women’s rights

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This morning the University of Sydney hosted an international forum chaired by Deputy Vice Chancellor (International) John Hearn on Australia’s “re-engagement with Africa”. The Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Finance Minister for Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, were keynote speakers.

Unfortunately my good friend Marc Purcell who is the Executive Director of the Australian Council For International Development (ACFID) was unable to attend and he invited me to make some remarks on behalf of the ACFID membership. There has been some tweet action on this subject so I felt I should drop a few lines on the content of my presentation.

My remarks focused on poverty and under development in Africa, which are the two major challenges facing the continent although both challenges are incredibly multi dimensional.  I began with a quote from Nelson Mandela, that “ending poverty is not an act of charity, but an act of justice” and justice is what the people of Africa deserve andshould accept no less.

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It’s hard to believe some supermarkets still source their products from factories that underpay their workers and subject them to horrifying working conditions.

Mercy (not pictured), is one of 500,000 women processing cashew nuts for a living in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India. These women often suffer from dermatitis, blistering and skin discolouration from shelling nuts.

 

“I get headaches; I get dizziness and vomiting from breathing in the smoke” says Mercy

“I get headaches; I get dizziness and vomiting from breathing in the smoke” says Mercy

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Before Leya Chede, 47, joined ActionAid’s adult literacy Reflect program, she would have been too shy to even meet a stranger coming to her house. Now she is an elected local councillor, representing women’s issues in the local government in the Palisa district in Kampala, Uganda.

Leya Chede photographed at her turkey rearing house with some goats.

Leya Chede photographed at her turkey rearing house with some goats.

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Women Collecting Water

The most amazing stories of strength, courage and perseverance amongst the most challenging and difficult of circumstances in developing countries usually come from women. This story from ActionAid in Ethiopia really struck a chord with me so I thought I’d share it.

In the village of Nadugne Agam there was no water locally and the women had to carry it from the river, bent double, in back-breaking, 25-litre heavy-duty containers strapped to their shoulders.

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Manju Bai works with manual scavenging in the village Akyia Dev in Madhya Pradesh in India. She is part of the Garima Campaign, but not yet liberated.

Manju Bai works with manual scavenging in the village Akyia Dev in Madhya Pradesh in India. She is part of the Garima Campaign, but not yet liberated.

PHOTO: FIROZ AHMAN FIROZ/ACTIONAID

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