Quarterly Magazine of the IMF, June 2007

MDGender.net - Gender Equality and the MDGs
This site is a collaborative effort of the UN Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE), the OECD/DAC Network on Gender Equality, and the Multilateral Development Bank Working Group on Gender. The site provides access to resources to promote better understanding of and sharing of tools for addressing gender equality in all of the MDGs — from literature on gender equality as it relates to each goal, to tools for advocacy and action.

http://www.mdgender.net/

The Double Dividend of Gender Equality
The latest edition of UNICEF’s flagship publication, The State of the World’s Children 2007, examines the discrimination and disempowerment women face throughout their lives - and outlines what must be done to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women and girls. It looks at the status of women today, discusses how gender equality will move all the MDGs forward, and shows how investment in women’s rights will ultimately produce a double dividend: advancing the rights of both women and children.

Download and view this online photo essay produced by UNICEF

“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Pray…

• That girls will be able to choose the time of their own marriage and that it will not necessitate sacrificing their schooling.
• For women across the world to be listened to as equals in their community and valued for their contribution to society.
• For more female teachers to be trained in countries where there are cultural constraints against women’s education.

Source: Micah Challenge

Watch…
Caritas Australia’s online movie to mark Millennium Development Goal 3 - Promote gender equality and empower women. Low resolution (1.5Mb WMV) - High resolution (5.5Mb WMV).

PLEASE NOTE: LINKS TO EXTERNAL WEBSITES ARE NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSED BY CARITAS AUSTRALIA.