News Items

Africa

Africa: Integrating Food Security Information in National Statistical Systems: Experiences, Achievements, Challenges
12 March 2012 - This book aims at providing a better understanding of how food security indicators can be used for policy-making and planning. It also looks at ways in which statistics can be used to improve the reliability of food security information at both national and sub-national levels. The paper on Uganda analyses the food security statistics from the perspective of gender, while the papers on India and Tanzania are examples of trend analyses.
ReliefWeb

Africa: Reduce Hunger, Nurture Women Farmers
08 March 2012 - In the past few years, there has been a surge of interest in rural women and the role they play in agriculture. This has been prompted by the renewed focus on agriculture - sparked by two food crises; droughts linked to climate change, forcing men to seek alternative livelihoods away from home; HIV/AIDS, which has hit the agricultural workforce, particularly in southern Africa; and the growing importance of nutrition and food quality. Recent studies by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank, have also highlighted the key role in agriculture played by women.
IRIN

Africa: How Africa Can Get the Energy it Needs Without Adding to Climate Change
10 November 2011 - Sub-Saharan Africa has massive potential to generate clean energy that could help lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty without exacerbating climate change, a new Christian Aid report says today. The new report, ‘Low-Carbon Africa: leapfrogging to a green future ‘, published by Christian Aid to mark the United Nations climate summit which opens this month in Durban, South Africa, says this need not be template for the future. The new report’s lead author, said that without significantly expanding energy provision, African countries will fail to meet the MDGs. ‘A lack of access to modern energy services impedes poverty alleviation, education, gender equality and healthcare, and limits employment and livelihood options,’ she said. ‘It is now widely recognised that without access to modern energy services, it is highly unlikely that the MDGs will be met.
ReliefWeb

Egypt: First Women Candidate Begins Campaign
31 October 2011 - When post-revolution Egypt holds presidential elections next year, Buthaina Kamel is set to become the first woman in the country's modern history to run for the highest office. Although she knows her chances of winning are slim to none, she says she's doing it out of principle.
IPS

Eritria: Fields ploughed mostly for women headed households
04 October 2011 - In 2010, nearly 3,000 resettled or returned families in the Gash Barka region of Eritrea used tractors hired by the ICRC to plough 3,000 hectares of fields prior to the planting season. Unusually, most of the heads of these families were women. The project will be maintained in the Gash Barka region in 2011, when, according to the ICRC economic security team, close to 4,000 hectares of land will be ploughed for vulnerable families – most of which are headed by women.
ReliefWeb

Ethiopia: Changing nature of gender roles in the drylands of the Horn of East Africa : Implications for DRR programming
16 December 2011 - This report explores gender in relation to three dominant processes of change that are occurring in pastoral communities in the Horn and East Africa – i) changes in access to land and natural resources; ii) the commercialisation and privatisation of pastoral assets; and iii) shifts in governance and decision-making processes. The report then considers to what degree gender relations and the changes taking place are included within drought risk reduction (DRR) and response strategies, and what lessons can be learnt for developing more effective, gender-sensitive drought-related interventions. In each of these sections future scenarios and recommendations are identified. The report concludes by providing recommendations to DRR actors for more gender-sensitive interventions and support in pastoral areas.
ReliefWeb

Ghana: Moving Towards a Food-Secure Ghana
21 December 2011 - In Dundo village in Nyankpala district, Northern Ghana, 10 women are busy weeding a rice field on a piece of land donated to them by the village chief.
IPS

Ghana: Women Want Voices Heard in Climate Change Decisions
01 November 2011 - Women living in agricultural communities in Ghana are the most affected by the effects of climate change across the country. Unfortunately, their voices are not being heard when decisions on climate change are being made at the decision making levels. They have, therefore, called on the government to involve women in the design and implementation of climate change policies and programmes, saying “Poor participation of women in the decision-making process has negative effects on the efforts to combat climate change.”
The Chronicle

Kenya: Microloans, Greenhouses Help Women Cope with Climate Change
02 March 2012 - A spot check in the country shows that prices of horticultural produce have shot up in the past three months following the failure of short rains, which were expected to come between October and December last year. However, farmers who use the greenhouse technology do not need rainfall for their crops to grow.
At Gakoromone Market in Meru, in Kenya’s Eastern Province, Ruth Muriuki arrives in a pickup full of tomatoes and cabbages despite the scarcity of rainfall in the area, thanks to the greenhouse technology she uses on her farm – and microcredit.
IPS

Kenya: Under the radar, African women struggle more than others in food crisis
05 January 2012 - Catholic News Service reports once again from the frontlines of the East Africa food crisis, this time focusing on the drought’s impact on women. The year 2011 was not good for women; just about everything was a struggle.
When there are regional or national traumas like drought, men in rural areas leave to find work and leave behind women and children, Belay said. But when men do not return, women are forced to look for work that causes them to migrate to the nearest town. Begging becomes one way to cope; another is to become a sex worker. Many women experience a downward spiral that can often end in death on the streets.
ReliefWeb

Kenya: Helping women to end sex-for-fish culture
19 December 2011 - For the past five years, Achieng*, a 35-year-old widow and mother of six, has sold fish on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria; like many women in the fish trade, Achieng often has to have sex with fishermen in order to get the best catch of the day, a system known in the local Luo language as 'jaboya'.
A recent donation of six boats to women's groups in Nyanza by the US Peace Corps shows some of the ways 'jaboya' can be addressed; the women are able to fish for themselves, eliminating dependence on fishermen.
ReliefWeb

Kenya: Change the Donors Climate
18 November 2011 - When donor-funded horticultural projects failed in Kalacha village at the edge of the Chalbi Desert in North Eastern Province, Kenya, the local pastoralist community proposed their own idea, which turned out to be the solution to their problems.
IPS

Lesotho: Emergency Assistance in Response to Crop Failure in Lesotho
20 December 2011 - Lesotho experienced its heaviest rainfall in the last ten years between December 2010 and February 2011, resulting in major floods which inundated much of the country. The farming sector has suffered heavy losses, including crops and seasonal employment opportunities.
ReliefWeb

Madagascar: Legal Aid Clinics Help Rural Women
22 December 2011 - Legal aid clinics are playing an important role during Madagascar's current political and economic crisis, especially for poverty-hit rural women who are under-served by the country's ailing judicial system. The clinic's legal advisers serve about 50 clients a month and deal with marital problems as well as disputes over land rights and unpaid loans.
ReliefWeb

Morocco: UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet Visits Rural Women’s Land Rights Project in Morocco
09 March 2012 - On the last day of her trip to Morocco to commemorate International Women’s Day, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, met with rural women of the Soulalyates ethnic group, who have been striving for inheritance and property rights.
UN Women

Morocco: UN Women Executive Director Commemorates International Women’s Day in Morocco
09 March 2012 - Ms. Bachelet urges women’s equal participation in all spheres of life as fundamental to democracy and justice.
UN Women

Morocco: Remarks of UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the “Soulaliyat Women Entitled to Land Property Rights” event.
09 March 2012 – ‘Through your determined leadership, through your organization of press conferences and meetings with the Ministry of the Interior, as well as sit-ins in front of parliament, you, the Soulalyates, succeeded in mobilizing the media and public opinion against the violation of your rights. I congratulate you for obtaining official recognition of women’s rights to communal land.’
UN Women

Nigeria: Fearing the Floods – Sleeping with One Eye Open
15 December 2011 - The women of Makoko, a low-lying slum close to the Lagos Lagoon along Nigeria’s Atlantic coast, always sleep with one eye open. Many live in fear that when they go to sleep at night they will wake to flooded homes and business.
IPS

Rwanda: Women Farmers Yielding Profits and Better Futures in Rural Rwanda
09 February 2012 - UN Women works with 15 cooperatives in the Kirehe District of Rwanda to increase women farmers’ access to agricultural services. Through the trainings, leaders across the cooperatives were encouraged to increase women’s representation in their decision making structures and to prioritize opportunities to the most vulnerable women members.
A testimony to its success is the sentiment expressed by many of the women members, about the life they can now provide for their children and the future. “The most important thing now is that I no longer fear getting sick and not be able to farm or care for my children: I know I can afford health insurance and can go to the health centre.”
UN Women

Rwanda: From Post-Conflict to Environmentally Sustainable Development
16 November 2011 - The report, Rwanda: From Post-Conflict to Environmentally Sustainable Development, was unveiled in Kigali by the Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Mr Stanislas Kamanzi, at the start of a regional meeting with East African senior policy makers exploring how to leverage support for a shift towards an environmentally sustainable, climate resilient, low-carbon, resource-efficient future. Following a consultative process with the Government of Rwanda, the 380-page UNEP report provides a critical analysis of the most pressing environmental issues facing the country and proposes an integrated package of almost 90 projects and interventions, totaling US$147 million, that would help the country accelerate its sustainable development agenda.
ReliefWeb

Somalia: East African Famine Relief
23 September 2011 - East Africa is currently experiencing its worst drought in over 60 years, causing famine conditions in parts of Somalia and a growing refugee crisis. American Jewish World Service partnered with international humanitarian organizations working at the frontlines of the crisis to save the lives of vulnerable women and children
ReliefWeb

South Africa: Climate Change Affecting Fisherwomen’s Livelihoods
13 December 2011 - Having observed changes in the sea and the life cycles of the rock lobsters that their livelihoods depend on, a group of fisherwomen from the Western Cape, South Africa are calling on government to adjust fishing seasons to adapt to what they claim are climate change-related alterations.
IPS

South Sudan: Women Aim to Protect Their Rights in a Young State
16 December 2011 - As South Sudan maps out its economic future at the South Sudan International Engagement Conference (IEC) this week in Washington, women from the new country called on donors to invest in projects that ensure women benefit equally from development plans.
South Sudanese women pushed for measures that would help secure a strong female presence in sectors including government, agriculture and the economy; The women recommended ensuring that 25 percent of all investments in agriculture and commercial livestock go to women, thereby "increasing their food productivity, their entrepreneurship, and access to markets." The large majority of farmers in South Sudan are small women farmers, and war has left South Sudan with a large number of female-headed households.
ReliefWeb

Sudan: Women Need More Representation
09 November 2011 - Renowned women’s activist Safa Al Aqib tells Radio Dabanga that Darfur won’t flourish without uplifting women. Safa Al Aqib, an active Darfuri women’s rights advocate and winner of the Freedom and Human Rights Award in 2009, stressed on the need for fair and equitable power sharing between men and women. She pointed out that the women in Darfur form the backbone of the economy by making up 70 per cent of the work force in the traditional agricultural and food sectors of the province. “Economic policies of the state must consider gender issues and support women and strengthen the region as well as help them play leadership roles in agricultural unions, an area which currently lacks female presence,” Safa said.
ReliefWeb

Sudan: Female Farmer Still Optimistic Despite Hardships
16 September 2011 - Gracie Seratiore Furimona, 42 years old, is a farmer from the village of Saura in South Sudan’s Western Equatorial state. Gracie faced incredible obstacles and had to show a lot of patience as well. When her buyer was finally ready to pick up her surplus, 85% of it was lost. Read here why Gracie is still optimistic and her plans for the upcoming years.
WFP

Uganda: Integrating Food Security Information in National Statistical Systems: Experiences, Achievements, Challenges
12 March 2012 - This book aims at providing a better understanding of how food security indicators can be used for policy-making and planning. It also looks at ways in which statistics can be used to improve the reliability of food security information at both national and sub-national levels. The paper on Uganda analyses the food security statistics from the perspective of gender, while the papers on India and Tanzania are examples of trend analyses.
ReliefWeb

Uganda: Rural Women Are Leading the Way - Will the World Follow - Part 2
29 February 2012 - “The livelihoods and well-being of rural women and girls are directly linked to the environment they live in,” Lakshmi Puri, assistant-secretary-general and deputy executive director of UN Women, told IPS.
“In many countries, rural women and girls have been directly impacted by the effects of climate change. (Throughout) the Commission on the Status of Women, UN-Women will be listening to rural women from all continents about the ways they have been impacted by climate change and, together with partners, amplifying their voices so that they are heard by world leaders,” Puri added.
While the U.N.’s high-level conference is just getting started, women on the ground in the global South are already in the eye of the storm and are busy deploying a combination of indigenous techniques and adaptive agricultural technologies to ward off the impacts of climate change.
IPS

Uganda: Rural Women’s Banks Ease Tough Times
30 January 2012 - For most Ugandan women, obtaining a commercial loan to start a business has been very difficult. Many do not have the required collateral of land title deeds and many cannot afford the interest rates charged by commercial banks.
But six women-led rural banks have begun changing the lives of women in rural Uganda, easing their access to credit and enabling them to start small businesses and improve their food security.
IPS

Uganda: Deforestation Robbing Communities of their Income
07 December 2011 - The island, the largest of Uganda’s Ssese Islands, is at the center of one of the country’s newest economic endeavors – palm oil processing – and the formerly lush rainforest has fallen quickly, taking with it some critical jobs for the island’s poorest women.
Now, five years after the first phase of that process was completed, residents are starting to measure the impact of the initiative. Many speak glowingly of the jobs and activity the plantation has created. But for some of the island’s poorest residents – especially widows and the wives of often-traveling fishermen – continued deforestation has robbed them of their sole source of income.
IPS

Uganda: Single Mothers Left Behind in Flooded Swampland
21 November 2011 - Life in Bwaise – a slum on the outskirts of the capital of Uganda – has never been easy. But increasingly erratic rains over the last three years have brought constant floods to the former swampland. Residents who can afford to are moving out, leaving the poorest – often single mothers and grandmothers – behind.
IPS

United Republic of Tanzania: Act Appeal – Drought Response in Northern Tanzania – TZA 111
20 December 2011 – Like most of the countries of Eastern and the Horn of Africa, the effects of the last prolonged drought are indeed, the worst drought in memory. The ACT Tanzania forum plans to supplement the existing efforts through provision of emergency supplies of food (maize, beans and cooking oil) to protect the lives of the affected households from hunger and starvation, targeting the most vulnerable families in the drought affected Kishapu district in the Shinyanga region.

Gender issue will be considered at all levels of implementation: Women will be included in village committees and food distribution groups. Women headed families will be given priority during the distribution process. Genders balance will be considered when implementing community work (FFW) to take care of their families. Protection committees will also be established to protect women from any probable violence or harassment as this often occurs in crisis period and areas.
ReliefWeb

Zimbabwe: Binga women in Zimbabwe make history on the Zambezi River
21 March 2012 - The women, from the Tonga ethnic group, formally entered the male-dominated industry last year after being provided with the rig, equipment and skills training. They have since been working to scale up the venture in Binga, one of the country’s least developed districts, so that it can sustain them and their families, as well as create opportunities for other women in the area.
This is the first time since the 1950s that women from their ethnic group have been able to fish at all. Although it was traditionally the Tonga women who fished, using traditional Zubo baskets, aspects of their matrilineal culture changed when the group were displaced by the construction of the Kariba Dam during the colonial era. Their access to resources reduced, and their participation in community fishing ended.
ReliefWeb

Zimbabwe: Farmers Tackle Water Problems Fuelled by Climate Change
02 March 2012 - Beauty Moyo’s desire for access to water has finally been met. The rains that fell in the past week after a long dry patch have awakened this small-holder farmer deep in rural Plumtree, Zimbabwe on the border with Botswana to the reality of sparse rainfall, climate change and how she and her fellow villagers can respond.
IPS

Zimbabwe: Waiting for the ‘Heavens to Weep’
20 December 2011 - Duduzile Sibanda takes a break from preparing her long stretch of land for her maize crop in rural Mberengwa, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province. She wipes her brow under the scorching sun and looks upwards. The sparse clouds are a cause of concern as she studies the sky and wonders aloud when the "heavens will weep."
The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), which is working with the Zimbabwean government to formulate a climate change policy, says early research on the impact of climate change suggests the country will have to cope with changing rainfall patterns, temperature increases and more extreme weather events, like floods and droughts.
IPS

Asia

Asia: Gender Informed Monitoring and Evaluation in Disaster Risk Management: Guidance Note 3
12 December 2011 – This note on Gender Informed Monitoring and Evaluation in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) is the third in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in East Asia and the Pacific. Following a brief introduction, the note looks at the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data, needs assessments, pre and post-disaster assessment and analysis, and gender indicators.
ReliefWeb

Asia: Secretary General on Climate Change
28 November 2011 – Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urges Asian states to assume greater responsibility on the ‘Crisis of the Day’ – climate change, and shines a spotlight on creating new opportunities and empowering women.
ReliefWeb

Afghanistan: Balkh Women’s Farm Service Center to Provide Supplies for Afghan Women Farmers
16 January 2012 - Balkh Women’s Farm Service Center officially opened today with a ceremony marking the occasion attended by Mohammad Emran, the Head of Plant Protection of Provincial Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Saifura Niazai and Brishna Rabi, Members of Parliament, and other Afghan and U.S. Government officials, and donor community representatives.
Balkh Women’s Farm Service Center is one of 18 farm service centers across Afghanistan established through USAID’s Afghanistan Farm Service Alliance (AFSA) Project, and the second agriculture retail outlet tailored specifically for women farmers. The first Women’s Service Center was established in Kabul in August 2010, and the third is soon to be opened in Parwan Province.
ReliefWeb

Afghanistan: Task Force Formed to Address Land Rights for Women
11 December 2011 - Members of the Women’s Land Rights Task Force held its inaugural session on December 11th, 2011. Chartered to identify customary, religious, legal, and regulatory constraints affecting land ownership by women, the task force will work to address issues supporting women’s land rights, increase awareness on women’s inheritance and land rights, and provide assistance with legal reforms.
ReliefWeb

Afghanistan: The Secretary-General's message on International Day of Rural Women
16 October 2011 - This year’s International Day of Rural Women falls at a time of heightened awareness of the important contribution women are making to social progress. Women have been rightly recognized for their role in supporting movements for democracy, human rights and peace. Their contribution to sustainable development is equally significant. The Secretary General calls on all partners to recognize the contribution of rural women to our world, and to help them do even more for our shared future.
ReliefWeb

Afghanistan: Women Sell Grapes for Export to India
01 October 2011 - Afghanistan’s women are an important part of the country’s agricultural sector, but they often grow fruit and vegetables solely for their own families. That changed for hundreds of Afghan women when they sold grapes for export to India in October 2010 for the first time.
ReliefWeb

Bangladesh: Community Radio Expands Dialogue on Women’s Rights in Rural Communities
13 February 2012 - In the silk producing district of Rajshahi in Bangladesh, a new voice has arrived. Residents recently heard the opening broadcast of Radio Padma 99.2FM, the first of the fourteen community radio stations planned for the country.
In the villages of Nepal, the community radio programme Sajha Awaj (common voice) allows discussions on issues of importance to the women of the community through transmission to more than 160 community radio stations. The programme is produced by the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB), a grantee of UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality. The programme delves into issues ranging from addressing cultural malpractices faced by rural women — such as being shunned during their monthly menstrual cycle — to women’s role in local politics and building a local motorway which is essential for rural women traders.
UN Women

Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Women on the Brink
10 November 2011 - Char Nongolia village is a basket case when it comes to climate change impacts such as increasing salinity, frequent cyclones, tidal surges, erratic rainfall and extended droughts. Several women, victims of climate change, told stories of lost livelihoods to a mock jury at Char Nongolia organised by a local non-government organisation, Noakhali Rural Development Society and the People’s Forum on the Millennium Development Goals with support from the Global Call for Action Against Poverty.
IPS

Bangladesh: Bangladesh Demands Climate Justice
22 November 2011 – Mosammet Monwara walks more than three km every alternate day to fetch water for her family of five in a heavy earthen pitcher. Several women from other regions of Bangladesh affected by climate change also narrated their experiences at the hearings organised by the Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the People’s Forum on the Millennium Development Goals and the Global Call for Action Against Poverty.
IPS

Bangladesh: Bureaucratic hitch leaves women farmers high and dry
30 September 2011 - A significant number of women farmers in Bangladesh are unable to access fertilizer, cash assistance and other government subsidies intended for farmers, because the land they work is registered in their husband's name, according to government officials, NGOs and women farmers.
ReliefWeb

Bangladesh: Gender perspectives as integral part of climate change responses
25 August 2011 - Convened by the Global Gender & Climate Alliance (GGCA), organized by UNDP in collaboration with the Adaptation Knowledge Platform for Asia, with support from the governments of Finland and Denmark, the ‘Regional Capacity Development and Planning Workshop’ and related gender and climate change events take place in Bangkok (22–26 August 2011). Nearly 60 participants from governments, civil society organizations, UN agencies and UNDP Country Offices in Asia and the Pacific are contributing to the discussions on Gender and Climate Change.
ReliefWeb

China: Rural women learn modern irrigation technology in China
17 March 2012 - The university professors arrived to a packed conference room – yet those waiting expectantly were not their usual students. Instead, 62 out of the 70 trainees were female farmers from a small village in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, ready to be trained in cutting-edge water-saving irrigation technology.
UN Women

China: Rural Women Learn More Irrigation Technology in China
12 December 2011 - The conference room of the activity centre at Kuaiqiao Village was packed when professors from China Agricultural University and China Irrigation and Drainage Development Centre were conducting a training course. Yet those listening attentively were not university students. Instead, 62 out of a total of 70 trainees were female farmers from Kuaiqiao Village. The course was held as part of the UN Women project, “Improving Gender Equality in Qingtongxia, China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, through Women’s Empowerment in Water Management.”
UN Women

East Timor: Livelihood security in a changing climate: Insights from a program evaluation in East Timor
29 December 2011 - CARE Australia works in many countries that are recognized as being particularly vulnerable to climate change and many of the programs are in some way related to or dependent on the climate and weather patterns. This report summarizes the findings of a recent evaluation which focused on the effectiveness, impact and sustainability of CARE programming in East Timor in relation to climate hazards. The report recommends to ensure that gender dynamics are captured in analysis and are factored into program planning.
ReliefWeb

India: Women Pay for Kashmir's Water Woes
01 April 2012 - Naseema Akhtar, 38, worries that her daily treks to collect clean water from the mountain springs around her village of Bonpora, in Kashmir’s Kupwara district, are getting longer. She is already doing more than seven km every day.
IPS

India: Rural Women are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow?
25 February 2012 - Agriculture currently provides a livelihood for roughly 1.3 billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, of which nearly half – close to 560 million – are women.
IPS

India: Women Turn Waste into Wealth
08 December 2011 - But Kovalam, about 12 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of southern Kerala state, has been declared a ‘zero waste area’ by a women’s self-help group (SHG) which is engaged in recycling waste into biodegradable carry bags and other items of daily use.
IPS

Iraq: Cultural Sensitivity Key to Reaching Rural Women
13 March 2012 - Empowering rural women in the Iraqi marshlands, who mostly remain off the radar of international support, must involve local languages and dialects as well as local women trainers, says Mishkat Al Moumin, founder of the Iraqi group Women and the Environment Network (WATEO).
IPS

Nepal: Nepali Women Live with Climate Terror
09 November 2011 - Suntali Shrestha wrings her hands in tension and despair as she recounts how she has been spending sleepless nights fearing that the flood alarm in her village would go off while she slept and she would be submerged. It is one of Nepal’s "women and climate justice hearings" and the village women, some of whom had walked for hours to reach the venue, are hoping their voices would be heard by the authorities, perhaps also at the U.N. conference on climate change to be held in Durban this month.
IPS

Pakistan: ACT Appeal - Assistance to Flood-Affected in Sindh Province: PAK 111
20 December 2011 - Pakistan is again facing a rain/flood emergency a year after the devastating floods of 2010. The spell of monsoon rains that started in the second week of August 2011, evolved into a large-scale disaster, causing damage in various parts of the country and further increased the difficulties of the flood-affected population.
According to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as of October 19, the monsoon rains have so far affected over 9.7 million people (35 percent women) in Sindh. This number of affected people is expected to increase to 10 million in Sindh alone. The number of deaths has increased to 456 (102 women, males 238, and 116 children). About 1.5 million homes have been damaged or destroyed. Nearly 465,218 individuals (100,734 women, 149,408 children) are currently living in 1,468 relief camps.
ReliefWeb

Pakistan: Swat Valley Women Face Dual Burden
06 December 2011 - Women in the Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtoonkh'wa province are working harder than ever to keep their households running. The devastating floods of 2010, followed by less intense but still damaging flash floods in 2011, took a big toll on agriculture, chiefly the maize crop; many women are struggling simply to put food on the table.
IRIN

Philippines: Women Weather Climate Change
08 March 2012 - As the world commemorates International Women’s Day, women around the globe are speaking out on various issues that affect them. In light of recent natural disasters and calamities in the Philippines, women are increasingly citing climate change as one of their most pressing concerns.
IPS

Papua New Guinea: Understanding women’s vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change from ActionAid’s rights-based approach – case studies from Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
29 February 2012 - The report presents the findings from ActionAid’s “A Climate for Change in Women’s Rights Pacific Research Project”, which examined the connection between women, climate change vulnerability and adaptive capacity from a rights-based approach.
ReliefWeb

Tajikistan: Rural Women Take on a New Role in Delivering Services in Tajikistan
21 February 2012 - A new programme on improving access to social protection in rural areas of Kulkent, Navgilem, Shahrak, and Chorkuh jamoats (local councils) is starting a change. Supported by UN Women and bringing together rural women, the initiative works on the establishment of Women’s Watch Groups, which monitor the situation of the most vulnerable households and identify ways to improve access to social protection.
UN Women

Thailand: Leadership in Communities: Thai Women Preparing for Natural Disasters
05 January 2012 - The worst floods in seventy years hit Thailand in 2011. “This impact of the floods was wide-spread and devastating, but it also offered a unique opportunity to mobilize women’s participation and leadership in participatory relief and recovery planning, starting with capacity building, community mapping and community moblization,” said Ryratana Rangsitpol, UN Women National Programme Officer managing the Thailand Programme. “Government partners plan to share the knowledge and model on gender and community based disaster management gained from projects like the one in Pathum Thani, on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2012.”
ReliefWeb

Viet Nam: Rural Women in Viet Nam Train for a Rainy Day
16 February 2012 - Viet Nam has been badly affected by climate change, with floods and other natural disasters becoming more common each year. The training projects in Binh Dinh have been operated by the Viet Nam Women’s Union since 2010 with the support of UN Women, and today, fifty participants — female and male — are planning how best to prepare their villages and hamlets for floods. As they break into teams for discussion, the trainer asks each to consider how groups may be differently affected, such as men and women; the young and the elderly; or those who are less mobile because they are ill, or heavily pregnant.
UN Women

Europe

North America

United States of America: Resolution recognizing the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address climate change.
03 November 2011 - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a Congressional resolution to bring attention to the greater economic, agricultural, and health-related hardships faced by women arising from climate change. H.Con.Res. 84 recognizes the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address this issue.
Thomas - The Library of Congress

South America

Bolivia: Rural Women in Bolivia Make their Demands Heard, and Presence Felt
23 February 2012 - An alliance of 12 social women’s organizations has spearheaded a project to amplify Bolivian women’s voices during the lawmaking process, following the 2009 drafting of a new national constitution. Supported by UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality since November 2010, the initiative aims to mainstream women’s demands in the country’s future legal framework and processes. It has placed particular focus on ensuring parity in parliament, drafting a law on political harassment, and legally recognizing unpaid work.
ReliefWeb

El Salvador: Women Demand to be Included in Climate Solutions
22 December 2011 - Some 100 rural women in El Salvador demanded that the government halt mining and hydroelectric projects that are harming their communities and establish specific programmes with a gender perspective for combating climate change.
IPS

Honduras: Indigenous Cooperatives Cultivate Success
08 December 2011 - Thanks to the quality and freshness of their produce, indigenous Lenca farmers in western Honduras are regular suppliers of seven supermarket chains. This year they won the National Environmental Prize, in the community initiatives category.
‘Everyone’s work in the community, the work of both men and women, is equally important. "There are no differences, because we all want to fight for better development". Méndez, a 49-year-old indigenous woman who is the president of her community's farmers' cooperative, told IPS.
IPS

Latin America: In Latin America, ICT Training Bridges the Digital Divide for Rural Women
23 February 2012 - It may feel like the century of the tablet and the android, and yet nearly 50 percent of the world’s people still have limited or no access to a computer. Since the digital divide that lies between developed and developing countries is closely linked to poverty, illiteracy and language barriers, this gulf is wider for women – and wider yet for women who live in rural areas.
The UN General Assembly Resolution 58/146 of 2004 recognized the need to provide rural women with information and communication technologies (ICTs), which has led to the significant growth of UN-supported ICT programmes in rural communities. It identified ICT’s as a quick way to help women to step into leadership positions in their communities, and therefore reduce inequality.
UN Women

Mexico: Payments for Environmental Services Skip Rural Women in Mexico
02 April 2012 - Despite the key role they play in caring for natural resources in the face of climate change, rural women in Mexico do not benefit from payments for environmental services, say activists and experts.
IPS

Mexico: Mexican Women Demand Climate Justice
14 November 2011 - "Because of the lack of water we've been plagued by rats, lice and cockroaches. And the poor quality (of the water) causes dermatitis and other infections," Salazar, 51, told the People's Tribunal on Climate Justice, which drew people affected by climate change in several states to Mexico City Nov. 10. The meeting, sponsored by the NGOs Mexicanos Contra la Desigualdad (Mexicans Against Inequality) and Comunidad en Movimiento (Community in Movement), held three parallel hearings on natural and social disasters, the countryside and food sovereignty, and uncontrolled urbanisation, unsustainability and loss of natural resources by local communities.
IPS

Peru: Time to adapt to climate change impact on women’s lives
01 March 2012 - This year’s unusually rainy season in Peru is having a negative effect on the wellbeing and health of women in rural areas who are forced, for example, to spend three times as much time walking to collect firewood and water. But the authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the problems they face.
Blanca Fernández, a sociologist with the Rural Development Programme of the Flora Tristán’s women’s group, told IPS that the impact of gender on climate change is highlighting the lack of rights of rural women and the enormous hurdles standing in the way of the full exercise of their rights as citizens.
ReliefWeb

Peru: Rural Women Share their Trials and Wisdom
15 November 2011 - Peasant women from different regions of Peru gave their personal accounts at the Rural Women Against Climate Change Public Hearing, held Thursday Nov. 10 in a city 1,105 km southwest of Lima. The forum, organised by the Centro Flora Tristán women's rights group, formed part of the Gender and Climate Justice Tribunals organised by the Feminist Task Force and Global Action Against Poverty (GCAP) since October in 15 developing countries.
IPS

Venezuela: Rural Women in Latin America Face Myriad Hurdles
25 February 2012 - Millions of women farmers in Latin America have reasons to feel discouraged, because while women farmers and rural workers become more and more numerous, there is a lack of public policies recognising them and addressing the change.
IPS

World

World: Securing Rights for Women Farmers
21 March 2012 - Despite the large role women play in agriculture in the developing world, experts say they continue to face discrimination, gender inequality and a lack of access to credit. A global partnership is campaigning to secure rights for women farmers.
The Gender and Agriculture Partnership is made up of U.N. organizations, NGOs, World Food Prize laureates, and others. Its members are currently writing recommendations based on the recent Global Conference on Women in Agriculture in New Delhi.
ReliefWeb

World: Cultural Sensitivity Key to Reaching Rural Women
13 March 2012 - Empowering rural women in the Iraqi marshlands, who mostly remain off the radar of international support, must involve local languages and dialects as well as local women trainers, says Mishkat Al Moumin, founder of the Iraqi group Women and the Environment Network (WATEO).
IPS

World: Gender Empowerment Still Lags Far Behind in Global Village
13 March 2012 - When the United Nations concluded a two-week session highlighting the plight of rural women last week, the meetings singled out both the achievements and shortcomings of the ongoing relentless battle for gender equality in a world still dominated - and overwhelmingly ruled - by men.
IPS

World: Commission on Status of Women Approves Seven Draft Texts, but Suspends Fifty-sixth Session Pending Approval of ‘Agreed Conclusions’ on Rural Women
10 March 2012 - The Commission on the Status of Women sent a strong message to ensure that gender equality was woven tightly into a blanket of initiatives spanning armed conflict to natural disaster assistance, as it approved seven draft texts, one by recorded vote, to be sent to the Economic and Social Council for adoption.
ReliefWeb

World: UN Aims at Major Global Conference on Women 2015
08 March 2012 - As the race towards gender equality moves at an exceedingly slow pace, the United Nations is calling for a major international conference on women in 2015 - 20 years after a landmark meeting in Beijing in 1995. The meeting could tackle emerging issues such as the involvement of rural women and girls, as well as the impact of the environment and climate change on women.
IPS

World: Strengthening the role of rural women in managing natural resources can enhance peacebuilding efforts, say experts
08 March 2012 - The need for greater support for the equal participation of rural women in natural resource management in the context of peacebuilding was the focus of a forum held in New York today as a contribution to International Women's Day and the United Nations' 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
ReliefWeb

World: Reduce Hunger, Nurture Women Farmers
08 March 2012 - In the past few years, there has been a surge of interest in rural women and the role they play in agriculture. This has been prompted by the renewed focus on agriculture - sparked by two food crises; droughts linked to climate change, forcing men to seek alternative livelihoods away from home; HIV/AIDS, which has hit the agricultural workforce, particularly in southern Africa; and the growing importance of nutrition and food quality. Recent studies by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank, have also highlighted the key role in agriculture played by women.
IRIN

World: Gender and Climate Change – Overview Report
06 March 2012 - This report maps pathways for making climate change responses more gender aware and – potentially transformative, arguing that gender transformation should be both a potential end goal and an important condition of effective climate change responses and poverty reduction. The report provides inspiring examples of locally relevant, gender-aware innovations from diverse global regions and contexts.
ReliefWeb

World: The Female Face of Farming
02 March 2012 - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and Farming First have produced this interactive graphic showing how women pull their weight in agriculture around the world - and they've given us the entire image for you to download.
ReliefWeb

World: Rural Women Speak Out at CSW
02 March 2012 - Rural women from around the world met this week to discuss the challenges and highlights of working to empower women in their countries and communities, at an event sponsored by UN Women, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the NGO Commission on the Status of Women Forum and other partners, including the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations, and the Feminist Task Force.
The women activists spoke in depth on the need for their governments to formulate clearer policies that benefit rural women.
UN Women

World: Speakers Call for ‘Crystal Clear’ Priorities in Efforts to Improve Health, Protect Rights of Rural Women, as Commission Continues General Discussion
01 March 2012 - “Crystal clear” priorities – many of which would require major shifts in the attitudes of world leaders - began to take shape in the Commission on the Status of Women today, with senior-level Government officials calling for innovative strategies to improve the health of rural women, protect their rights and facilitate their engagement in economic and public life.
ReliefWeb

World: UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality issues new call for proposals and announces grantees from the Arab States
01 March 2012 - United Nations, New York - At a high-level event at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, issued a new call for proposals for UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality from organizations working to advance economic and political empowerment in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia.
Ms. Bachelet also announced the grant recipients from its earlier call in October for proposals from the Arab States. These new grants respond to on-going transformation in the region, providing support to women’s empowerment and gender equality.
ReliefWeb

World: Climate Funding Needs Gender Equity
29 february 2012 - Gender considerations remain largely disregarded in existing climate funds, even though women are some of the hardest hit by the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and agriculture.
A participant in the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, being held in New York from Feb. 27 through Mar. 9, Schalatek spoke with IPS U.N. Correspondent Rousbeh Legatis about taking stock of climate financing through a gender lens.
IPS

World: Measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture
28 February 2012 – The global anti-poverty movement has added a new tool to its arsenal with the launch of an index that measures women’s empowerment in agriculture.
The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index is a partnership between the US government’s Feed the Future initiative, US Agency for International Development (USAID), IFPRI and Oxford University’s Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). It uses five criteria to measure the empowerment of developing country women in agriculture, and in their own households.
IRIN

World: Introductory Statement by Ms Michelle Bachelet - 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
27 February 2012 - Speech delivered by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the opening of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 27 February 2012 on the priority theme: empowering rural women.
UN Women

World: UN Women Co-Sponsored Events during the 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 27 February – 9 March
24 February 2012 - Rural women constitute one-fourth of the world’s population, and their contributions are vital to the well-being of communities, economies, and the achievement of all development goals. During the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet will call for robust policies to remove the barriers that prevent rural women from reaching their full potential and ensure their rights. She will also underline the need to expand their economic opportunities and political participation and leadership. Highlighting the contributions of rural women and the challenges they face, UN Women events during the meeting will also showcase innovative strategies that focus on empowering rural women worldwide.
UN Women

World: Rural Women, their Contributions and Challenges, to be Highlighted at UN Commission on the Status of Women
23 February 2012 - The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges. The Commission will agree on urgent actions needed to make a real difference in the lives of millions of rural women. These recommendations will also provide input into other policy forums, such as the Rio+20 Conference in June 2012.
UN Women

World: Women’s Empowerment Is Central to Global Sustainability, Says New UN Report
09 February 2012 - The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability released its report “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing,” on 30 January 2011 in Addis Ababa. The 22-member panel established by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2010 brought renowned global leaders together to “formulate a new blueprint for a sustainable future on a planet under increasing stress resulting from human activities.”
While panel members directed the ultimate content and recommendations, UN Women provided substantive support to the panel to help ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment issues were accurately reflected in the report. The panel strongly supported gender equality and women’s empowerment as fundamental to sustainable development, stating, “Persistent gender inequality in particular has to be addressed as part of any serious shift towards sustainable development.”
UN Women

World: Being prepared for climate change saves lives and money
12 January 2012 - As the world struggles with the enormous challenge of climate change, educating communities is vital, especially in developing countries where the poorest are most at risk of the impacts. Women are often worse off in disasters. About 85 per cent of the people affected by the Pakistan floods in 2011 were women and children, and around 500,000 were pregnant women. Flood waters had damaged or destroyed more than 200 hospitals and clinics, and in some areas, female doctors and other staff were not available to provide health services to pregnant women. With limited or no access to health facilities, women were at a greater risk of complications and death related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Education helps developing countries and poor communities understand the potential impacts of climate change on their communities; how to prepare for it and the effects of major disasters. This is key to saving lives and protecting past, present and future development gains.
ReliefWeb

World: New Climate Agreement Increases Gender Equality Commitments
12 January 2012 - Gender equality issues rose a step higher on the international climate change agenda at the recently concluded UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa. The Durban Platform that resulted from the meeting highlights an unprecedented 11 commitments to gender equality, including in a widely heralded new agreement to create an international Green Climate Fund.
ReliefWeb

World: Economic Brief - Climate Change, Gender and Development in Africa
22 December 2011 - Climate change, whatever its causes and precise timelines, represents one of the most challenging threats to sustainable development for all those living in Africa. Over the past ten years, the African Development Bank’s annual Gender, Poverty, and Environment Indicators in African Countries report has highlighted women’s heavy reliance on environment-related livelihoods. This includes women’s predominance in subsistence agriculture and their contribution to the production of economic crops, agriculture-linked market and retail trade, and nature tourism.
This report shows the impacts of the environment on women and suggests recommendations and actions to be taken by different sectors.
ReliefWeb

World: UN Announces SEED Award Winners 2011 With Focus on African Entrepreneurs
15 December 2011 - The SEED Initiative — hosted at the UN Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) — is a global partnership for action on the Green Economy. By helping entrepreneurs to scale-up their activities, the SEED Initiative aims to boost local economies, tackle poverty and improve livelihoods, while promoting the sustainable use of resources and ecosystems. Most of the applications were in the agricultural and rural development sectors, as well as in energy and climate change, ecosystem management, and biodiversity.
And this year, in addition to the general SEED Awards, a special Gender Equity Award was announced as part of SEED’s partnership with UN Women. This award is part of an initiative that will not only fulfil the general criteria of the Awards but in addition is women-led, or owned, and prioritises gender equality or women’s empowerment as a core objective.
ReliefWeb

World: Gender Informed Monitoring and Evaluation in Disaster Risk Management: Guidance Note 3
12 December 2011 – This note on Gender Informed Monitoring and Evaluation in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) is the third in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in East Asia and the Pacific. Following a brief introduction, the note looks at the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data, needs assessments, pre and post-disaster assessment and analysis, and gender indicators.
ReliefWeb

World: Integrating Gender Issues in Disaster Risk Management Policy Development and in Projects: Guidance Note 2
12 December 2011 - This not on Integrating Gender Issues in Disaster Risk Management Policy Development and in Projects is the second in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in disaster risk management (DRM). The first part of this note looks at mainstreaming gender considerations into policy development. The second one focuses on the World Bank project cycle identifying entry points and providing practical advice and links to good practice examples.
ReliefWeb

World: Rural Women Make Themselves Heard in Durban
09 December 2011 - While heads of state and negotiators gathered behind closed doors at the 17th conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, more than 500 women from across Africa arrived by the busload at the nearby University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) chanting and singing.
The Rural Women's Assembly, a network of women's groups from more than 10 African countries, including Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Burundi, came together in Durban, joining the civil society meetings outside the conference seeking to raise awareness about the impact climate change will have at the grassroots level.
IRIN

World: A Dangerous Climate for Women
08 December 2011 - Extreme weather and climate change have disproportionate effects on women, especially those from poor, rural communities. Simply because of their roles in society, women and girls are more vulnerable to these events to begin with. For example, during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, four times more women than men reportedly drowned, many because they couldn’t swim or were trying to save their children. Decreasing access to water and growing food insecurity force women to wander ever farther from their homes, putting them at greater risk of violence and abuse.
More and more, governments and humanitarians will have to respond to extreme weather events and the displacement crises they cause. In doing so, they’ll have to take into account the unique protection needs of women and girls. They will also need to recognize that when preparing communities for natural disasters, or helping them adapt to a changing climate, women must be given a central role.
ReliefWeb

World: Women at the Frontline of Climate Change: Gender Risks and Hopes
06 December 2011 - Women, particularly those living in mountain regions in developing countries, are facing disproportionately high risks to their livelihoods and health from climate change, as well as associated risks such as human trafficking, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Investing in low carbon, resource efficient green technologies, water harvesting and fuel wood alternatives can strengthen climate change adaptation and improve women's livelihoods, says the report, Women at the Frontline of Climate Change: Gender Risks and Hopes, released at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP17) in Durban, South Africa
ReliefWeb

World: Women Most at Risk from Climate Disasters, says UN Report
06 December 2011 – Women, particularly those living in mountain regions in developing countries, are facing disproportionately high risks to their livelihoods and health from climate change, as well as associated risks such as human trafficking, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Due to the key roles women play in agriculture, forest economies, biodiversity and other sectors, particularly in developing countries, designing adaptation programmes with a strong focus on gender equity is vital for successful climate change mitigation.
ReliefWeb

World: Climate Change Killing Womens’ Livelihoods
05 December 2011 - Many women represented their communities from all over the world by making their way to the United Nations climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, in order to have their voices heard.
"We are hosting different women from different walks of life," said Samantha Hargreaves of ActionAid International, one of the conveners of the Rural Women’s Assembly running alongside the 17th Conference of Parties.
"More than 500 women in this forum are sharing experiences from different countries, suggesting the way forward, and showcasing their best practices. The outcome of the assembly will be presented to the African Group of Negotiators as a common position of women from the world’s poor countries," said Hargreaves.
ReliefWeb

World: Climate Change: More than just a word game
02 December 2011 - While poor countries are jostling to ensure the lives of their people are protected in a deal on the changing climate being negotiated in Durban, various NGOs, agencies and research institutes are lobbying to get a word into the negotiating text. They include groups who are keen on the words “nutrition security”, and others who want to ensure that “women and children” feature in the text each time the word “vulnerable” appears.
IRIN

World: Gender and Climate Change: Three Things You Should Know
28 November 2011 - As the United Nations conference on climate change opens in South Africa, a new World Bank study demonstrates that women, when fully empowered, can be an important force for change as countries and citizens grapple with the impacts of climate change and prepare to adapt to them.
ReliefWeb

World: Secretary General on Climate Change
28 November 2011 - Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urges Asian states to assume greater responsibility on the ‘Crisis of the Day’ – climate change, and shines a spotlight on creating new opportunities and empowering women.
ReliefWeb

World: Michelle Bachelet: ‘Climate Talks Must Ensure that Words Become Reality’
25 November 2011 - Involving women in decision-making and resource management is a basic necessity for any effective plan to address the multi- layered and life-threatening consequences of climate change, says the head of UN Women. Looking to Durban, South Africa, where world leaders will discuss future climate change policies Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, Michelle Bachelet is calling on leaders to ensure "that words become reality", for full participation of women at all levels of the negotiations, and an "outcome that responds to women's needs and advances women's empowerment"
IPS

World: Advance Women`s Rights, Change the World
18 Nov 2011 - Keynote message of Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at the Ford Foundation event; The XX Factor: Advance Women’s Rights. Change the World. According to Bachelet, `we need to have strong partners worldwide. This is the only way to advance women’s economic empowerment, political participation and leadership, to end violence against women and girls, to make gender equality a priority in national plans and budgets, and to make sure that women enjoy full participation in peacemaking, peace building, recovery and reconstruction.`
UN Women

World: A year of progress and leadership on maternal, newborn, and child health
16 November 2011 - Over the past five years as Canada's Minister for International Cooperation, I've seen first-hand the devastating effect that inequity has on people, particularly on those living in poverty, the most vulnerable segments of society, and on the lives of women and children. Without equity in all the key aspects of life, the world will never achieve its goal of a decent standard of living for all humanity. Health equity is fundamental to reaching that goal. This must not, however, deter or dissuade us from addressing the inequities and doing everything we can to eliminate them. First and foremost, it is known that health equity, as do all sustainable development objectives, needs a stable and secure environment in which to flourish. True equity can only find full expression in open, free, democratic societies.
ReliefWeb

World: Refugee Education: A Global Review
11 November 2011 - Education is one of the highest priorities of refugee communities. The lack of high quality and protective education for refugees stands in the way of meeting Education for All goals, of achieving durable solutions, and of sustainable development and reconstruction of home and host countries.
ReliefWeb

World: Gender Inclusion in Climate Change Adaptation
10 November 2011 - There is increasing evidence that climate change has an impact on natural disasters, such as flooding, and on agricultural production, both of which have implications for gender issues. In this paper, issues related to gender and poverty are briefly reviewed and the relationships between gender and various indices are examined. Additionally, an example of job recovery after a disaster is discussed as well as an interview with three female agricultural workers in Japan. In the recovery process after a natural disaster, women are often expected to take care of family members; this can prevent them from returning to their jobs and place them at greater risk of either losing their jobs or being demoted. The results of the interviews demonstrate the recent empowerment of women in agricultural production and that these women have strong adaptive abilities.
ReliefWeb

World: Draft Text Approved by Third Committee Recognizes Youth as Key Agents for Social Change, Affirms Investment in Youth Crucial for Sustainable Development.
09 November 2011 – A text, on policies and programmes involving youth, was one of four draft resolutions approved without a vote, with the others addressing women’s advancement. It would also call on UN-Women to continue to support gender mainstreaming across the United Nations system as an integral part of its work.
ReliefWeb

World: Resolution recognizing the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address climate change.
03 November 2011 - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a Congressional resolution to bring attention to the greater economic, agricultural, and health-related hardships faced by women arising from climate change. H.Con.Res. 84 recognizes the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address this issue.
Thomas - The Library of Congress

World: World Bank says: ‘Think Equal for Better Development’
16 October 2011 - Gender equality matters in its own right but is also smart economics, according to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. Countries that create better opportunities and conditions for women and girls can raise productivity, improve outcomes for children, make institutions more representative, and advance development prospects for all, according to Sudhir Shetty, co-Director of the Report at a Think Equal Launch in Dhaka today.
ReliefWeb

World: Improvement of the situation of women in rural areas
15 October 2011 - The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 64/140, reviews the activities undertaken by Member States and United Nations entities to empower rural women and contains recommendations for consideration by the Assembly.
ReliefWeb

World: Highlighting Women at the 2011 UN General Assembly Debate
30 September 2011 - The 66th General Debate of the UN General Assembly closed this week with evidence of firm commitments to gender equality throughout the speeches of high-level government representatives.
UN Women

World: WFP and UN Women announce plan to empower rural women
29 September 2011 - A scheme tapping the potential of rural women to pull communities out of hunger emerged from a side-event at this year’s meeting of United Nations General Assembly between WFP and UN Women. The agreement focuses on helping women earn income by putting them in charge of projects that boost food security.
ReliefWeb

World: MDG Countdown 2011: Celebrating Successes and Innovations
23 September 2011 – UN Women Executive Director Remarks at USAID and DFID event on “MDG Countdown 2011: Celebrating Successes and Innovations”: ‘As we count down to the MDGs, we must acknowledge that women’s contributions are key to a green economy, sustainable development and poverty eradication.’ She also congratulated all countries and partners for the progress being made, and for their commitment to development.
UN Women

World: Gender-Responsive Strategies on Climate Change: Recent Progress and Ways Forward for Donors
05 August 2011 - This paper outlines a rationale for improved integration of gender into climate change and seeks to support donors in this endeavour by investigating the challenges and opportunities donors are facing, updating the wider body of work and knowledge on gender and climate change and the status of gender in global and national climate policies. Based on these findings, it proposes key principles, questions and strategies for donors – from bilateral and multilateral to non-governmental organisations with a funding role – to improve gender and climate change linkages. Finally, it also offers a menu of ideas for individual steps for donors to take.
ReliefWeb

World: Food Crisis and Gender Inequality
25 July 2011 - This paper examines the current food crises, the projected effect of climate change, the vulnerabilities created by regional concentrations of food production, imports and exports, and the significant role of women as food producers, consumers and family food managers. Bridging productivity differentials between male and female farmers, by helping women overcome production constraints, would significantly increase agricultural output. This becomes an imperative, given the feminization of agriculture. Institutionally, a group approach to farming would help women and other small holders enhance their access to land and inputs, benefit from economies of scale, and increase their bargaining power economically and socially.
ReliefWeb

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Message from Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

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Historical Global Gathering of Women Pastoralists in Gujarat – from dream to reality!

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Global Initiative to make cities safer for women launched in New Delhi

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Jordan first Arab country to mainstream gender in climate change policy

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Gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment

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Has the Status of Women Progressed in the Last Fifteen Years?

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