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• Final Impact Evaluation of the Saving for Change Program in Mali, 2009-2012

  Posted: 17 May 2013 11:16:26 GMT

  Saving for Change (SfC) is a community savings group programme designed and implemented by Oxfam America, Freedom from Hunger, and the Strømme Foundation. SfC operates in 13 countries in West Africa, Latin America and Asia.
  
  This research conducted in Mali by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA) at the University of Arizona examines the impacts of Saving for Change. IPA conducted a randomized control trial (RCT) with 500 villages (6000 households) as well as high frequency surveys with a subset of 600 households over a three-year period between 2009-2012.

  BARA and IPA concluded that Saving for Change is an effective programme providing real socioeconomic benefits to its intended populations:

  • the study found that 40% of women in treatment villages and 12% of women in control villages joined Saving for Change
  • while those who joined Saving for Change were on average slightly older, more socially connected and wealthier than non-members, the program reached remote and poor villages where the majority of the households were living on $1 per day
  • Saving for Change led to small, but positive and statistically significant economic effects when compared to control villages including increases in savings, loans and household livestock holdings, as well as improvements in food security and malaria knowledge, but not behavior
  • there was no measurable impact of Saving for Change on how households deal with health expenses, and small or no significant impacts on school enrollment, business development or expansion, agricultural inputs, or household and agricultural assets
  • the ethnographic research found an increase in social capital in terms of village-level solidarity and contact with other women, but the RCT did not see increases in social capital or female empowerment
  • structured replication, in which replicators participate in a three-day NGO-sponsored training, are given a pictorial manual, and receive a certificate upon completion, led to higher take up of the program and larger impacts for outcomes such as savings, food security, livestock holdings and poverty

  

• Adolescent girls and migration in the developing world

  Posted: 16 May 2013 13:04:37 GMT

  Migration is transforming our world: by the end of this decade, most developing countries will have more people living in cities than in rural areas. Most migrants are in their early to mid-20s. Substantial numbers of adolescent girls are also on the move. Because of their age and gender, migrant girls are especially vulnerable to risks such as exploitative employment. But more evidence is needed on how to maximise migration’s benefits and minimise its risks for adolescent girls.
  
  This policy brief provides a summary of key findings and recommendations from the the Population Council report, Girls on the Move: Adolescent Girls & Migration in the Developing World, from their Girls Count series. By providing a road map for policy makers and programme planners, the report focuses on the need to increase the visibility of migrant girls, reduce their vulnerability, and realise their full potential.

  Main recommendations include:

  • prepare and equip girls before they migrate - with knowledge of their rights, life skills, IDs, and other portable assets

  • reduce the risk of trafficking and exploitation by connecting girls with safe places to stay and trusted individuals and by building support networks

  • ensure health and education services are sensitive to age, sex, and migration status

  • prepare girls for success

  • design girl-only approaches to reach domestic workers, child brides, and sexually exploited girls

  • develop qualitative and longitudinal studies to shed light on migrant girls’ experiences

  • maximise the benefits of migration by increasing adolescent girls’ visibility in policy and advocacy

   

   

  

• National REDD+ Strategy Development and Implementation Process in Tanzania. Mid Term Review. Final Report

  Posted: 15 May 2013 09:02:12 GMT

  The Norwegian Government funded REDD+ project portfolio in Tanzania is creating significant positive results across Tanzania. Along with the research project on climate change and a selection of pilot projects, the REDD+ Policy Project is helping lay the foundation for Tanzania’s future REDD activities. The mid-term review was carried out during March 2013, by independent consultants, Nordeco. The findings, opinions and conclusions in the mid-term review reports are those of the consultants. Project partners have been given the opportunity to respond to the draft mid-term review report in writing.

• Generosity and social distance in dictator game field experiments with and without a face

  Posted: 07 May 2013 09:02:25 GMT

  Field experiments combining dictator games with stated preference questions are used to elicit within subject and between subject sharing behavior with known family members and anonymous villager. A simple theoretical model incorporating social preferences, social distance and interdependent preferences is developed. The results show that generosity in form of probability of giving and amounts given are much lower towards anonymous villagers than to known family members. The probability of giving to the spouse is positively correlated with probability of giving to anonymous villager. Husbands and wives receiving positive amounts from their spouses (without knowing), were also more likely to give positive amounts to their spouses than those that received nothing from their spouses. Receiving positive amounts from spouse was uncorrelated with giving behavior towards anonymous villager.

• Links between Tenure Security and Food Security: Evidence from Ethiopia

  Posted: 07 May 2013 09:02:21 GMT

  The study uses five rounds of household panel data from Tigray, Ethiopia, collected 1998–2010 to assess the impacts of a land registration and certification program that aimed to strengthen tenure security and how it has contributed to increased food availability and thus food security in this food-deficit region. Our first survey took place just a year before the intervention (the land certification program). Our panel data in combination with the “years of certificate ownership” variable allow us to assess the dynamic impacts on food (calorie) availability of strengthened tenure security. Anthropometric data also allow us to assess potential child nutrition impacts of the reform 8-12 years after its implementation. Results show that land certification appears to have contributed to enhanced calorie availability, and more so for female-headed households, either through enhanced land rental market participation or increased investment and productivity on owner-operated land.

• Unbundling Land Administrative Reform: Demand for Second Stage Land Certification in Ethiopia

  Posted: 07 May 2013 09:02:18 GMT

  Ethiopia has implemented one of the largest, fastest and cheapest land registration and certification reforms in Africa. While there have been evidences of positive impacts of this land reform in terms of increased investment, land productivity and land rental market activities, the government is now piloting another round of land registration and certification that involves GPS measurement and computer registration. This ‘Second Stage land registration’ is expected to replace the registration from the first round that used field markings in combination with memory of the neighbors to identify plot borders. We use panel data from 600 households in two regions (Oromia and SNNP) to investigate household perceptions and demand for such a Second Stage reform. This study revealed a relatively low demand and WTP for Second Stage certificates. Households who attended a meeting on land registration are more interested and willing to pay for Second Stage certificate.

• Land tenure in Tigray: How large is the gender bias?

  Posted: 07 May 2013 09:02:11 GMT

  This study finds that female-headed households have 23% smaller owned landholdings and 54% smaller operational landholdings. Differences in characteristics such as age, labor, oxen and previous divorce explain less than half the differences in landholding sizes, while the remaining can be attributed to differences in returns to these characteristics. This indicates that there is a gender bias in access to land, even after land reforms that intended to strengthen women’s rights. The main policy recommendation is to further gender-sensitize the land certification process, strengthen women’s opportunities to cultivate their land and continue the process of securing women’s tenure rights.

• Investigating climate information services through a gendered lens

  Posted: 01 May 2013 09:02:30 GMT

  This working paper explores the gender dimensions of access to climate change related information. The effective utilisation of information channels is a crucial aspect of adaptation development, yet the people most at risk are often those on the periphery of information dissemination. This is particularly true for women farmers, who are overwhelmingly excluded from many information channels.
  
  The paper begins by explaining the social and gendered impacts of climate change outlining why climate change information matters for adaptation. Access to such information is a crucial factor in enhancing the adaptive capacity of women. The paper also examines different modes of information sharing, covering social network theory, the diffusion of innovations and adaptive capacity.
  
  The pros and cons of traditional oral methods of communication are discussed, including the legitimacy of a variety of strategic individuals (storytellers, town criers, etc), as well as the use of Information Communication Technologies, or ICTs (defined in the study as being dependent on electricity). The study analyses where communication falls short in the inclusion of women. Oral communication has inherent limits to the reach and speed of information dissemination, whilst from a gender perspective a preference for women-to-women sharing creates an issue when there are relatively few women in positions of authority disseminating information. Meanwhile socioeconomic barriers restrict access to ICTs for much of the rural poor.
  
  The authors propose a synthesis of the best aspects of both traditional and modern communication methods, using advisory services and extension agents to bridge the gap. The paper includes the following conclusions and recommendations.
  

  • The accessibility of climate information is a critical factor in agricultural communities’ adaptive capacity.
  • A gendered understanding of socioeconomic factors that inhibit access to information is crucial.
  • As well as considering what kind of information women seek, it is also necessary to understand how women access information and the barriers they face in utilising ICTs.
  • It is the responsibility of researchers, practitioners and extension officers to provide gender sensitive communication methods; the study suggests the best way to achieve this is through participatory dialogues between the community and stakeholders.

  

• Smallholder agriculture’s contribution to better nutrition

  Posted: 30 Apr 2013 10:30:18 GMT

  Commissioned by the UK Hunger Alliance for the June 2013 'Hunger Summit' this report asks "How can smallholder agriculture contribute to improving food security and reducing under-nutrition?"

  Potentially, smallholder agriculture can improve food security by making food available through production; reducing the real cost of food by increasing supply; generating incomes for farmers and those working the land as labourers, as well as to others in the rural economy from linkages in production and consumption that create additional activity and jobs.

  Other considerations include the way that increased rural incomes are spent; impacts on women’s incomes, status within the household, and through the demands of farm work, the ability of mothers to allocate income to food and care of young children; the effect of farm work on energy of field workers; and, impacts on health of field workers and those living close to farms.

  The record shows:

  • Worldwide, and especially in the developing world, the production of food has increased ahead of population growth for most of the last fifty years. Much of this increase in availability has come from small-scale family farms, particularly in Asia
  • Increased food production has led to falling real prices of food, especially for staples, with benefits to those vulnerable people who have to buy in most of their food
  • Smallholder agricultural development usually leads to higher farm incomes, even when output prices may be pushed down by rising production, owing to improved productivity. Increasingly, however, incomes from off the farm — in services, public employment, businesses — tend to rise more. Links from smallholder agricultural development to the rest of the rural economy, especially when farmers spend increased incomes on locally-supplied goods and services, can be strong
  • Smallholders who focus on production of crops for sale can also increase their food security and nutrition, since commercial production from smallholdings is also often associated with increased food production and higher incomes. Under some conditions, however, nutrition may be impaired by cash crops; as, for example, when the demands of these crops mean that women working in the fields have too little time to feed and care for infants
  • Given appropriate technical knowledge and skill, some of it learned from other farmers, secure tenure and the incentive of markets, smallholder agricultural development can support food security and nutrition outcomes while being environmentally sustainable.
    

  Smallholder agricultural development can be steered to have a greater impact on food security and nutrition through three measures:

  • Empower women farmers, both to allow them more control over income and household spending — which usually leads to more being spent on the feeding and care of young children, as well as to correct for unequal access to labour and inputs that means that women’s plots often achieve lower yields than men’s
  • Promote home gardens and small-scale livestock rearing for increased diversity of production and consumption. Children’s nutrition often improves: effects that are stronger when these programmes are combined with education on diet, child care and hygiene; and,
    Smallholder agriculture’s contribution to better nutrition
  • Complement agricultural programmes with education and communication, health services, water and sanitation. Smallholder agriculture cannot achieve better nutrition alone.

  Four points stand out for policy-makers:

  • Smallholder agricultural development can be an excellent way to reduce poverty and tackle hunger in low income countries. Encourage this by making sure that rural investment climate is conducive to investment and innovation. Provide rural public goods roads and other physical infrastructure, schools, health, clean water, agricultural research and extension. Improve access to inputs, insurance and finance for smallholders and improve their terms of engagement in such markets. Develop and promote innovations for marginal farms. Recognise and protect the rights of small farmers to their land. 
  • Patterns of agricultural development need steering towards more diversified food production. Production of staples has increased more than foods with more diverse nutrients. For every person who suffers from undernourishment in the world, more than twice as many suffer from deficiencies in minerals and vitamins. Hence promote home gardens, with small-scale livestock rearing — including fish. Complement this up with communications for nutrition, health and child care. Monitor the adoption of emerging bio-fortified staples of maize, rice and sweet potato by farmers. 
  • Back up smallholder agricultural programmes with primary health care, clean water and sanitation, other direct interventions for nutrition, and female empowerment. Empowered and educated mothers are time and again shown to spend incomes on their young children and to protect the nutrition and health of the household. Correct female disadvantages in farming: through recognising and strengthening women’s rights to fields and common property resources; directing attention to women’s needs in farming and finding ways to support them; and in general, developing innovations both on field and in domestic tasks, such as water supply and fuel collection, that save time and appropriate for women. Make sure that girls living in rural areas are schooled through until the end of secondary. 
  • Greater political support for improving food security and nutrition is needed. Political support for nutrition is often lukewarm: perhaps because of ignorance of the problems, or because the remedies can seem dauntingly difficult for problems with multiple causes. Monitor and survey more often the state of food security and nutrition, to highlight the problems and to see where and when progress is being made. Regular national surveys of nutrition and food security should be conducted, at least once every five years, preferably every three years. Sentinel sites could be established for more frequent monitoring of food and nutrition, using text messaging to collect information in real time. Pilot innovations, then evaluate these rigorously, compare them to counter-factuals, and publicise the results.

  These policies either have low costs or are not additional to the funding what would be needed for any serious programme of development. FAO in 2011 estimated the extra annual spending required to eliminate hunger by 2025 as US$50.2 billion, including US$7.5 billion for food and cash-based safety nets in keeping with the twin-track approach of dealing with long-term chronic hunger while also addressing short-term needs. Most of the extra investment is for physical infrastructure, and mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
  An extra US$50 billion a year may sound a lot, but consider the figure for sub-Saharan Africa of US$13.3 billion more. This is about US$15.50 for each of the 854M living in the region. The costs are small compared to the numbers who will potentially benefit from better food security and nutrition.

  

• Programming for nutrition outcomes

  Posted: 25 Apr 2013 13:14:40 GMT

  Chronic undernutrition affects nearly 200 million children in low and middle income countries, with vitamin and mineral deficiencies affecting many more, and there is strong evidence that undernutrition is associated with up to 35% of all child deaths globally. This training module has been designed to explore the complicated problem of undernutrition, highlight its multi-sectoral causes and identify potential programmatic solutions.
  
  There are seventeen sessions in the module. The first four sessions cover topics to assist a working knowledge of nutrition in development.  The remaining fourteen sessions focus on nutrition as it relates to the health, humanitarian, livelihoods and social development sectors. Each session should take approximately 3 hours to complete including reading time. A brief quiz at the end of each session aims to test understanding of the material covered.
  
  Core sessions:
  

  • Session 1: The Scale of the Problem
    
  • Session 2: Causes and Consequences of Undernutrition
  • Session 3: Methods of Nutritional Assessment
  • Session 4: International Landscape for Nutrition Programming

  
  Optional Sessions:
  
  

  • Session 5: Basic Epidemiology: Evaluating Quality of Evidence
  • Session 6: Introduction to Emergencies: Nutritional Assessment and Early Warning Systems
  • Session 7: Food Based Strategies for Enhanced Nutritional Status: Dietary Diversification and Biofortification
  • Session 8: Maternal Nutrition
  • Session 9: Infant and Young Child Feeding
  • Session 10: Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies
  • Session 11: Social Protection for Nutritional Outcomes
  • Session 12: Agriculture and Nutrition
  • Session 13: Climate Change and Nutrition
  • Session 14: Nutrition and Infection
  • Session 15: Nutrition and Health in Emergencies
  • Session 16: Gender Equality and Nutrition
  • Session 17: Nutrition and Education

  
  Each session should take approximately 3 hours to complete including reading time. A brief quiz at the end of each session aims to test understanding of the material covered.

• Training guide: gender and climate change research in agriculture and food security for development

  Posted: 25 Apr 2013 09:02:28 GMT

  It has been estimated that over 100 million people could be lifted out of poverty, if women were granted equal access to and control of resources. However, climate change and gender have yet to be implemented into agricultural development in an effective way. This training guide has been produced to support gender-responsive and socially-sensitive participatory research into the gender dimensions of climate change responses in the agriculture and food security sectors. It provides resources and tools for collecting, analysing and sharing information with the aim of addressing knowledge gaps and improving food production, livelihood security and gender equality.
  
  Part one of the training provides definitions of key gender terms and frameworks, as well as gender analysis of climate change issues in the agriculture and food security sectors. The guide also provides inspiration and best practice for preparing and implementing participatory research, with advice and lists of possible questions. A tool box of ten participatory research tools for use in the field is provided, including: village resources map; seasonal calendar; daily activity clocks; farming systems diagram; and institutional profiles amongst others.
  
  The second part of the guide provides guidance to users in the preparation, implementation and reporting of gender and climate change research activities. Implementation teams, process of data collection and invitation letters for group participants are discussed, as are research ethics. The guide then uses a CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security study work plan to illustrate the integration of the previously described concepts and frameworks into research activities. This work plan covers activities from contextualising the study and ensuring participation, to weather forecasting and understanding gender-sensitive climate-smart agriculture initiatives.
  
  The third section discusses the importance of auditing and provides gender- and age-sensitive reporting templates for each of the activities described in the work plan, as well as templates for debriefing documents. Finally, the guide discusses the reporting of the research, covering all the components of a final report.

• Combating Poverty and Inequality: structural change, social policy and politics

  Posted: 23 Apr 2013 14:14:38 GMT

  This report explores the causes, dynamics and persistence of poverty, and argues that current  approaches to poverty often ignore its root causes. It  analyses poverty reduction as part of long-term processes of social, economic and political transformation, and draws important lessons from the experiences of those countries that have successfully combined economic development and active social policy to reduce poverty. 

  The report examines the complex ways that poverty alleviation outcomes are shaped by the interconnection of ideas, institutions, policies and practices. It advocates for a pattern of growth and structural change that can generate and sustain jobs that are adequately remunerated and accessible to all – regardless of income or class status, gender, ethnicity or location.

  Chapter four of the report considers gender inequalities in the home and in the market, and chapter seven considers care and wellbeing, including women's unpaid care.

  

• Making Care Visible: Women’s unpaid care work in Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya

  Posted: 23 Apr 2013 12:45:57 GMT

  This report documents Action Aid's multi-country programme on women's unpaid care work. The programme, which is based in Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal and Uganda, recognises that while all women, regardless of class, race, caste and ethnicity, are expected to provide care as part of their roles as mothers, wives, and daughters, women living in poverty are disproportionately affected by this responsibility. Unpaid care is more difficult to do in the context of poverty as basic amenities, and access to public services are lacking. The aim of the programme is to promote a collective responsibility for care provision across numerous actors - women and men, the community and the government - in order to help to respect, protect and fulfil women’s rights.

  The programme was inspired by the efforts of some national governments to measure time use and make visible women’s overall workload including their work in their own households. Action Aid has developed a participatory time diary tool that can be completed by the women and men involved in the programme, and helps generate new thinking about the time spent by different groups on care work. The findings from the diary analysis are documented in this report, along with participants' reflections on the findings and sections on national policy change and financing for public services.

  Action Aid has outlined its commitment to this issue in its 2012-2017 strategy, stating its intention to make women’s unpaid care work central to demands for quality public services financed through more progressive domestic resource mobilisation.

  

• Violence against women and girls in Timor-Leste

  Posted: 17 Apr 2013 09:02:21 GMT

  The high prevalence of gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence, in Timor-Leste is considered to be a key challenge for the country. There is recognition that incidents of intimate partner violence and family violence have been increasing significantly. A recent study has found that (2009-2010) approximately 38 per cent women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence. Advances have been made in strengthening the enabling environment for addressing violence against women, however, there is little analysis of the success or failure of such interventions. The formal state justice system in Timor-Leste also faces significant capacity challenges. Due to various reasons women are often more comfortable going through local justice processes, though they have been critiqued for the dominance of patriarchal beliefs, and the lack of female involvement, transparency and enforcement of local rulings.

• Empowering rural women of Alaknanda Valley, Uttarakhand through farmers’ cooperative

  Posted: 15 Apr 2013 09:02:33 GMT

  Empowering Rural Women of Alaknanda Valley, Uttarakhand through Farmers’ Cooperative” narrates the success stories of the rural women of Alaknanda valley in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand; these women, with the help of Himalayan Action Research Centre (HARC), have been able to create, control and manage an Agri-business Multipurpose Autonomous Cooperative which acts as a model of inspiration for many other women as well as organisations working on agriculture based livelihood programmes.

• Gendered subjects, the state and participatory spaces

  Posted: 15 Apr 2013 09:02:21 GMT

  This chapter from the book, 'Spaces for Change: The Politics of Citizen Participation in New Democratic Arenas' discusses the gendered construction of participation in local institutions created by the state in India to promote development and democracy.

• Social change through the info lady experience

  Posted: 14 Apr 2013 09:02:32 GMT

  This paper looks at the formation of groups and sustainability through an innovative model of ICT-based rural women's entrepeneurship in Bangladesh, known as the Info Lady Model. It looks at the selection and training of these Info Ladies, how these women have been able to connect the local people to livelihood information and facilitate the creation of knowlledge networks in rural Bangladesh, and how they have gone beyond the project objective to become self-sufficient and empowered. This paper is based on a visit to Shahghata Upazilla in Gaibandha District of Bangladesh in June 2012.

• Review of research on collective action and engaging men to tackle gender based violence

  Posted: 12 Apr 2013 11:04:11 GMT

  The aim of this review is to pull together examples of research that:
  
  • Shows how collective forms of agency (whether in the form of social movements, coalitions or groups) have made a difference in eliciting positive social change in relation to gender-based violence
  • Highlights ways in which engaging men and masculinities on gender based violence issues has made a difference
  
  This document is divided into two sections. The first gives an overview of the key points emerging from the research identified on the above topics. The second is an annotated bibliography which lists and summarises the research. The documents considered include both peer reviewed research and grey literature.
  

• Women’s political participation in Nepal

  Posted: 12 Apr 2013 09:02:36 GMT

  It is very rare for women to make it to senior decision making positions within political parties in Nepal. Although political parties are obliged to have a women's wing as part of their organisational structure, their role is limited to women's capacity building activities. This paper takes conversations with several activists across the sector which reveal an interesting melting pot of ideas, how they now assess the situation, and what it means for the women's political movement.

• 'We will teach you a lesson': sexual violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan security forces

  Posted: 11 Apr 2013 09:02:26 GMT

  The 140-page report provides detailed accounts of 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers throughout Sri Lanka. In the cases documented men and women reported being raped on multiple days, often by several people, with the army, police, and pro-government paramilitary groups frequently participating.

• Harmful traditional practices and child protection: contested understandings and practices of female child marriage and circumcision in Ethiopia

  Posted: 05 Apr 2013 11:56:35 GMT

  Focusing on Ethiopia, this paper explores local perspectives on female child marriage and circumcision. Both practices are widespread in Ethiopia and reflect deep-rooted patriarchal and gerontocratic values regulating women’s reproduction and transactions between kin groups at marriage. Yet both have been designated as Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) by the Ethiopian government and are proscribed by law, with designated punishments.
  
  The paper explores the values that drive these practices and examines whether and in what ways they have been affected by efforts to eradicate them. It points to the complexity of beliefs and practices, highlighting differences associated with ethnicity, religion, generation and gender. It finds that the efforts of government and elite leaders to eradicate them are contributing to the diminution or transformation of female circumcision and female child marriage, although with marked regional variations and considerable contestation and resistance in some places. In mapping these processes of change, the paper identifies trends in premarital sex, clandestine surgeries, and other subterfuges that may demonstrate unexpected consequences and adverse reactions to laws which were intended to protect children. In doing so, it emphasises the challenges confronted by child- protection measures designed to bring about change to long-established customs.
  
  The analysis draws on interviews with 25 children and young people from five communities, as well as their peers, caregivers and community representatives, conducted in 2007, 2008 and 2011. The paper uses both statistical and ethnographic evidence to assess the prevalence of the two customs and the cultural and material logic underpinning them. It gives an overview of the external forces militating for change and presents evidence on trends of change. This is followed by analysis of the personal experiences of Young Lives children and the discourses against the practices, as well as a consideration of the resistance to change. Finally, the discussion reflects on wider issues of modernity and rising aspirations for girls.

• Women and labour markets in Asia: rebalancing for gender equality

  Posted: 31 Mar 2013 21:12:37 GMT

  Reducing gender barriers to decent work is fundamental to advancing the inclusive growth agenda in developing countries. This publication aims to offer evidence-based policy recommendations on strategies to advance gender equality in Asia through addressing persistent gender labour market gaps.
  
  The author indicates that despite robust economic growth in the region, gender gaps persist in the labour market in terms of labour utilisation and where and how women and men work.
  
  Findings encompass:
  

  • gender inequalities are not only rooted in the socio-cultural norms of Asian countries but also entrenched in the policy and institutional frameworks that shape the employment opportunities of female labour force
  • while some progress has been made in past decades in advancing gender equality, women still make up the “buffer workforce” – both within labour markets as flexible informal workers and within household as “secondary earners”

  
  The report identifies a set of gender-responsive policies that could help provide decent work for all women and men in the region.
  
  The re-balancing policies include:
  

  • gender-focused approach to support women entrepreneurs to establish formal enterprises
  • assist women engaged in agriculture to boost rural productivity and incomes
  • promote equal opportunities for girls and women to access quality education and training
  • help to reduce the overreliance of developing Asia on the informal sector to absorb its workforce during economic recessions

  
  The paper concludes that creating an enabling environment of equal opportunity and treatment in the labour market for both genders will contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific.

• Gender in Nigeria Report 2012: Improving the lives of girls and women in Nigeria

  Posted: 26 Mar 2013 09:02:39 GMT

  This report provides a comprehensive view of gender in Nigeria. It assesses progress in key areas, including: employment and livelihoods, education and health, political representation, and violence. It finds that women and girls suffer systematic disadvantage and discrimination that is magnified for those in the poorest States and sectors of society. It recommends policies to improve the lives of women and girls and identifies priorities for action.

• Moving women out of poverty through the development of small fish processing enterprises in Malawi

  Posted: 26 Mar 2013 09:02:17 GMT

  Malawi is one of the countries in Africa which is highly dependent on fish as a source of animal protein. Malawi produces about 70,000 tons of fish annually from its lakes, rivers and swamps. The fishing industry supports the livelihoods of 1.5 mill people in Malawi and contributes about 4% to the national GDP. With funding from the Norwegian MFA through the Lake Chilwa Climate Change Adaptation Programme, pilot value addition and fish marketing activities targeted at women groups were implemented in three sites. Self selected women groups were formed and trained in group dynamics, business management and fish processing. Experts introduced solar dryers and improved smoking kilns to the groups and conducted collaborative activities to demonstrate how adoption of these technologies could increase women incomes through production of high quality fish that could be sold to market outlets country wide at a higher price.

• Silent cry of dying childhood and children of street based sex workers in Dhaka city, Bangladesh

  Posted: 24 Mar 2013 09:02:35 GMT

  Many female sex workers in Bangladesh get pregnant willingly or even unknowingly but face dire situation raising the child. Children of the female sex workers in Bangladesh are at risk of many significant threats to their health and wellbeing. While some of these problems are shared with other children of similar social and economic circumstances in Bangladesh, children of sex workers experience a range of problems due to the social stigma and threats associated with their mother’s sex work and the resulting discrimination. Very limited studies have been under taken to bring to light the life of these children. The current study tries to depict the life of the street based sex workers’ children in Bangladesh.

• Information Communication Technology (ICT) for Rural Women’s Life in Bangladeshi Villages

  Posted: 24 Mar 2013 09:02:32 GMT

  Information Communication Technology (ICT) has the potential to contribute to development, especially in rural areas of developing countries. But the mechanisms through which ICT can be combined with development agendas and an understanding of the actual development process and impacts of ICT are less well understood or properly defined in the academic literature. This research is an attempt to contribute to understanding this process by analysing the impact of two ICT initiatives in Bangladesh, aimed at improving the lives of rural women. An interpretive approach in the qualitative research tradi-tion was adopted to identify emergent themes in this study. Our findings indicate that these ICT projects have significantly improved the socio-economic opportunities of many women. This paper will be useful for those academics, practitioners and policymakers who wish to enhance their understanding of ICT projects in rural areas of developing countries.

• Violence against women: nature, causes and dimensions in contemporary Bangladesh

  Posted: 24 Mar 2013 09:02:29 GMT

  This article is an attempt to discuss some of the major dimensions of violence against women in Bangladesh. Different types of violence against women take place quite frequently in Bangladesh such as domestic violence, acid violence, rape, gang rape, murder, forced prostitution, “Eve-teasing” etc. The present paper, using data from various secondary sources, examines the nature, causes, magnitude and trend of violence against women in Bangladesh.

• Feminisms and the World Social Forum: space for dialogue and confrontation

  Posted: 23 Mar 2013 19:09:20 GMT

  This article, written by Virginia Vargas, presents a feminist perspective of the World Social Forum (WSF), analysing how changes in feminist strategies are expressed in the organisation's space and processes. The author explains how, as a space of both convergence and conflict between old and new structures of thought, the WSF represents a fascinating and challenging arena for the feminist movement.
  
  The article introduces the WSF as a place of experimentation – a break from unitary ideological paradigms that, instead, seeks to facilitate a multitude of different strategies and concepts. What links the groups is opposition to neo-liberalism; how and where this struggle is conducted marks where groups differ. It is within this context that feminism often finds itself challenging, as well as engaging with, WSF practice and process, particularly with regard to the harbouring of old patriarchal and exclusionary practices.
  
  Although women made up 54% of the participants at the first WSF, 85% of those in the most important, 'official' panels were men. Other criticisms include that the WSF runs the risk of becoming an exclusive event only attended by those who can afford it, and that questions surrounding representation in the Organising Committees and the International Committee create tensions in the vision of the WSF as an alternative or revolutionary space.
  
  Over the course of five WSFs, feminism has made increasing gains in both visibility and recognition, contributing to a consultation-led reform of the WSF structure in 2005, from a largely top-down structure to a broader, bottom-up methodology for organising panels. The aim was to bring different networks together that work on similar issues, allowing for the expression of diverse and plural feminisms. This is vital if the nuance of cultural context is be understood; a crucial component of transitioning from unitary mindsets of universal solutions, to a view of gender as a transversal and cross-cutting dimension within a multitude of other political and cultural struggles.
  
  

  

• Sexism in the World Social Forum: is another world possible?

  Posted: 23 Mar 2013 18:58:38 GMT

  This article, written by Ana Elena Obando following the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegro, Brazil, analyses perceived sexist contradictions at the WSF and challenges resistance movements to self-reflect and become more inclusive. It argues that the violence against women in the Youth Camp of the WSF, which saw 90 reported cases of harassment, assault, indecency and rape, yet only one arrest, is a stark reminder of the WSF's failure to include a gendered perspective, and how this is not only detrimental to social movement building, but also has real, harmful effects on women personally.
  
  Three contradictions are noted by the author:
  
  • Despite sharing general opposition to neoliberal capitalism, militarisation and environmental destruction, Obando notes that in her experience resistance movements also share a lack of opposition to fundamentalisms, particularly religious, that impact women. This is not to say that social movements cannot work alongside religion; liberation theology, for instance, has supported movements in their fight against fundamentalisms.
  
  • This contributes to compartmentalised and undemocratic resistance that feminists must once again strengthen from the inside, a resistance within the resistance, ensuring a gendered perspective in the building of an alternate world. An example of the issues faced lies in the Manifesto of Porto Alegro, a document produced by 18 men and 1 woman that establishes 12 points the WSF proposes globally without mention of a gendered perspective. The author notes that as an open space, the WSF is not a representative body for global civil society and cannot assume the right to speak for the entire group, and is an antidemocratic and sexist practice of power.
  
  • There is a significant gap in WSF activities between the rhetoric of gender mainstreaming and practice. Women continue to navigate between women and with women, struggling to incorporate gender into other movements. Mainstreaming must go beyond merely adding the word 'woman' to policies, without budgetary support of real understanding of the concept.
  
  The article finishes with a description of events at the Youth Camp of the WSF in Brazil. 35,000 students, artisans, feminists, etc. gathered in a “facade” of an open and progressive space; within this space young men kidnapped and raped women. This presents a fourth contradiction: the gap between espoused political values and individual action of the 21st century “Che Guevara look-alikes”. Obando writes that the camp succeeded in practising the values of the WSF (whose moniker states “Another World is Possible”), in that it failed to include women in a safe and progressive space. A group of feminists marched through the camp in protest, and the Lilac Brigade were formed: women who wore lilac bands on their arms to indicate their willingness to help other women who had suffered abuse. Women were angry, frustrated and saddened by events, asking if 'another camp is possible?'
  
  The author concludes that the WSF must review both their methodology and their vision, and address the issues of sexism, patriarchy and undemocratic organisation that threaten to do real harm in weakening collective civil society as a whole.
  
  

• Social Network and Financial Literacy among Rural Adolescent Girls: Qualitative Assessment of BRAC’s SoFEA Programme

  Posted: 22 Mar 2013 09:02:32 GMT

  BRAC’s innovative initiative ‘Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents’ (SoFEA) launched in 2009 works to empower adolescent girls both socially and financially through creating “social network” among its members. Apart from providing social interaction opportunities, the clubs also provide the members with social and legal awareness lessons, as well as trainings on life-skills, livelihoods and financial literacy. This qualitative exploration attempts to gauge two important issues:to what extent the social networks of the girls are transformed due to the intervention, and effect of the financial literacy training on participant girls’ lives, especially in the forms of knowledge retention, implementation and planning for the future. It also aims to identify the extent to which these girls have formed networks within the community, and finally analyses the members’ institutional network and involvement with income generating activities through using the financial literacy training

• Men’s Knowledge and Practices of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health in Rural Bangladesh: Do they differ from Women?

  Posted: 22 Mar 2013 09:02:26 GMT

  Male partner involvement in maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) care has been around for a long time but nothing has been done since nobody has figured out how to do it on a large scale. We assessed men’s knowledge and their awareness of their wives’ actual practices regarding MNCH care issues. The study was conducted in four ‘improving maternal, neonatal and child survival’ (IMNCS) intervention districts (Nilphamari, Rangpur, Gaibandha and Mymensingh) of BRAC and two control districts (Naogaon and Netrokona) during October 2008-January 2009. Data were collected from 7,200 men whose wives had experienced a pregnancy outcome in the preceding year of the survey or who had live child aged 12-59 months. Chi-squared tests and t-tests were performed for comparing grouped districts and Cohen’s Kappa was used to assess the level of agreement between men and women regarding MNCH practices and decision-making.

• Sensitizing Communities to Eliminate Discrimination and Violence Against Women: An Assessment of BRAC’s Intervention

  Posted: 22 Mar 2013 09:02:23 GMT

  The project titled ‘Sensitizing communities on CEDAW’ was a part of the Gender Quality Action Learning (GQAL) programme implemented in Gazipur to sensitize people about CEDAW to prevent violence against women and sexual harassment. The study aimed to assess the change of knowledge level of students and community leaders on CEDAW and sexual harassment. Two rounds of survey data –baseline and endline - were used to assess the change of the project. The difference in changing knowledge level of the respondents on CEDAW and sexual harassment between the baseline and endline survey was found to be much higher. Still there was considerable number of respondents whose knowledge was found to be unchanged or decreased after the intervention. Deeply rooted patriarchal ideology, cultural beliefs and practices were identified as the major reasons behind this fact.It was suggested that BRAC should run this kind of project in a larger scale, targeting larger groups of population for a longer period

• Shaking Embedded Gender Roles and Relations: An Impact Assessment of Gender Quality Action Learning Programme

  Posted: 21 Mar 2013 09:02:42 GMT

  The Gender Quality Action Learning programme initiated a village level intervention in 2007 in 10 districts to increase knowledge, change perception, attitudes, and practice/behaviour of the villagers on discrimination and violence against women. A benchmark survey was conducted before the intervention was initiated. To measure the changes that have taken place due to intervention a midline survey was conducted in 2009-10. The comparison between the surveys show that knowledge, perception and attitudes of the respondents on selected gender issues changed remarkably after the intervention. Results also show that along with increase in knowledge and changes in perception and attitudes of the respondents on gender roles and relations positively changes in the likelihood of male’s participation in household activity would increase and the incidence of domestic violence against women would decrease.

• Protecting child labour in Bangladesh: domestic laws versus international instruments

  Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:06:42 GMT

  This study tries to present the socio-economic scenario of child labour in Bangladesh which has in recent times attracted concerted attention not only in Bangladesh but also all over the globe. Indeed, child labour is recognised as a considerable part of the existing labour market and by the present write-up this statement has been upheld through a number of case studies. There is no question as regards the indispensability of elimination of child labour from the society but question arises whether it would bring good for any particular society (such as Bangladesh). Child labour problem is a socio-economic reality in the country which can’t be ignored. Hence steps have to be taken at first to decrease child labour gradually rather removing it diametrically from the society. It should be remembered that if child labour is driven out just now from the country, then that would jeopardize the child labourers who earn their own bread or for the families who depend on the child workers.

• Women and political leadership in Kenya: ten case studies

  Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:05:17 GMT

  This study, published by the Heinrich Boll Foundation, examines the perceptions, experiences, and achievements of ten female Kenyan politicians. The study reveals that women political leaders face challenges that include competing family demands, inadequate resources, politics of exclusion in political parties, lack of security, and lack of positive media coverage.

• Gender and urban poverty in South Asia: proceedings report of the 2012 subregional workshop

  Posted: 04 Mar 2013 12:10:50 GMT

  This report is the product of a sub-regional workshop on Gender and Urban Poverty in South Asia. The report highlights key gender issues in urban development and lessons learned from good practices that are achieving both gender equality results and sustainable urban development outcomes.
  
  Demonstrating the links between gender and socially inclusive urban development programs, the paper states that women are particularly vulnerable to the risks associated with urban poverty.
  
  Findings encompass:
  

  • most urban development policies do not explicitly address gender and social issues in South Asia developing member countries
  • South Asian women have weak participation and low representation in decision-making structures and processes related to urban services and governance
  • as a result, women’s needs and priorities are rarely considered in urban planning and investments

  
  Identically, the document suggests the following common approaches to gender and socially inclusive urban planning and governance:
  

  • in-depth surveys and separate consultations to understand the different needs and priorities of men and women
  • awareness-raising campaigns to promote women’s participation in preparing community action plans
  • mandatory quotas for women’s representation in local decision-making structures
  • partnerships between municipal bodies, the private sector, and local NGOs and CBOs to empower women to become change agents in their communities
  • integrate gender-inclusive measures in the operational work and institutional strategies of the government agencies and their counterparts

  
  Moreover, the author suggests that gender-inclusive delivery of urban infrastructure and services should be strengthened. In particular, the paper emphasises that gendered investments in this field can have significant impacts on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The document illustrates that this can reduce women’s time poverty and improve their capabilities through access to resources, economic opportunities, and decision-making power.

• Report on the challenges faced by women in civil society in Africa

  Posted: 01 Mar 2013 09:02:17 GMT

  The report shares findings of a study conducted by CIVICUS to identify the major challenges faced by women in civil society in Africa. In particular it looks at the ways in which civil society can prioritise the creation of space for women human rights defenders to amplify their voices on human rights issues.

• Gender and political parties: far from parity

  Posted: 01 Mar 2013 09:01:43 GMT

  The purpose of the report is to provide comparative data on women and men in political parties to inform on the situation and challenges of women’s political participation. The study looks at the selection processes for leadership and candidacies for public office among political parties including formal and informal rules, and the supply of candidates (how candidates lists are composed and the effect of quotas within parties and electoral systems).

• Election coverage from a gender perspective: a media monitoring manual

  Posted: 01 Mar 2013 09:01:40 GMT

  This manual, published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and based on the experience of Latin American organisations, presents a 'common and replicable methodological tool' for monitoring media coverage from a gender perspective during elections campaigns.

• Women's participation in elections across Africa

  Posted: 01 Mar 2013 09:01:15 GMT

  This report, published by Make Every Woman Count (MEWC), provides an overview of the role of women in elections across Africa in 2011. It discusses the position of female candidates before and after the elections have taken place, as well as provides analysis of women's participation in African politics.

• Influential leadership: a handbook for African women

  Posted: 28 Feb 2013 09:12:46 GMT

  This 80-page handbook, published by West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACI), is a training manual with eight sessions designed to guide the empowerment of African Women with leadership skills. According to the publication, leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organisation in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. The handbook can be used by trainers, training and capacity building institutions, and researchers.

• Elections in Chad: the role of Women in strengthening democracy

  Posted: 28 Feb 2013 09:03:00 GMT

  The purpose of this paper is to identify current gaps and potential opportunities in promoting gender and equity considerations for civil society in Chad, and exploring ways in which Counterpart International could effectively engage with women and promote their participation in democratic processes.

• Report on the online discussion on eliminating violence against women and girls ― gaps, challenges and strategic directions in prevention and multisectoral services and responses

  Posted: 27 Feb 2013 15:43:50 GMT

  With the aim to involve civil society organisations, policy makers, experts and researchers in the field of gender based violence, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) organized and moderated an online discussion on the critical gaps and challenges in prevention and multisectoral services and responses to violence against women and girls. The aim of the online discussion was to provide a forum for discussion between different stakeholders; identify measures taken and good practices from different parts of the world and in diverse resource settings in the two key areas of focus; and identify any emerging issues and practices that should be considered. This report, also available in French and Spanish, is the summary of the discussion. Rather than being a comprehensive mapping exercise, it aims to reflect many of the key concerns and priorities of practitioners working in this field on the ground.
  
  Key findings in the violence prevention discussion included:
  • policy makers, public servants and traditional leaders are not gender sensitized;
  • efforts to address prevention are uncoordinated, ill-funded and rarely monitored;
  • context-sensitive responses require more research on attitudes and behaviours;
  • key strategic groups and influencers are being neglected;
  • cultural change is not addressed in remote or marginalized communities.
  
  Key findings in the multisectoral services and responses discussion included:
  • Services remain uneven in quality, longevity and sustainability;
  • Many services are not well regulated, and do not take a rights-based approach;
  • Services need to be more broadly distributed, and preceded by comprehensive outreach;
  • Service staff and policy makers need to be better trained and sensitized;
  • Services must be better designed for children and girls, and for women subject to multiple forms of discrimination
  
  A range of recommendations have been suggested including:
  • violence prevention must become a State priority as governments play an essential role in leading, coordinating and promoting accountability in the field of prevention
  • a better understanding of the multiple causes of gender-based violence, the intersections between different types of violence and trajectories of change must be built
  • Services need to be more broadly distributed, and preceded by comprehensive outreach to women on their rights and the services available, and more work must be done to change mindsets
  • More training and gender-sensitisation must be in place for frontline service providers and police officers
  • Services must be better designed for children and girls, and for women subject to multiple forms of discrimination
  
  French http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/EVAW-Online-Discussion-Report_FR.pdf
  Spanish http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/EVAW-Online-Discussion-Report_SP.pdf
  

• Report of the Expert Group Meeting on Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls

  Posted: 27 Feb 2013 15:36:23 GMT

  The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls is the priority theme of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women to be held 4-15 March 2013. In order to contribute to a deeper understanding of the issue and to assist the Commission in its deliberations, UN Women in collaboration with other UN agencies and the WHO convened an expert group meeting (EGM) on ‘Prevention of violence against women and girls’ in September 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. This report reflects the shared discussion and analysis of the major issues, gaps and challenges identified at the EGM and presents key findings and recommendations which provided inputs for the reports of the Secretary-General to the CSW. Experts pointed out that, in order for violence prevention programmes to be effective, national, provincial and local governments, communities, civil society groups, donors, the private sector and other non-state actors must work in partnerships with women’s organisations. Also efforts to prevent violence against women and girls must be long-term and grounded in communities so that work to change unequal power relations between women and men is carried out consistently. Civil society organisations (CSOS) have often driven efforts to change social norms that have implicitly perpetuated violence against women and girls but governments have a key role to support and create an environment where CSOs can develop innovative and sustainable programmes and work safely from discrimination and violence themselves. It was also found that involving men and boys in violence prevention programmes has been very successful because they can lead to a decrease in men’s violence against women and a change of attitudes towards gender equality.
  
  Recommendations were offered to work on different initiatives, including:
  • a global implementation plan to end violence against women and girls;
  • a global advocacy campaign for prevention;
  • integrated measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls;
  • more research on the causes and consequences of violence against women and girls and the effectiveness of prevention measures;
  • mass and new media.
  
  And in the following areas:
  • urban youth and armed gang violence;
  • conflict and natural disasters;
  • girls, adolescent girls and young women.
  
  Experts noted that prevention of violence against women and girls remains a poorly understood concept across sectors and stakeholders and that there is a need to build not only evidence, but shared understandings of the complexity and causes of violence against women and girls, and of how it can be effectively prevented. This transformative agenda engages all levels of the socio-political system, from policy and legislative development, to the development and delivery of programmes and services ‘on the ground’, and the capacity building of the institutions responsible for implementation. As well as effective response mechanisms, specific actions to address the foundations of violence – discriminatory and violence-supportive practices, laws, norms, behaviours and attitudes – are also necessary in order to prevent violence against women and girls from happening in the first place, within and across all settings.
  
  This report built on the individual papers on specific issues provided by experts prior to the meeting, and the Background Paper prepared by the rapporteur, which are available at http://www.unwomen.org/events/59/expert-group-meeting-prevention-of-violence-against-women-and-girls/.
  

• Vulnerability and Coping Strategies of Women in Disaster: A Study on Coastal Areas of Bangladesh

  Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:02:09 GMT

  Natural disaster is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh. Almost every year Bangladesh suffers highly by different kinds of disasters like flood, tropical cyclones, tornados, tidal surges, droughts and large scale river erosion etc. A large number of the total population of our country lives in the coastal areas. According to the population census 2001, the whole coastal area of the country has about 46 million people. The average size of the household is 7, the density of population is 743 per sq. km. Womenfolk are 49% of the coastal population, while 23% (8 million) are urban-dwellers, size of the labor force (15-59 years age group) is 18.6 million which are about 53% of the coastal population (BBS 2006).

• Position of Women in Buddhism: Spiritual and Cultural Activities

  Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:01:59 GMT

  The Buddha is a great benefactor of humanity. After the attainment of the Enlightenment in Bodhgaya and preaching First Sermon in Sarnath, the Buddha founded the order of Monks (Bhikkhusangha). This order of Monks increased and within forty five years of Buddha’s ministry it had spread throughout ancient India. But groundless belief of Brahmins is that woman is inferior to man. The position which the woman lost under the dominance of the Brahmins of the day evidently showed little sympathy for her. In this article I will explore the position of women considering their spiritual and cultural activities.

• Patriarchy and Women’s Subordination: A Theoretical Analysis

  Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:01:52 GMT

  Patriarchy is the prime obstacle to women’s advancement and development. Despite differences in levels of domination the broad principles remain the same, i.e. men are in control. The nature of this control may differ. So it is necessary to understand the system, which keeps women dominated and subordinate, and to unravel its workings in order to work for women’s development in a systematic way. In the modern world where women go ahead by their merit, patriarchy there creates obstacles for women to go forward in society. Because patriarchal institutions and social relations are responsible for the inferior or secondary status of women. Patriarchal society gives absolute priority to men and to some extent limits women’s human rights also. Patriarchy refers to the male domination both in public and private spheres. In this way, feminists use the term ‘patriarchy’ to describe the power relationship between men and women as well as to find out the root cause of women’s subordination.

• Mass Media Exposure and its Impact on Fertility: Current Scenario of Bangladesh

  Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:01:44 GMT

  On the way to reduce fertility rate of Bangladesh, mass media plays significant role to raise consciousness about the family planning program on general peoples. In this study the impact of mass media has been measured by the pattern of watching television, listening radio and reading newspaper. Using the proportional hazards model, the mass media exposure found to be a significant differential of fertility even after controlling the effects of contraception, place of residence, and mother’s educational and employment status. This implies, by taking necessary steps, mass media can be used much more adequately to reduce fertility rate of Bangladesh.

• Mexico, Honduras & Guatemala - from survivors to defenders, women confronting violence

  Posted: 26 Feb 2013 15:23:35 GMT

  In this report, Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú Tum write that the levels of violence against women in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala have reached crisis dimensions. They describe their work leading a women’s rights fact-finding delegation that travelled to these countries in January 2012 to investigate the crisis. This investigation found many consistencies among women’s stories across the three nations (for example regarding sexual violence or forced disappearances), and noted inadequate government responses to these crimes – the vast majority of cases are never even investigated.
  
  The delegation was organised by the Nobel Women’s Initiative, JASS (Just Associates) and prominent national organisations that formed host committees in each country. Over the course of ten days, the delegation gathered evidence of the impact of escalating violence in the region on women and women’s rights, assessed the role and response of governments, and evaluated ways of supporting women who are organising to protect themselves and their communities. They gathered evidence and heard testimonies from over 200 women survivors of violence and human rights defenders from organisations working against violence, and also met with a number of government officials and representatives of international organisations.
  
  The delegation concluded that the international community must urgently respond to the growing crisis of violence against women in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. They find the problem to have many causes, including increasingly militarised and patriarchal societies and current security policies supported by the US and Canadian governments, as well as the lack of justice and economic pressures in the region.
  The report includes a variety of recommendations including the following:
  
  – Pressure should be placed on the governments of the U.S. and Canada, Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala to ensure that they: uphold their responsibility to prevent violence and human rights violations; develop gender-sensitive mechanisms for protecting women human rights defenders; investigate complaints of human rights violations against women and women human rights defenders using established protocols for dealing with gender-specific violations; prosecute violations; and compensate survivors.
  – Violence against women and against women activists/human rights defenders, including the targeting of women human rights defenders should be publicly denounced and legal action demanded by diplomats, media and members of the international community.
  
  Support for this women’s rights fact-finding mission was provided by a number of individuals as well as the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Women – Latin American and Caribbean Section, and the MDG3 Fund and Funding Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  

  

• Voices from digital spaces: Technology related violence against women

  Posted: 26 Feb 2013 15:16:06 GMT

  Information communication technologies (ICTs) can be used as a tool to stop violence against women (VAW), but VAW can also be facilitated through the use of ICTs. According to this paper, few women’s rights activists are working in this critical area and, as a consequence, most countries do to have a related political and legal framework. This paper aims to inform women’s rights groups working to end VAW, and stimulate action-oriented policy dialogues to address this new form of VAW.
  
  The document is divided into three parts, the first of which provides introductions to the basic topics covered in this paper and discusses the intersections between ICTs and VAW. The second section is a case study of sexual violence and unauthorised distribution of intimate images of women. The third part contains conclusions and recommendations, which include the following:
  
  – A holistic approach necessary to technology-related VAW, which should be facilitated through dialogue and research with a range of actors and issues. Spaces such as the Internet Governance Forum can provide a good platform for initiating such dialogue at the transnational level.
  – Civil society advocacy and initiatives (women's rights organisations and others) are important to ensure that women participate in policy-making dialogues, and that policy and law makers take ICT-related VAW into account.
  – There is a scarcity of information on VAW, ICTs and the intersection between them. More systematic documentation of these violations is necessary to identify effective remedies and new policies.
  – Making online spaces safer: Internet intermediaries must protect users' rights and create an online culture of zero tolerance to VAW. They should develop corporate policies, practices and tools that respect women's rights, including effective complains mechanisms and technical safety measures to protect personal data.
  – Media literacy and empowering women users: Preventing VAW requires changing attitudes and behaviour within society, including work with ICT user communities and potential victims of ICT-related violence.
  – The mass media has an important role to play in responding to technology-related violence, especially preventing the secondary victimisation of victims/survivors.
  – The role of ICT in supporting victim/survivors of violence: building capacity through support networks, such as MDG3: Take Back the Tech! (a project organised by APC WNSP against gender-based violence), helping local partners to participate in critical international and regional ICT policy-making spaces and engage with their national governments; as well as digital storytelling as a way of assisting victims/survivors in the healing process.
  

  

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