Empowerment

Sénégal : Les femmes de Casamance appellent à la paix

Depuis 1982 que la violence s’est installée en Casamance, les perspectives de paix entre le gouvernement du Sénégal et le MFDC, un mouvement indépendantiste, ne se sont jamais concrétisées de manière durable. Aux longues périodes d’accalmie succèdent régulièrement des flambées de violence qui remettent en cause les négociations et les processus de paix qui s’engagent. Depuis plusieurs mois, la cette région sud du Sénégal est à nouveau tombée dans ce cycle de violence. Et pour les femmes de cette région qui lancent cet appel, il est temps que cela cesse.

Iraq: Widows Organization harnessing women's economic contributions

I.M.O.W. Global Council member Rajaa Khuzai argues that the hundreds of thousands of widows in Iraq must no longer be ignored, and that their economic contributions must be harnessed to help the war-torn country recover. Dr. Khuzai is a physician and former member of the Iraqi National Assembly. She is currently the President of the Iraqi Widows' Organization, a role which earned her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2004.

فيلم روائي قصير بعنوان العنف ضد المرأة

Iran: Women Fight Polygamy Proposal

Iranian women’s groups and other rights organisations are fighting a much discussed proposed law which they say would encourage polygamy by allowing a man to take a second wife without the permission of the first in certain circumstances. The proposal comes at a time when the country has been rocked by protests, in which women have played a major part, following the disputed re-election last June of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Although Sharia law permits a man to take up to four wives, polygamy is not widely practiced in Iran and women have enjoyed greater rights and freedoms than in some other Muslim countries. At present, an Iranian man needs his first wife’s permission to take a second.

Pakistan: Women Need Political Space for Peacemaking

As a political activist and president of the women’s wing of the Awami National Party (ANP), Zahira Khattak has been working relentlessly for the empowerment of women in the war-torn North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan. She believes that by empowering them, they can contribute more to the peace efforts in the region. "We are holding a peace jirga in the near future in which women from the whole province will be invited to speak on the prevailing situation," Khattak said, referring to the spate of violence in the NWFP, one of Pakistan’s four provinces. Women have also been providing comfort to the bereaved families of the victims of militant attacks in NWFP, she said.

Iran: WLUML soutien 'L'Appel pour la liberté et l’égalité des sexes en Iran'

C'est une copie d'un texte original de Gender Equality for Iran: "En Iran, le mouvement des femmes est, depuis ces trente dernières années, à l’avant-garde de la lutte pour la démocratie. Comme les discriminations sexistes sont en lien étroit avec d’autres discriminations : sociales, politiques, religieuses et ethniques, la résistance pacifique des femmes, leur lutte contre les violences et les discriminations impactent de manière conséquente le développement des mouvements démocratiques au sein de la société iranienne. Depuis de nombreuses années, avec l’organisation de différentes campagnes et leurs revendications pour l’égalité, les femmes iraniennes marchent sur le chemin de la liberté. Dans ce processus, elles subissent la répression : insultes, violences, arrestations et emprisonnements. Nombreuses sont celles aujourd’hui emprisonnées.

Afghanistan: Women’s Leaders’ Priorities for Stabilization Statement

In the lead-up to the 28 January London Conference on Afghanistan hosted by the UK Government, Afghan women human rights defenders today released strong, specific recommendations on security, development and governance priorities for their country. These recommendations provide the only concrete input from consultation with Afghan women into the key decisions affecting the future of their country that will be set in London by international actors.

Iran: One Million Signatures Campaign: Interview with Somayeh Rashidi

Change for Equality: Somayeh Rashidi is an activist involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign. This women’s rights defender was summoned to court for interrogation, after her home was searched and her property seized. She appeared in court on December 19, 2009 and after a few hours of interrogation the investigative judge ordered an arrest warrant for her and transferred her to Evin prison.

Iran: WLUML Supports Call for Solidarity: Freedom and Gender Equality in Iran

This is a copy of an original text that can be found on the Gender Equality for Iran website here. "We (a group of Iranian feminists and women’s rights activists) demand an end to state-led violence and repression, as well as the immediate release of all political detainees in Iran. We invite all women’s rights defenders, activists, organisations, and networks worldwide to demonstrate their solidarity with the Iranian women’s movement and the broader movement for democracy in Iran by organising initiatives under the slogan “freedom and gender equality in Iran” throughout March 2010.

Sudan: “Alliance of 149” for reform of rape law

We are the organizations and activist the founders of the “Alliance of 149”, which targeting to reform article 149 embedded in the criminal law of 1991. This article is defined as rape; one of the ugliest crimes that violates the privacy of human being and has consequences that correlates the victim in all his life.