Marking International Women’s Day on 08 March, the Gender Equality and Empowerment Task Team launched joint advocacy and communications in March 2014 around the theme ‘Empowering Women: Inspiring Change’.
The United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day(IWD) on 08 March during International Women’s Year 1975. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.
International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.
This year’s global theme, ‘Equality for women is progress for all’ emphasizes how gender equality, empowerment of women, women’s full enjoyment of human rights and the eradication of poverty are essential to economic and social development. It also stresses the vital role of women as agents of development. With the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals around the corner, International Women’s Day is also an opportunity to reviewthe challenges and achievements in the MDG implementation for women and girls, as the Commission on the Status of Women will be doing from 10 to 21 March 2014.
DFID in partnership with NextGen, a leading CSR and Sustainability Management Company, is creating a multi-stakeholder platform to facilitate collaborative action on issues related to the Safety, Health, Education and Employment (S.H.E.) for women and girls. The live telecast on Google+ Hangout was organised on 20 March with a distinguished panel including Mr. Mark Lowcock: Permanent Secretary DFID; Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General and CEO of IICA; Ms. Frederika Meijer, UNFPA Representative, India and Bhutan; Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head, HSBC; Mr. Amitabh Choudhry, Managing Director & CEO, HDFC Standard Life and Mr. Rohit Adya, Director External Affairs, Vodafone India. Watch the video here
Internationally acclaimed playwright and director Yael Farber creates a searing new work that cracks open the cone of silence around women whose lives have been shattered by gender-based violence. The play is based on the performers’ real life experience and the violent incident in New Delhi that shocked Delhi and the world. The play will tour across three cities – New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore – from March 17 to 28. See more at http://nirbhayatheplay.com/ Read the press releasehere
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the European Union (EU) and UN Women jointly organized a one-day conference on 10 March paying homage to remarkable Indian women and organizations who have been inspiring positive change in critical areas of women’s empowerment. A new EU Film Women who Inspire on inspiring women in India, and a UN Women report titled Hearts and Minds were launched at the conference. View the photo essay here and read the Opinion Piece by Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director, UN Womenhere.
Marking International Women’s Day, a panel of guests from the Government of India, UNICEF, UN Women, the International Center for Research on Women, Jagori, Google, the UNICEF led programme called Deepshikha, and Barclays spoke about the need to ensure that women and girls are treated as equals and the need to engage boys and men in promoting equality for women. View the video here
Marking International Women’s Day on 08 March in the High Court in Mumbai, UNFPA organised an event for judicial officers. Two books, Training Module and Handbook for Judicial officers on sex selection and PCPNDT and Analysis and Compilation of Case Laws on PCPNDT Act were released by the Chief Justice of the Mumbai High Court followed by a panel discussion on Laws and Son Preference in India, based on the recent UNFPA report
Lady Shri Ram College for Women hosted an academic congress on “Genderknowledge: Understanding Gender: Questions of Justice and Freedom” from March 5 to 7. The academic congress featured three days of discussions, questioning and analysis on Indian society and politics from a gendered perspective. There was also a “gender mela”, with stalls and kiosks, some of which were assigned to leading feminist publishing houses.
Hearts and Minds: Women of India Speak
The UN Women report acknowledges the “lived experiences” of women and girls in India at the grassroots level and ensures that the voices of those who remain socially, economically and geographically marginalized are meaningfully reflected in the emerging post-2015 development discourse and agenda. The analysis contained in this report is based on in-depth interviews with women and focus-group discussions with almost 200 elected women representatives. The report addresses issues that resonate with women all over the globe, such as women’s empowerment, poverty, employment, health and education. The key findings from this report can be used to influence the global agenda setting, ensuring that the post-2015 framework does not make the same mistakes that the MDGs did. View the photo essay here.
Translated in Odiya, the film supported by UNFPA focuses on the value of the girl child. The film was screened at an event observing International Women’s Day by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha, to sensitize their functionaries on issues concerning women. The event was attended by over 300 participants.
Translated in Odiya, the film supported by UNFPA highlights on the issue of sex selection and gender discrimination. The film was screened at an event observing International Women’s Day by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha, to sensitize their functionaries on issues concerning women. The event was attended by over 300 participants.
Key highlights from the ‘Inspiring Change: Equality for All’ conference that was jointly organized on 10 March 2014 by the European Union and UN Women to mark International Women’s Day.
Launch of UN Women’s Report ‘Hearts & Minds: Women of India Speak’ at the ‘Inspiring Change: Equality for All’ conference that was jointly organized by the European Union and UN Women.
Surajit Kar Purkayastha, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata says that while change is already emerging in women’s advancement in India, there still needs to be a change in the attitude of the society.
Marriage and Women’s Advancement in India
Ivi Pyari Bodra, Elected Women’s Representative says that marriage should not stop women from pursuing their dreams. She says that if women have the will power, they can achieve whatever they want in life.
Dr. Rebecca Tavares, Representative, UN Women Multi Country Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka highlights that while participation of women at grassroots and other levels has increased, a lot still needs to be done in terms of economic opportunities, access to labour market and literacy levels.
Ms. Rada Boric, Vice-President, European Women’s Lobby says that women’s rights are human rights, and that women deserve equal distribution of power in all spheres, be it economy or politics.
The United Nations in India in partnership with World Comics India uses the power of comics to tell stories from across India, across communities, and across languages. Through workshops held in the country, young people, women, men and children who are poor and from marginalized communities find expression through comics. The collection of stories on the rights of women reflect the issues women face in their daily lives.
The UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon highlights the importance of achieving equality for women and girls not simply because it is a matter of fairness and fundamental human rights, but because progress in so many other areas depends on it.
‘Equality for Women is Progress for All’, stresses UN Women Executive Director
The UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says that with the knowledge that empowering women and girls and supporting their full participation can help solve the greatest challenges of the 21st century, we will find lasting solutions to many of the problems we face in our world.
‘Redouble efforts to make equality a reality for women’, stresses UNDP Administrator
The UNDP Administrator Helen Clark highlights that gender equality makes economic sense, strengthens democracy and enables long term sustainable progress.
UN Condemns Badaun Gang Rape, Murder
[Date: 02 June 2014, Source: The Outlook]
UN condemns Badaun gangrape, calls for justice
[Date: 02 June 2014, Source: CNN-IBN]
UN condemns Badaun rape-murder
[Date: 02 June 2014, Source: The Hindu]
United Nations condemns gang-rape in Badaun
[Date: 02 June 2014, Source: The Hindu Business Line]
UN condemns UP gang rape and murder, calls for justice
[Date: 02 June 2014, Source: IANS]
Gender Equality and Empowerment
Eliminating Violence Against Women