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Gender Wire
May 2011 | Issue 5 | UNESCO Bangkok
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Hello!Welcome to Gender Wire. It's a newsletter for, and about, the people and ideas pushing Gender Equality in Education in Asia and Pacific forward.
This month was chock-full of gender in education activities. We were most excited about the UNESCO Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education; read more about it in the “What’s going on?” section. This initiative will also impact our region, and a new UNESCO-GEMS Education partnership for promoting teacher training for girls and women in mathematics, sciences and technology in Lao PDR is in the works.
This month we’re officially launching the regional UNESCO – UNGEI calendar 2012 drawing contest as a standalone activity. Please disseminate enthusiastically, through your networks, websites and social media in your local language. We can’t do it without you!
We also have an abundance of fresh and useful resources for you to check out, so don’t miss the “New on the shelf” section.
And for the cherry on top, get inspired by the new UNESCO - UN Foundation video: A Winning Equation - Girls and Education WHAT'S GOING ON?- UNESCO launched the Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education
The Partnership was launched during a high level forum held at UNESCO Headquarters on 26 May 2011, which was opened by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The keynote speech was delivered by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina.
- Project Inspire: 5 minutes to change the world
This is a joint initiative by UN Women Singapore and MasterCard to help create opportunities for women and girls in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Send them your ideas on how to support the empowerment of women in disadvantaged communities, and you may get a US$25,000 grant to go out and make it a reality.
- Girls in ICT Day, Worldwide, 28th April 2011
The Girls in ICT Day will be observed on the fourth Thursday of April every year to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women through the use of ICTs. It results from a resolution adopted at ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference in Mexico, last year.
- 2011 Global Women Summit, Istanbul, 5-7 May 2011
A strong Asian participation was marked at the Global Summit of Women. This event brought together all sectors – public, private and nonprofit – under the common vision of dramatically expanding women’s economic opportunities globally. It was a business summit whose “business” focus was women’s advancement in the global economy.
- United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC IV), Istanbul, 9-13 May 2011
UN Women key messages and events at the Conference.
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WIDER LENS
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES- The Netherlands is investing €70 million in women in developing countries through a new fund, Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women (FLOW) aimed at strengthening the rights and opportunities for women and girls worldwide. FLOW will focus on three priorities: security (including violence against women and UN Resolution 1325), economic empowerment (with an emphasis on food security, land, water and economic rights) and political participation.
The closing date for applications is 29 July 2011. Click here for more information.
- USAID is calling for proposals for globally relevant capacity-building programs, research projects and assessments to enable the global community to better prevent and respond to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) within refugee and conflict-affected populations.
The closing date for applications is 28 June 2011. Click here for more information.
GOOD PRACTICESNEW ON THE SHELF- Where’s the best or worst place to be a mother? Check out the new Save the Children Report on the State of the World’s Mothers 2011
- Equality at work: The continuing challenge - Global Report, ILO
The report notes that new forms of discrimination at work arise while the old challenges remain at best only partially answered. Among the key findings of the report:- Gender pay gap still exists, with women’s wages being on average 70-90 per cent of men’s.
- Sexual harassment is a significant problem in workplaces. Young, financially dependent, single or divorced women and migrants are most vulnerable, while men who experience harassment tend to be young, gay or members of ethnic or racial minorities.
- Barriers impeding equal access to the labour market still need to be dismantled, particularly for people of African and Asian descent, indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, and above all women in these groups.
- Women and Labour Markets in Asia: Rebalancing for Gender Equality, ADB, ILO
Poorly employed Asian women pose both old and new challenges to the world's fastest growing region, with nearly half of them without jobs and struggling with perennial issues of lower wages and fewer chances for education.
- Population Dynamics and Poverty in the LDCs: Challenges and Opportunities for Development and Poverty Reduction, UNFPA
'Invest in youth, women, reproductive health to reduce poverty, and enhance productive capacity', says new UNFPA report.
- The AFPPD Policy Tracking and Monitoring Unit has created a population and development policy database, with a large number of policy and legislative resources available online.
JUST A QUICK QUESTIONLast month, we asked you what the leading cause of death is for girls aged 15-19 worldwide. The answer is, unfortunately, still pregnancy. Every minute, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth and another 20-30 women suffer serious injury or disability. Almost all of these women die in developing countries of preventable or treatable complications, complications that rarely kill in rich countries. Learn more on UNFPA website.
This month's question: Is gender equality a concern for men? What do you think?
Send us your answers! |
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