Progress of the World’s Women 2005: Women, Work & Poverty This report makes the case for an increased focus on women’s informal employment as a key pathway to reducing poverty and strengthening women’s economic security. It provides the latest available data on the size and composition of the informal economy; it shows the links between employment, gender and poverty; it looks at the costs and benefits of informal work; and it provides a strategic framework for how to promote decent work for women informal workers. more » A Second Chance at Learning for Women in the West Bank More than six months have passed since Tawjihi classes started at UNIFEM's two women's centres in the northern part of the West Bank — the Talfeet Women's Centre and the Allar Rural Girls Development Centre (ARGDC). The Tawjihi is a comprehensive exam that students must take at the end of their high school senior year to obtain a general diploma, which allows them to apply for university. The exam is considered a rite of passage for young Palestinians. Because many women in Allar and Talfeet dropped out of school at a young age, UNIFEM is attempting to close the education gap by providing Tawjihi classes for them so they too can get their diploma. read more » UNIFEM Currents is an e-mail newsletter produced and distributed at least six times per year. Its mission is to provide timely information on international women's issues and UNIFEM activities around the globe. Subscribe to UNIFEM Currents (Your e-mail address will be kept in the strictest confidence. It will not be shared with anyone.)

2005 World Summit

After months of difficult and protracted negotiations over its text, final agreement on the 2005 World Summit's Outcome Document finally occurred just hours before the Summit was due to begin.

Many activists and development practitioners complained of "watered-down" language in some areas. Women's rights advocates, however, while noting that commitments could have been stronger in many cases, were pleased that provisions to promote gender equality had not been omitted in the final text and are included in various sections throughout the document.

Governments reaffirmed their commitments to gender equality, adding specific language condemning violence against women and girls and resolving to end impunity, and committing to ending gender discrimination in areas such as education, property and land ownership, reproductive health, access to labour markets and productive assets and resources, and decision-making processes. Also included was language committing governments to full and effective implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Here governments condemned violations of the human rights of women and girls in conflict situations, committing to reporting, preventing and punishing gender-based violence. They also agreed to promote the full participation of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding.

Much of the success in ensuring that gender concerns were included in the final document is attributable to the consistent lobbying of women's organizations in the lead-up to the Summit. Several organizations had formed a Gender Monitoring Group to track negotiations and lobby to ensure that women's voices were taken into account and that gender equality commitments remained on the agenda.

• 2005 World Summit – Official Website
• 2005 World Summit Outcome Document
• Gender Monitoring Group
• IPS/Terra Viva at the World Summit – special coverage of the summit

UNIFEM at the World Summit

UNIFEM organized two events around the World Summit:

• Launch of UNIFEM's flagship publication, Progress of the World's Women 2005: Women, Work and Poverty:
  • Publication Overview
  • Publication in Full
  • News Release
  • Press briefing to launch the report, 31.08.05
  • Launch event details
  • When Work Just Traps People in Poverty
• Panel Discussion: Towards Achieving the MDGs in the Sudan:
  • News Release: Sudan – MDGs Cannot be Achieved Without Full Participation of Women
  • Publication: Towards Achieving the MDGs in Sudan: Centrality of Women's Leadership and Gender Equality
  • Symposium on Women's Rights and Leadership in Post-Conflict Sudan
  • Sudanese Women Request 80 per Cent of Donor Resources to Address Women's Issues and Community Development
  • Claiming Their Space: Sudanese Women at the Oslo International Donors' Conference on Sudan
  • Sudanese Women's Priorities and Recommendations to the Oslo Donors' Conference on Sudan
  • Activist Profile: Mama Kezia Lainjiwa Nicodemus
  • Activist Profile: Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior
  • Activist Profile: Sidiga Washi

Five Women Appointed to Ministerial Posts in Sudan's New Government of National Unity

22 September 2005 — The cabinet of ministers of Sudan's new government of national unity were sworn in today in the capital city, Khartoum, by Sudanese President Omar al Bashir. Of the 74 ministerial posts in the cabinet, 5 have gone to women, in the areas of health, the environment, agriculture and forestry, and social affairs.

The formation of the new government takes place in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January this year, and represents a significant mark of progress in terms of power-sharing between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) from the south.

Mrs Zanele Mbeki, South Africa's first lady, Kari Karame (NUPI), Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda (UNIFEM), and Tabita Sokaya, Sudan Minister of Health

Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, UNIFEM's regional programme director for East and Horn of Africa, welcomed the news, saying that "despite the tough negotiations that have faced decision-making on which ministries would be represented by whom, the appointment of women to important posts such as health and agriculture shows that there is growing political goodwill to ensure women's role in Sudan's development." She added cautiously, however, that it remains to be seen "what voice these women will have within the Cabinet, and whether gender issues will be integrated into the mandates of all the various ministries. ... For this reason, it is important that women, throughout Sudan, continue to call for inclusion, for participation, in policies and decisions that affect them and their families. More women can be included in the process by appointing them to head the various commissions proposed in the constitution, or to senior offices in the ministries and other governmental institutions."

Tabita Sokaya, the new Minister of Health of Sudan, was in New York in September to attend events around the 2005 World Summit. Ms Sokaya participated in a panel discussion organized by UNIFEM, the Norwegian government and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, on the critical role Sudanese women must play in development and peacebuilding in their country.

Letter by Women Ministers for Foreign Affairs

Several women ministers for foreign affairs sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly on the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission. The letter is reproduced below.

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UNIFEM Around the World

Web Portal on Budgets and Gender in Latin America and the Caribbean
UNIFEM, UNFPA and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have launched a web portal on Budgets and Gender in Latin America and the Caribbean. The portal is a platform for knowledge management and exchange on budgets and gender in the region. The portal is targeted to public institutions, decision makers, civil society, and professionals and technicians interested in particular in the Latin American experience, best practices and lessons learned on the subject. visit the portal »

Beijing+10 Anniversary Celebrated in China in August 2005
Beijing was the venue once again for women's rights advocates as they commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. The event, attended by heads of state, government officials, UN agencies and other international organizations, and international and national NGOs, saw the adoption of a Beijing+10 Declaration, and a high-level commitment to bring the recommendations of the conference to the 2005 World Summit in New York.
         Plenary sessions focused on national progress towards achieving the MDGs, and continuing challenges to gender equality and women's empowerment. Thematic workshops focused on themes such as women in decision-making and management; economic empowerment of women; women and poverty eradication; women's human rights and elimination of violence against women; women and HIV/AIDS; and women and sustainable development. It was generally acknowledged that the best ways to address gender inequalities were through knowledge building, through enabling policies and institutional and social environments, and through better implementation, accountability and increased financial resources targeted at empowering women and girls. The conference particularly recommended speeding up implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW and the MDGs, which, if treated as interlinked processes, would greatly improve progress towards gender equality.

• Beijing+10 Declaration
• White Paper issued by the Government of China. The paper maps out China's progress in the areas of economic rights and security, political participation, law, health, education, family and marriage, environment, etc. For example, China passed a comprehensive law protecting women's rights and interests on a variety of issues, just before the conference, and has also made significant budgetary allocations to target women's empowerment in education, health and rural livelihoods.

Women using the computers at the Gitarama Women's Community Telecenter

Bridging the Gender Digital Divide in Rwanda
Women entrepreneurs in Gitarama, Rwanda, have a new buzzword these days — "ICTs" (information and communication technologies). This tool is growing in popularity as greater numbers of Rwandan women learn how to use it effectively to expand their businesses. To support their efforts, UNIFEM and UNDP, in collaboration with the Japanese Women in Development and the Rwandan National Women's Council, launched the Gitarama Women's Community Telecenter in September 2005. The telecenter is part and parcel of UNIFEM's ongoing partnership with the Rwandan government to mainstream gender in the country's new ICT policy framework. It will focus on promoting women's, and particularly rural women's, access to ICT for information and entrepreneurship. The telecenter comes equipped with Internet connection, telephone and fax lines, and facilities to produce publicity materials such as business cards and brochures. Women also have access to basic training on using the Internet, special skills tailored for the disabled, and specialized courses on computer networking. For more information, contact Irene Zirimwabagabo, irene.zirimwabagabo[at]undp.org

Women Leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean Meet to Discuss Gender and the MDGs
UNIFEM hosted a working breakfast in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in early September for the heads of 14 National Women's Machineries (NWM) from Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The breakfast was organized to coincide with an ECLAC meeting of NWMs to discuss their participation in the 2005 World Summit.
        At the breakfast, participants strategized on strengthening gender perspectives in the agendas of official delegations to the Summit. One of the main concerns expressed by participants was that not all of them had been invited by their governments to form part of the official delegations. To resolve this, participants signed a formal agreement at the close of the formal ECLAC meeting where they requested every government to include heads of NWMs in their official delegations to the Summit.
        Participants also reviewed related materials developed for the Summit, including a report by CEPAL/UNIFEM titled "Review of the MDGs From a Gender Perspective"; a UNIFEM publication titled "Pathway to Gender Equality: CEDAW, Beijing and the MDGs"; and a video on "Gender and the MDGs" developed by UNIFEM/UNDP in Peru. The 4-minute video, available in three languages (Spanish, Portuguese and English) seeks to "humanize" the MDGs, by showing how the implementation of each goal can impact the life of women in very concrete ways (available on request from unifem.ecuador[at]undp.org).

UNIFEM Opens Computer Clubhouse and Microsoft IT Academy in Jordan
UNIFEM has just received a license to operate a Computer Clubhouse in Mleih, Jordan. The Clubhouse, which is only the third such place in the Arab region and the first in a rural area, provides a creative and safe after-school learning environment where young people from underserved communities can work with adult mentors to explore ideas, develop skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology. UNIFEM is working with the Queen Zein Al Sharaf Institute for Development (ZENID), the owners of the first Computer Clubhouse in Jordan, to train individuals from the local community to work in the Mleih Clubhouse.
        The Computer Clubhouse is based on the model provided by the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, a project of Boston's Museum of Science and MIT's Media Laboratory, which supports community-based Clubhouses around the world, providing thousands of youth with access to resources, skills, and experiences to help them succeed in their careers and contribute to their communities. The Clubhouse is a new initiative in UNIFEM's e-Village project, which brings together private and public sector entities to share resources and expertise to bridge the digital divide in Jordan.
        To kick-start another activity under the e-Village programme, UNIFEM has also obtained a license to operate a Microsoft IT Academy in the village of Lib. Microsoft is providing training for trainers as in-kind support. UNIFEM will provide trainers from its own e-Village staff, as well as free training for the local community. The Microsoft IT Academy provides accredited training to prepare students for academic education tracks, rigorous Microsoft certification exams and for career opportunities. For more information please contact UNIFEM Arab States Economic Empowerment and ICT Program Manager, Yazan Majaj, yazan[at]unifem.org.jo

World Economic Forum's Report on Gender Inequality Discussed in Brazil
The recent World Economic Forum (WEF) publication, Women's Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap, was translated into Portuguese by UNIFEM in an effort to make the information more accessible to non-English-speaking countries. The Portuguese translation — Empoderamento das Mulheres: Avalianção das Disparidades Globais de Gênero — was released at a breakfast where the author, Augusto Lopez-Claros, an economist with the WEF and director of its Global Competitiveness Programme, introduced the key findings. The event was attended by Minister Nilcéira Freire, Special Secretary of Policies for Women, with discussants including Lourdes Bandeira, director of the department of social sciences of the University of Brasilia, and Solange Sanches, from ILO-Brasil.
        The report quantifies the size of the gender gap in 58 countries, including all 30 OECD countries and 28 other emerging markets, and measures the extent to which women have achieved full equality with men in five critical areas: economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, health and well-being. The report has caused some controversy in Brazil, where the country was ranked 51 out of 58 countries. view the report »

UNIFEM Signs Agreement With Confederation of Indian Industry
UNIFEM and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have signed a cooperation agreement to promote gender equality in industry. The agreement embodies a partnership shared by the two organizations over the last eight years and reflects a growing convergence of interests between women's empowerment and industry. Efforts will be made to advance gender equality through technical assistance to develop gender-sensitive responses to sexual harassment at the workplace, and tackle issues such as poverty, HIV/AIDS and the implications of trade agreements for women's livelihoods. Both organizations aim to work towards establishing a South Asia Forum for Women's Empowerment, as well as a National Association of Women Entrepreneurs. For further information please contact Meenakshi Ahluwalia, meenakshi.ahluwalia[at]undp.org

UNIFEM Self-Help Kit for Victims of Violence
A self-help kit for victims of violence, developed by mental health specialist NGO, Saarthak, was launched in New Delhi in August 2005. Developed in both English and Hindi, the kit contains six cassettes which describe a "journey" to explore suggestions for surviving the pain of violence, empower users with information to help normalize the impact of violence, and de-stigmatize the process of seeking help. The kit can be used by front-line workers as well as by people who cannot read.
        The first cassette, "I Dare," helps in recognizing various forms of violence, their impact on thoughts and feelings, and challenging myths. The next step in the journey is titled "I Survive," designed to help users end self-blame and take steps to break way from violence. The third cassette, "I Live," focuses on a method to help a person begin to take control of her life, while the fourth, "I Believe," helps the person concentrate on learning to challenge negative thoughts and cope with negative feelings. "I Grow," the fifth cassette, focuses on planning for the future, rebuilding relationships and discovering the ability to sustain oneself. The final cassette, "I Dream," helps rediscover the ability to enjoy and celebrate life as well as help others. For further information please contact Meenakshi Ahluwalia, meenakshi.ahluwalia[at]undp.org

Newly elected Burundian parliamentarian Catherine Mabobori with UNIFEM staff members

UNIFEM Meets With Newly Elected Burundian Parliamentarian Mabobori
"Vous ne pouvez pas vous decourager avant d'avoir commence!" —Catherine Mabobori
        Newly elected Burundian parliamentarian, Hon. Catherine Mabobori, paid a visit recently to the UNIFEM office in Kigali, Rwanda. Ms Mabobori is one of the 55 women elected to Parliament in the August 2005 elections in Burundi. The election results represented a huge success for gender equality and democratic governance — for the first time in Burundian history, a woman was appointed vice-president of the country. In addition, women were also appointed as Speaker of the National Assembly, and first and second vice-presidents of the Senate. Seven women sit on the new cabinet.
        Ms Mabobori was enthusiastic about UNIFEM's work in the country, citing several training and advocacy activities she had participated in. She noted that UNIFEM was well-known in Burundi among women, but now also increasingly among men because it had facilitated women's participation in the Arusha peace process. She made a distinct connection between the support UNIFEM gave Burundian women in pushing for demands throughout the negotiation process, and the final result of political inclusion in the recent elections. "I started out in civil society and now I am in politics. I am using the same tools that UNIFEM empowered me with when I was working for women's organizations now that I am in politics!" she said in concluding her visit.

Zimbabwe to Include Gender Perspective in Fiscal Policy Review
Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa declared in August 2005 that his mid-term fiscal policy review would include gender interventions "to mainstream gender in all aspects of the development process," and particularly to "improve access to productive resources." His commitments come as a result of submissions put forward by UNIFEM on behalf of the Gender Forum and other women's organizations in Zimbabwe to urge for the promotion of women's rights through the national budgeting process. Earlier, the Finance Ministry had called for proposals to incorporate in their mid-term review process, prompting women's groups to mobilize quickly to ensure that issues that affected women were tabled, such as housing, health, agriculture and livelihoods. For more information, contact Tafadzwa Sekeso, tafadzwa.sekeso[at]undp.org

UNIFEM Newsletters

• UNIFEM in Colombia, Issue 2
• UNIFEM Aceh Tsunami Response, July 2005
• Gender Advocacy in Afghanistan, August 2005
• USAWA e-newsletter – Gender and Governance in Kenya

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Other News

CaucAsia Bulletin
CaucAsia is an international coalition of journalists writing on gender issues. Their bulletin is produced on a completely volunteer basis out of Tbilisi, Georgia. Read their September issue (in English), which focuses on gender and religion. For more information, contact Galina Petriashvili (editor), galapet[at]ip.osgf.ge

Women Waging Peace – Addressing the Crisis in Darfur
Over the last decade, violence has ravaged Sudan. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million displaced. Attempts to broker and implement a peace agreement have been unsuccessful thus far. Women have been disproportionately affected by the violence in Darfur. But women are not just victims. They are working to address the humanitarian crisis, stop the prevalent acts of gender-based violence, and foster reconciliation among warring parties. Addressing the Crisis in Darfur discusses women's efforts to bring peace to Darfur and offers concrete recommendations for policymakers to support them.

Other Newsletters

• UN in Russia Newsletter – July-August 2005
• Peacewomen's Newsletter, Issue #67

International Alert Releases Latest Publication on Gender and Peacebuilding
IA's new report, Women Building Peace: Sharing Know-How, Assessing Impact: Planning for Miracles (by Judy El Bushra with Ancil Adrian-Paul and Maria Olson), examines the issue of impact measurement in conflict transformation and peacebuilding work, which has gained a higher profile in the last few years as a result of research and development initiatives, but still lacks a gender analysis and reflection of the specific circumstances of women's organizations engaged in peacebuilding. The themes of the report are the similarities and differences worldwide in the way women peacebuilders conceptualize and analyze their work, the criteria by which they determine success, and the principles they use in structuring their organizations and identifying their activities. view the report »

Gender and Migration – A 'Cutting Edge Pack' From BRIDGE
How does migration advance or impede gender equality? How can policymakers and practitioners promote gender equality in work on migration? Migration can bring new opportunities for greater gender equality and a better life, for those migrating and those they leave behind. It can have positive impacts on sending and receiving areas. However, migration also brings risks, and may entrench inequalities around gender. The Gender and Migration pack is a concise and practical resource consisting of an Overview Report; Supporting Resources Collection — summaries of key texts, case studies and tools, and key organizations; and Gender and Development in Brief bulletin. view the pack »

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