women’s rights

You are currently browsing articles tagged women’s rights.

Photo of the week: are we on track for the Millennium Development Goals?

24 August 2010 by Archie Law | 2 comments

On Friday 13 2010, ActionAid held the second part of a seminar series with the Asia Pacific Masters of Human Rights and Democratisation in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney.

Guest panellists from ActionAid, the University of Sydney and the Australian Education Union participated in a panel discussion titled “Are we on track for the Millennium Development Goals?” with regard to the MDG 2, which centres on universal access to a full course of primary education.

Children study at the school set up five years ago by women’s advocate Rubeena Gulnaar in the town of Mohamadbad in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Just back from Hanoi!

23 July 2010 by Archie Law | 1 comment

It’s been a long time between posts which is largely due to me playing catch up as a result of 10 days in Hanoi attending a number of ActionAid Meetings focusing on Campaigning, then our Annual Country Directors Meeting followed by a quick Asia Regional Meeting.

That’s a lot of meeting and certainly a lot of talking so what’s with that? One of the big outcomes from Hanoi is a buy in from ActionAid’s senior management on how we can become an international campaigning power house. We are already a respected voice as a force for social change and we have some great policy work at country and international level but there is a renewed determination to take our campaigning work to the international level.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , ,

Photo of the week: Wanna ride to school?

20 July 2010 by Archie Law | 2 comments

There are many reasons why some children don’t attend school in Ghana. Classrooms may be overcrowded as schools are operating above their capacity levels. Often there are poorly trained teachers or not enough learning materials for students.

But often, the problem is that schools are too far from where children live, which makes it either impossible or unsafe for the children to attend.

Josephine, Augustina, Cynthia and Pascalina show off their new bicycles they ride to school.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Photo of the week: fifty years of independence but conflict remains

5 July 2010 by Archie Law | 1 comment

This week marks 50 years of independence for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yet, a fierce conflict continues in the east of the DRC where civilians have been suffering immensely since the 1990s.

Women in particular have been targeted. In the first nine months of 2009 alone, there were almost 8000 reported cases of rape in eastern DRC. These rapes included girls as young as two and women as old as 80.

A woman walks along a road with her belongings and baby on her back near the town of Kibati, near the provinicial capital of Goma.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , ,

Photo of the week: sex workers’ safety at stake

17 May 2010 by Archie Law | Comments closed

In Bangladesh, prostitution is legal as long as the individual is at least 18 years old. However, the widespread abuse of a drug called Oradexon, a drug usually used to fatten cattle, has meant that younger girls (some as young as twelve) employed as sex workers are able to seem older and more attractive to clients.

Bobi says she has been given Oradexon by her madam as soon as she arrived at the brothel.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,

Stop the Violence Against Women!!

12 April 2010 by Archie Law | 3 comments

Last week ActionAid International’s Technical Advisor on Women’s Rights, Ms Ennie Chipembere, held a one day workshop in Sydney for all ActionAiders in Australia on Women’s Rights.

Much of Ennie’s focus was on Violence Against Women as this is a major priority for ActionAid internationally and our experience with protection and conflict work. In many ways this is the main game for us at ActionAid Australia and I thought I’d dig into the issue a little more and finish with how Australia can lead in this critical area.

Survivors from DRC

Violence against women and girls is one of the starkest collective failures of the international community in the 21st century. Violence affects one in three women globally and is one of the most widespread abuses of human rights worldwide in times of both conflict and peace. It is a leading cause of death and disability among women of all ages. Women face violence and the threat of violence at every stage of their lives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,

Photo of the week: fighting stigma

12 April 2010 by Archie Law | 3 comments

Violence against women is an unacceptable crime that is still perpetuated world wide. This is especially the case for women such as Pumeza and Tshidi (pictured) in South Africa, who have been victims of hate crime due to their sexuality.

“It is not easy being a woman in this country” says Pumeza (left) Photographer: Jodie Bieber

“It is not easy being a woman in this country” says Pumeza (left) Photographer: Jodie Bieber

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , ,

Australia’s “re-engagement” with Africa

19 March 2010 by Archie Law | Comments closed

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,

Photo of the week: who pays?

15 March 2010 by Archie Law | 2 comments

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

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Photo of the week: women’s empowerment

8 March 2010 by Archie Law | Comments closed

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , ,

« Older entries § Newer entries »

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes