25 November marks the International Day to End Violence against Women, and the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign. Since 1991, the campaign has brought together activists and organizations around the world to raise awareness and inspire actions. Check out the Say NO – UNiTE 16 Days of Activism corner here. If you are organizing events and activities for the 16 Days of Activism, we want to hear about it! Post your actions on and don’t forget to Orange … [Read more...]
GRAVE CHALLENGE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
RESOLUTION APPROVED BY THIRD COMMITTEE CALLS FOR HIGH-LEVEL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 'AGAINST GRAVE CHALLENGE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING' Also Hears Introduction of Texts on Eliminating Racism,Human Rights Council Report, International Drug Control The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today approved a draft resolution that would have the General Assembly hold a high-level meeting in 2013 to assess progress in the global community’s fight against the grave challenge of human … [Read more...]
Women, family planning summit mobilized an unprecedented $2.6 billion
According to Richard Kollodge, the Editor of the report launched on Wednesday, there are many barriers to accessing family planning, not only in developing countries, but throughout the world. Mr. Kollodge says that new statistics that came out earlier this year show that 222 million women in developing countries would like to use family planning but have no access to it. "So that's one of the reasons why UNFPA has focused on family planning for this year's report. Another big reason … [Read more...]
Contraception in Tajikistan: Poverty, Religion and Mothers-in-law
KHOVALING, Tajikistan --- “Things were different in my day,” says 70-year-old Tojigul Qurbonova, a mother of ten. “Mothers with a lot of children were showered with benefits and had a good life,” she adds, showing off a ‘Mother Hero’ certificate she was awarded in 1980. In those days, under the Soviet Union, big families were encouraged and supported. Mothers with more than five children were awarded gold medals, apartments, telephones, and received financial help in the form of child … [Read more...]
Twitter, UN Women post-2015 LIVE – Nov. 13 @ 9 am EST.
#AskUNWomen Twitter chat on gender equality. In the context of the post-2015 consultations on inequalities, UN Women will hold a live twitter chat on gender equality with Deputy Executive Director John Hendra. What are the most widespread and fundamental forms of inequalities women and girls face around the world? What do you think are the major causes of gender inequalities within and among different societies? What actions could be taken to reduce those … [Read more...]
Women are main guardians of crucial livestock diversity
November 2012, Rome - Women livestock keepers worldwide must be recognized as the major actors in efforts to arrest the decline of indigenous breeds, crucial for rural food security and animal genetics, a new FAO study argues. Yet women's contribution to indigenous livestock breeding and conservation is poorly documented and undervalued, the study Invisible Guardians: Women manage livestock diversity says. Of the 600 million poor livestock keepers in the world, around two-thirds are women, … [Read more...]
World Food Day 2012 – “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world”
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organisations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme. The World Food Day theme for 2012 is "Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world". World Food Day (WFD) was established by FAO's Member Countries at the Organization's 20th General … [Read more...]
870 million chronically undernourished – new hunger report
October 2012, Rome - Nearly 870 million people, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012, according to the new UN hunger report released today. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 (SOFI), jointly published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), presents better estimates of chronic undernourishment based on an improved methodology and data for … [Read more...]
DESA, Digital Bridge to a Civil Society – ‘…a collective global good’
A digital bridge to civil society “Our times demand (…) a new constellation of international cooperation – governments, civil society and the private sector, working together for a collective global good”. In line with this statement of the UN Secretary-General, DESA and its UN partners continue to enhance their services to civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the globe. Civil society and non-governmental organizations play a vital role as partners to the … [Read more...]
World Food Day – October 16, 2012
Nearly one is six people around the world do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life – most of them living in developing countries. It is World Food Day on 16 October as well as harvest festival assembly time, so the Guardian Teacher Network has a bounty of resources to share that introduce and delve deeper into the challenges and injustices that people face over food. Music can be used as a tool to explore global issues with these resources developed by Oxfam … [Read more...]