Women Aloud Videoblogging for Empowerment!

The enemy within - Moniza Inam analyses the growing phenomenon of ‘feminisation’ of Aids

2012-03-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

Now a widow and a mother of three young children, Najma Bano’s life changed last year after the death of her husband from whom she contracted the HIV virus. Her deteriorating health is coupled with no steady source of income and consequential social isolation and stigma.

A former pilot, who expired from Aids soon after his marriage, also has a widow Meher Ali in her 20s, who too has contracted the virus. Meher’s in-laws hold her responsible for their son’s death and have banished her from their home. She is currently in a prolonged legal battle to receive her rightful share of inheritance.

Now divorced, Naila Baloch, a 30-year-old woman living in Gwadar, has contracted the virus from her husband who worked in the Gulf. Upon learning of her health status, he divorced her and remarried a younger woman.

These women are casualties of the feminisation of Aids, a state of affairs where poverty, cultural practices and bigotry supplement one another to undermine the well-being of women. Dr Naseem Salahuddin, an infectious diseases specialist at Indus Hospital, Karachi, considers these women as the innocent bystanders as they acquired the disease passively through transmission from their spouses.

A recent study estimates that in the South Asia a staggering 40 per cent of the new HIV/Aids cases are women. Social exclusion, discrimination and denial of rights have contributed to this rising menace, whereas solution for reducing HIV statistics cannot be approached in seclusion to these issues.

Important factors including poverty, cultural practices, promiscuity, violence, legal structures and physiological factors, all contribute to rising numbers of HIV female patients. Perhaps more important than these factors is the issue of gender equality and disparity of power between men and women. A research by World Bank strongly concludes that ‘the more unequal the relations between men and women in a country or region, the higher its HIV prevalence rate; as it is largely fuelled by gender-based vulnerabilities and risks’.

Huma Khawar, a development journalist adds to this view, “Gender inequality, poverty and HIV/Aids are closely associated with each other. Young women from the age bracket of 15-24 years are more prone to the infection compared to the men from the same age group due to many reasons.”

Girls and young women usually lack access to appropriate information and resources to take preventive measures. Violation of women’s rights and asymmetrical power relations result in exerting less control over their bodies, and choices regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights. Being economically dependent, they are deprived of the liberty and control needed to make informed decisions about their health.

Research has proved and confirmed a strong correlation between various forms of abuse and its link to contracting the virus.
Violence against women often results in non-consensual, unsafe sex which increases the likelihood of transmission. Inequality in relationships and power dynamics prevent women from asking their partners to use safe measures, get tested and seek treatment, explains Khawar.

This phenomenon is a direct consequence of unequal power and gender relations prevalent in our society, whereby women receive less education, healthcare, employment and decision making power in an average household. Elaborating the issue, Farhat Firdous, senior manager communication at Aahung, adds, “Apart from pervasive discrimination, women face gender subordination in marital life. They are supposed to submit their body and soul to their husbands even if they are terminally ill, suffering form STIs (sexually transmitted infections) or in the extreme cases, Aids.”

Dr Tahira Aftab, former Director of Women Studies Centre and founding editor of Journal for Women Studies/ Alam-i-Niswan, describes such marital relations as sexual slavery, and adds, “The emerging epidemic of the HIV/Aids is a direct result of this school of thought in which women have no control or rights over their own bodies.”

Economic and social empowerment is yet another factor in the prevention of the virus among women. Due to the patriarchal organisation of society, girls are provided with little or no education and are married off at an early age. This dependence can force women to accept the sexual demands of unfaithful husbands and even if they are aware that their husbands are infected they cannot move out of the relationship.

Dr Nashmia Mahmood, a health officer with Unicef, says, “Financially independent women who are aware of their rights, and can make their own decisions are much more capable of protecting themselves against the virus.” However, Mahmood has also stressed the importance of legal protection as it would help the vulnerable groups, including women, significantly. She cites the Malaysian model as a best example in which men are legally bound to disclose their HIV/Aids positive status to their wives.

Dr Shazra Abbass, a health officer on HIV/Aids with Unicef, concurs with this model and adds that the disease, in fact, has become an issue of gender equity and equality as women’s rights are, by and large, violated in our society. Initially information about reproductive health and the virus is not given to them due to social and cultural taboos and eventually if they are infected the treatment is denied and female patients have to face prejudice, exclusion and in some cases they are even thrown out of the house.

Gender inequality is indeed an overriding issue which has aggravated the spread of HIV, and stalled controlling the feminisation of HIV/Aids. Women’s health should not be compartmentalised and it should be looked at on a broader and structural level keeping in view all such underlying factors.

Journalists unanimous that conflict coverage is less than optimal in South Asia... Observations from Media Summit

2011-12-02T04:19:00.001-08:00

Another South Asian Media Summit was held in Goa Nov 23-25, 2011, sponsored by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a German government funded organisation. The theme of this year's summit was 'Inter-State Conflict and the role of the media'.

I was a bit disheartened that more than two-thirds of experienced journalists from almost all South Asian countries (except Bangladesh and the Maldives) were male, as compared to last year's summit which had more women journalists attending, predictably because the theme was 'gender'.

Nonetheless, very insightful experiences were shared and impassioned arguments made, which prompted me to share my thoughts (in no particular order) in this blog post...

- The first session implied that South Asia has the most protracted inter-state conflicts and this made me curious. Do we know which region of the world has had the most conflicts within its own peoples? Might be a good research topic...

- Mohsin Babbar, a journalist and one of the few experts on the Indus water dispute in Pakistan, mentioned that the Aman ki Asha program was a good India-Pak peace initiative.

- Have you heard the term proxy war? I never really understood what it meant until someone at the summit explained it as militant groups that fight each other on behalf of governments so that actual governments don't look bad. What a sham!

- How do you see the link between politics and media? Do you think the media is politicised or do you think there is a mediaisation of politics? I guess both are true today...

- It was suggested to watch the Wikileaks video of the journalist being gunned down by a helicopter pilot in Iraq to hamper his coverage of the conflict. An act that proves the US is embarrassed about their bloody activities in Iraq?

- A Sri Lankan academic at the University of Peredeniya 'Carmen Wickramagamage' astutely pointed to Louis Althuser, a French Marxist's observation years ago that the State perpetuates dominant ideology through the media. I'm sure the same can be argued for the corporate world.

- She also pointed out an unfortunate editorial about a Lesbian conference in Colombo, which incited rape to 'show them the right way'. When a gay rights organisation complained to the press council, they responded that the newspaper was right to publish the offensive editorial because lesbians are 'sadistic'.

- Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, a reporter who spent several years telling the story of the people of Lalgarh said 'One percent of Jharkhand rule and one percent of the state's population engage in armed conflict. Reporters need to represent the remaining 98%. Reporters need to be activists representing the people's voices'. Bravo!

- Vipul Mudgal presented an 'inclusive media for change' website that provides analysis the press can use to better cover development issues.

Also here are some of my suggestions that came out of the summit, do comment if you agree or disagree...

- It struck me when someone mentioned how it was perhaps difficult to find sources willing to speak on the record while reporting about conflict issues, that we need to have a witness protection program in India and the media needs to be a vociferous watchdog when it comes to protecting whistle-blowers. That would encourage more people to speak out for justice.

- Media literacy needs to be popularised in South Asia so that ordinary viewers understand how the media can be manipulated and so they don't take everything as gospel truth. This will also lead to greater public demands for an accountable media.

- Advocate Ashraj Wani from Kashmir also argued for a journalists code of ethics and I agree. I was surprised that the body language of most of the senior reporters in the room implied there was no code of ethics being mandated in their newsrooms! I hope all the journalism curricula in India/ South Asia have ethics as a required course, as I know is required to study in a Master's degree syllabus in the U.S.

- I think the media also needs to elucidate audiences about their country's legal obligations under the UN's human rights framework as this is a good way to hold the State accountable for their human rights record. The public should be made aware of which international covenants have been ratified and concluding observations should be tracked.

- Sustainability is a huge obstacle for citizen journalism models, which are needed so that alternative information and marginalised voices are allowed to bubble up to the surface. This will ensure a healthy democracy, for if marginalised voices are not heard, then revolution brews. We also need alternative media to balance the mainstream hegemonic view of society.

- Women can support solutions-oriented reporting. In my experience, this garners more eyeballs.

- We need to organise a conference on online journalism/ new media in India.

- Journalists need to be trained in critical analyses so that they are making more than mundane observations. This may sound oversimplified but if you were watching the news around 26/11, you would agree that we never heard any discussion about 'why they want to attack us', only when/ where/ how. I was really interested in hearing people's thoughts on what perceptions are floating around in Pakistan that are being used to conjure up hatred for India, to provoke young boys to heinous crimes?

SOMETHING FOR THIS TEACHER’S DAY

2011-09-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

“When life wants to bless you, it gives you a teacher”, this quote stands so true for a group of kids at a small school named AKSHAR in Chandigarh. In spite of lacking adequate means of attending a regular school, these kids are getting necessary basic education, thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Vandana Aggarwal.

She has been managing the school, on her own, for more than one and a half year now, but according to her, she has just started. Rome might not have been built in a day, but the school definitely was! As Vandana tells her story, on one day she came up with the idea of starting the school and the very next day, there it was – complete with books, blackboard , a teacher and of course, the students. After a year and a half, there are three teachers who take classes for Nursery and KG in English, Hindi, Mathematics, Art and Moral Science.

Taking a break from regular studies, students are encouraged to take part in extracurricular activities and events. One such event included a talent show, where the students exhibited all sorts of skill by enacting a skit, reciting poems and singing songs. Each and every student participated to make the show a grand success.

All work and no play would make the kids dull, so the school arranges frequent trips for the kids to nearby places like Chhatbir, Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden, Pinjore Garden or any latest movie, giving them a fun-filled break from their routine. Since the children belong to the very poor backgrounds, and there are hardly any medical facilities available to them, the school organizes regular health check-ups for the kids in collaboration with the Fortis Hospital, Chandigarh. The staff visits the school once a month for general health, eye check up etc. It was one such routine checkup that helped save the life of one of the students, Robin, who otherwise might not have survived.

Adding yet another feather to its cap, the school hosted a meditation camp on 3^rd September, where “Brahm Kumaris” from a nearby Ashram visited the school.

They talked about the importance of good manners and values in life and played a game to demonstrate the need of being focused in life. And now the school plans to make this a monthly feature.

Vandana has lots of dreams for the school and kids like incorporating a library and a “playroom”, starting vocational classes for young girls and lots more. Her endless energy and enthusiasm is highly contagious and inspiring. She sparkles with excitement every time she talks about her ideas. And why not, she knows she’ll be making a difference, a positive one, in someone’s life….

Fewer Asian women marrying - trend must be growing in India too?

2011-09-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

This Economist article says China and India are not visibly affected by the trend of fewer women choosing to marry and have children in Asia. But I think it depends on which class you're looking at. It seems that a growing number of career-minded urban middle class women are single. Surprisingly it says there will be 60m (million?) more men than women in China and India by 2050!

15 of the First Female Professors in History

2011-08-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Jasmine Hall writes in sharing this great new blog post from her site...Inspiring read - about Greek, other European and American professors.

Can someone research this in India? Nalanda University must have had some female professors?

Wave trainee needs support for further education - please help!

2011-08-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

My name is Vandana. I left home when I was 20 due to disagreements
with my family over marriage and further education. I have not
disclosed my location to them since then so I avoid using my last name
due to the fear of being tracked as I also fear for my physical
security.

I have been accepted into Prague Film School, Czech Republic to study
documentary filmmaking, for the term starting in September 2011 and
finishing in May 2012.

For two years I worked at Jagori Grameen, a grassroots NGO
in HP which was started by Abha Bhaiya, a well-known women's rights activist in
India. I was also a videoblogger at WAVE (Women Aloud:
Videoblogging for Empowerment). To see some of my videoblogs, go to
http://waveindia.org/bio.php?bid=4

I don't have
the financial means to pay for my education but I do have a vision. I
want to study documentary film-making because I want to travel across
India and around the world, meet people who live on the margins and
voice their issues by making politically and socially relevant films.
Having seen so much violence in my own life and emerging against it
has inspired me to make films which give a voice to those who suffer from violence so
that we can work towards the creation of a just and violence-free
world. If I get this opportunity to study in Prague Film School I will
inspire, encourage and motivate many women like me to dare to dream.

I have received 100% scholarship to cover my tuition fees which is 14,
800 euros. I require more funds to cover my airfare. computer, camera
and living expenses in Prague. I have already raised 5,000 euros.
I need to raise an additional 3,50,000 rupees. Can you help me in any
way with doing that? I just have 10 days before I leave and this is
very urgent.

With this email I am sending you my resume, my application materials
for Prague Film School which include my statement of purpose/college
essay, recommendation letters from Abha Bhaiya and Sapna Shahani and a
video titled Gaddi weavers in Himachal which has been produced by me.

MEDIA AND THE IMAGES IT PORTRAYS : GENDER PERSPECTIVES

2011-08-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

Public exposure to media is like flesh to the body and so is its impact on us. The images in media mould our opinion and affect the way in which we see the world around us.

Television is the spinal source of information for the youth of today. The youth reflect what they see and try to emulate that in their day to day lives. The way in which women are represented in the media, especially on television could lead to the continued oppression of women and the continued belief that they are the objects of male satisfaction (the pervasiveness of such stereotyping is evident in advertising).

In the early 1970s there was an upswing in feminist movement which affected the television market as many women oriented issues were taken up by the tele directors. But there was a fall in the trend by the next decade itself therefore the impact was somewhat limited. The images in the media have by and large proved to be detrimental to women as the portrayal of such imagery has clearly reasserted the patriarchal superstructure rather than helping women assert their own ground. Images running through the media not only affect men’s behavior but also affect women’s interpretation of conducting themselves in a particular fashion. The images that prevail in the media are social dangers to women as it circumscribes them from breaking the societal stereotypes.

Media as an agent of socialization (Holtzman,p.76,Weimann,p.20). Sreberny and van Zoonen p.226) stated also in the meaning theory that “by presenting endless portrayals of reality in its content, mass communications provide experiences from which we collectively shape our meanings” and in this way not only does the media influences the society but it also upholds the current societal values and views solidifying the societal norms of the time and hence aiding in creating the social structure.

If we compare the decades of 50’s and 60’s where the women performed their “engendered roles” of submitting to their husbands and were affectionate and consummate homemakers, only 32% of women were seen in television characterization. Later on during mid 70’s as mentioned earlier a slight transformation was seen which also was not that long lasting. For instance, the Charlie’s Angels who were the epitome of strong, tough and independent women crime fighters also worked and took orders from the mysterious male Charlie. In addition, they were dressed to accommodate the male gaze that in no way makes them epitome of impressive independent female crime fighters or women who know what they want.

Another important point to be noted is that women in television are more concerned about sex and marriage as compared to their male counterparts. The Indian television is flooded with the stereotypical storylines comprising of “kitchen politics” where women hold their ground in terms of back biting at domestic level, decorating themselves with ornaments and rearing their children in the most “moral and pro societal” ways. Society’s bias is so commonplace and is more or less a normative thing for the society to commoditize women in terms of their beauty and the kind of work that is “allowed” to them.

The images of professional women which are also taking up the television industry are problematic. The “superwoman” imagery of women who are able to prove their acumen at work and are also identified as model home makers and mothers give the illusion that professional women are capable of “multi tasking” and they can be able breadwinners and at the same time can handle domestic chores without any extended help. This is not a favorable situation for women in any way. There is a great deal of “illusion” of celebrating the spirit of womanhood. When the women were toiling their voices for equality in job, it now seems that the media imagery is depicting women having achieved their aspirations as television every now and then comes up with images of equality won and women across the country are empowered. There is a created sense of women having no reason to fight over anything or demanding equality because the “media reality” depicts the realization of such equality which leaves no reason to fight.

When we see the news on the television, there we witness the male and the female news anchors and along with the “weather girls” which are also a measure of amusement. In addition to this, while participating in interviews women are much more likely to be asked questions about their love life than men while men in all probabilities would be questioned about their careers, goals and accomplishments.

Also issues affecting women are also not issues of grave concern, the issues are mostly overlooked as they are “not to be brought beyond the realm of private”. We rarely hear about the stoning of women in Afghanistan and the genital mutilations that prevail all over Africa and the Middle East. Marital rapes, domestic abuse and wage inequality are also some of the issues which are not brought out into the open.

Also the women issues which are covered did not involve any sort of interpretation in terms of critical thinking of the issues rather they were merely taken to be at the face value and were more or less left at that.

Women depicted in the music videos and other “glamour” performances is another major source of commoditization of women where women are nothing more than merely objects of male desire and the sexual violence in such videos adds to the desirability quotient of the male gaze. The fast growing trend of artificial treatments like “plastic surgeries” and “liposuctions” to turn attractive overnight is also part of “fitting” well in the male gaze where one caters to somebody else’s expectations rather than their own.

Women have been effectively portrayed in the typecast gender roles where the advertisers can sell domestic use products to the ever smiling happy mothers who are symbolic of happy homemakers having no issues with their condition.

The Slut Walk at Delhi- An Overview.

2011-08-17T02:26:00.000-07:00

Social activists (against the walk): Look at the walk ...its all over..everywhere!...these bunch of young women only know hooting and shouting which has nothing to do with the "art" of protestation, "SlutWalk" is what they've named it, following their Western Counterparts, What did they achieve?, look at the media hype and the publicity they've got.. What a sham!..Oh! Praise the Lord!!...they have no sense of Feminism...What is wrong with them?

Well, I am not writing this note to traverse "the type" women/men who would have opinions inclining to the negation of the Slut Walk (Besharmi Morcha), Delhi and who are in sync with the above mentioned pointers! ...because I think each has the right to voice their opinion...But wait, ...if they have a fair chance, so do I !

By far, Asia's largest slut walk and being second in number (after the one that took place in Bhopal on the 17th of July,2011) saw women and men, "the gutsy and the for ones" coming out of their homes on a Sunday to march in solidarity and hoot, yes hoot, "We Support".

One of the major concerns that has been raised is about the Walk's Reach and its Legitimacy.

What section of the society did the "Walk" cater to?...The concern shared is, if at all,some light is seen.... ( Hold on, for the record, you'll need many more walks before you actually see the Sun rising!)...the results are going to remain in the periphery of the urbane...how will it reach the rural dwellings where women have little or no understanding of the word "rights"?..where it is a mere word for them. What about these women?...(Breathe-Breathe-Breathe!...chill man!.. let me spell A first!..)

On a more serious note, Yes, undeniably, we as women and citizens cannot repudiate the sufferings of the rural women, but should that be a reason for women in the metropolis to not take a step forward and initiate a movement?..The step taken is not just in sync with our Western Counterparts...(Duh! so what if its not an "original" Idea, it still is a good one!..it's an 'uproar' where the idea remains behind and the Waves, the very Idea stimulates, create ripples...that's the intent of the "idea"..so don't complain, I am not attempting a Monet here....so spare me the copyrights!....it's a "movement",a cause which I feel for and want to be associated with!)...

Well, there are multi-players who would talk of "Slut" being a repugnant word and would condemn its "women" users terming it uncivilised..while 'the word' might be used as a lingua franca in the male commune..as commonly as a bird shitting,perhaps!...

Also, I didn't see any body in their underpants at Jantar Mantar....to help soothe the roving eyes, which came with zeal to "see" the goings on! and the "thunderous right wingers" who did not get enough to flutter! Well, yes, there were "onlookers" who had little to do or know about the cause, but seemed fascinated with a pool of women shouting and hooting!..so they tagged along the groups and hovered and that's just what they did!..but to their dismay,couldn't fetch much!..Because it is a movement, keeping in mind, the place and context, (please mind the name,"Besharmi Morcha")

Many women turned up how they are "usually dressed" and "chased" to show that "Clothes" have nothing to do with "Rape" and/ or "Molestation", also being the Underlying theme of the movement.

Kudos to this one! ...The movement has just begun....As Chennai follows the trail!

Former Wave trainee Sanghmitra Mainkar wins journalism award in Goa

2011-08-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Goa Chief Minister Kamat presented the Felicio Cardozo award to Sanghmitra Mainkar on August 1, 2011.

11 Momentous Female Firsts in Academia

2011-07-31T07:10:00.000-07:00

An email received by Wave to post this important article chronicling women's achievements in academia (http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2011/07/26/11-momentous-female-firsts-in-academia/). We hope our readers will comment about Indian women's achievements in academia as well!

Hi,
I’m a writer for Onlinecolleges.net and we just published an article “11 Momentous Female Firsts in Academia” I think you’d like, since your blog often covers the same subject matter. Feel free to share the article with your readers if you have a place for it in upcoming post schedule.
Thanks!
Jasmine Hall

In Kenya, gov't pays for schoolgirls sanitary pads to dissuade absenteeism, can't we do this in India?

2011-07-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting at Work
By Miriam Gathigah

NAIROBI, Jul 25, 2011 (IPS) - For the first time ever, the finance minister has allocated almost four million dollars from the current national budget to provide free sanitary pads to schoolgirls.

This comes after persistent pressure from women parliamentarians who took the issue of girls’ absenteeism from school, due to lack of sanitary pads, to parliament. It was a campaign that left their male counterparts speechless, for such matters are rarely spoken about in public, let alone in parliament, in Kenya’s conservative society.

In their persistent lobbying, the women parliamentarians brought to the fore a problem that could have continued to hinder the education of young girls. Thirteen-year-old Dorothy Akinyi, a standard seven pupil from Kibera, which is arguably the largest slum in Africa, stays at home every time she menstruates.

"Without sanitary pads life at school is difficult. We are subjected to very embarrassing and humiliating incidences, especially from the boys. Tying a pullover around your waist to hide the soiled patch behind your uniform in case the tissue leaks is a dead giveaway. We choose to stay at home," explains Akinyi. But the situation is bound to change for Akinyi and other girls like her. But only if the money allocated for the sanitary wear is spent efficiently.

"This is gender responsive budgeting at work. Being sensitive to the distinctive needs of men and women, while allocating and spending public funds," explains Jacinta Nyachae, executive director of Kenya Aids Law Project and an advocate of human rights.

Her comments come just as Rwanda prepares to host a global high level meeting on increasing accountability and developing effectiveness through gender responsive budgeting in Kigali from 26 to 28 Jul. The meeting is held in conjunction with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the European Union.

But girls are not the only ones to have benefitted from a gender sensitive strategy. In a move that has seen women break socio-political economic barriers, the planning and budgeting for the establishment of the ministry of gender and children affairs remains government’s strongest show of its commitment to address gender inequality.

"But gender planning and budgeting is not enough, the rampant corruption across various government ministries is a clear indication that there’s need for tracking and monitoring how these funds are used," explains a source from the G-10 alliance, which is a coalition of women organisations fighting for women’s rights.

The source adds: "The Women Enterprise Fund suffered allegations (that) needy women (could not) accessing the fund. The same can be said of education bursaries and money channelled through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), various audits into the CDF kitty have revealed massive corruption."

Corruption is an issue that Kenya is struggling to deal with. At the moment, 31 civil society activists have been remanded in a Nairobi cell after being arrested in Jul. 18 during a long-drawn vigilance to have the minister of education resign over massive corruption allegations.

Although the issue of transparency and accountability is yet to be mainstreamed alongside the gender mainstreaming process, various attempts to lift the plight of women have been partially successful. While the Women Enterprise Fund has been accused of not reaching all the women who need the money, it has made a difference to the lives of many.

"The establishment of the Women Enterprise Fund to enable women to access macro finance has seen women in the informal sector become economically empowered," explains Dr. Wilfred Subbo, a university lecturer in Gender and Development in Nairobi.

"This is important because poverty is gendered. Men and women experience poverty in very different ways. Research has shown that there are more women living in poverty than men because more women are illiterate, thus limiting their chances of exploiting employment opportunities that can afford them (a) decent living," he adds.

He says structures were needed to audit the money as it was being spent, and not after, in order to immediately deal with any financial inconsistencies.

"How do we know for sure that the four million dollars currently allocated to the Women Enterprise Fund will reach the economically marginalised women it is intended for?" he asks.

The national budget is an opportunity for the government to show its commitment in raising and spending resources.

"Gender budgeting response doesn’t mean that the treasury develops two budgets; one for women, and the other for men. It means that the government shows an awareness of the fact that some problems are (particular) to men and others to women," Nyachae expounds.

She further adds: "Women face serious reproductive health problems that can incapacitate them. The budget should reflect these challenges as it did by allocating some funds to deal with these challenges."

She was referring to the current national budget allocation of about two million dollars for the improvement of testing for and treating cervical and breast cancer. It was also the first time the ministry of finance had made such an allocation.

"Cervical cancer continues to be a leading killer disease even though it is the most preventable and treatable form of cancer. Statistics from Kenyatta Hospital show that at least 2,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed every year with a similar number dying from the disease annually," explains Dr. Brigid Monda, a gynaecologist and lecturer in Nairobi.

Gender responsive budgeting is a reflection of gender sensitive planning and practical solutions towards ensuring that gender inequalities in all facets of society are addressed.

"Integration of all into the mainstream development process is in itself a realisation of the objective to achieve sustainable development. It is also a means to bridge the development gap between men and women. It can also create transparency and accountability because women have been found to be efficient and effective implementers of public funds and resources," Subbo says. (END)

Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56612

Statement of Indian Women's Rights Activists in Solidarity with Women in Sri Lanka

2011-07-31T06:25:00.000-07:00

It's been more than two years since the supposed end of the war in Sri Lanka. The issues of concern are many, particularly with regard to the period after the end of direct combat. The Sri Lankan government has been abysmal in acknowledging the range of human rights violations that have been committed by the armed forces, which has been documented without a kernel of doubt by the United nations report (http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf) as well as the Channel 4 documentary (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/sri-lankas-killing-fields/4od). This documentation has been made in spite of circumstances where any neutral observation of the last stages of the conflict was made impossible by the Sri Lankan government and its army.

Among the myriad communities who have been affected by the prolonged conflict in terms of destruction of property, lives and support structures through death, injury and displacement, are women from different communities. This includes women from both Tamil and Muslim communities in the northern and eastern provinces. Most of the concerns are shared, along with particularities to specific communities such as the Muslims for instance.

In the event of the Sri Lankan Government appearing before the CEDAW committee, we would like to bring to your notice the extensive report put together by the Coalition of Muslims and Tamils for Peace and Co-existence (http://kafila.org/2011/07/16/two-years-on-no-war-but-no-peace-for-women-still-facing-the-consequences-of-the-war-cmtpc/). We stand by all aspects of the report put together by activists, yet again, in severely adverse circumstances. Through rigorous, grassroot-level work in a sustained manner, this report has been put together in a situation where the government is actively impeding any work by humanitarian agencies and civil society organisations across the country, especially in the north and east.

We address you from our vantage point as women's rights organisations and feminists based in India who are deeply concerned about the role of the Indian and Sri Lankan governments in Sri Lanka today, especially concerns affecting women who often bear the brunt of oppressions caused due to war meted out to them by state and non-state actors. We would like to completely support our colleagues in Sri Lanka who are often silenced by real dangers of harm to their person on a daily basis and activists working on Sri Lanka based elsewhere. We strongly urge both governments to act upon the following demands:

1. The right to return and speedy, sustained and holistic resettlement of women and their families in their chosen places of return. This includes simplifying processes of registration and resettlement and setting up transparent and democratic systems for the same. This should include, among other things, a realistic compensation package to rebuild lives that have been shattered repeatedly for three decades if not more. Specifically, we demand that this should apply to all plans, including the large-scale housing project that is being done by the Indian Government through contracts with private companies.

2. Dismantling of high security zones which have caused a serious loss of land to many families, such as in Sampur in Trincomalee district, Mullikulam and Silawathurai in Mannar district.

3. Canceling of industrial projects in various parts of the country, including those in high security zones. Here we would like to particularly stress on industrial projects such as the Sampur power plant that is being set up in collaboration with NTPCL and the Indian Government. We strongly urge the Indian government to desist from actively participating in industrial and developmental projects in Sri Lanka wherever they result in the permanent loss of the land and livelihoods or ethnic cleansing of war-displaced minorities.

4. The increased militarization in the country as a whole, particularly in the north and east, needs to be brought to an end immediately. This includes, but is not restricted to, ending the immense power accorded to the state under emergency regulations, the unchecked power of the Presidential Task Force, and the unchecked power and impunity given under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. It is imperative that military and ex-military personnel be immediately removed from positions of governance and be replaced by civilian administrators and a civil police force, as should be the case during peacetime.

5. The specific concerns of women such as problems of title on land in women-headed households and among widows and so on be taken cognizance of and addressed at the earliest. Further, cases of sexual assault and rape meted out by security forces and other state actors need to be taken cognizance of. The accused must be tried in the locality where the rapes and assaults took place rather than in a distant Sinhala-speaking locality, the perpetrators must be punished and the victims compensated.

6. Government to take active measures to find missing persons, and either prosecute or release prisoners who have been kept in prison without any prosecution for many years.

7. The trafficking of women and girls, not just for forced sex work but also for work in Free Trade Zones, often in faraway places without being allowed any contact with their families or other community members, is a horrifying index of the complete vulnerability and helplessness with which they survive, due to ongoing displacement, militarization and draconian legislation. We are aware of an overwhelming practice of sexual force, abuse and deception of minors and women from the northern and eastern regions to push them into violent situations of work. We demand an immediate rigorous enquiry and halt to this heinous practice, adequate compensation to the victims, and punishment of all those who have engaged in trafficking them. Situations of coercive work due to social, economic and conflict-related reasons are complex and it is incumbent upon the state to halt any practice of taking advantage of these already vulnerable communities. We demand that the state provides adequate mechanisms and resources to rebuild their work and lives in ways they choose.

We no longer believe the empty promises of the Sri Lankan Government to bring peace and reconciliation, and strongly demand immediate action that will convince us of the seriousness of this intent. We strongly condemn the Indian Government's silence and active participation in many of the human rights violations meted out by the Sri Lankan Government. We demand that the Indian government take positive steps for justice and the basic welfare of all those people adversely affected by the prolonged conflict in Sri Lanka. As women's groups and feminists in India, we will no longer silently stand witness to such violations and will continue to raise a voice against our own government as well as the Sri Lankan government and will stand in eternal solidarity with our friends and colleagues in Sri Lanka.

Undersigned:

Dr. Uma Chakravarty, Historian, New Delhi.
Dr. Ilina Sen, Professor, Wardha, Maharashtra
Dr. Rohini Hensman, Mumbai
Madhu Mehra, Partners for Law in Development, Delhi
Ammu Abraham, Mumbai
Saheli, Delhi
Forum Against Oppression of Women, Mumbai
Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action, Mumbai
Jeny Dolly, Chennai
Karuna, Chennai
Kabi Sherman, Mumbai
Pramada Menon, Delhi
Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Advocate, Mumbai
Shipra Nigam, Delhi
Amrita Shodan, London
Saumya Uma, Women's Research and Action Group, Mumbai
Vimochana, Bangalore
Dr. Mary. E. JOhn, Director, Centre for Women's Development Studies, Delhi.
Meena Saraswati Seshu, Sangli, Maharashtra
Kaveri Indira, Bangalore.
Programme on Women's Economic Social and Cultural Rights, PWESCR, New Delhi.
Lakshmi Lingam, Professor, Women's Studies, Mumbai.
Sonal Shukla, Mumbai
Dr. Leena Ganesh, Mumbai
Laxmi Murthy, Consulting Editor, Himal Southasian
Jayashree Subramanian, Eklavya, Madhya Pradesh
Ponni Arasu, Researcher, Chennai.
Sapna Shahani, Founder - Wave India, Goa.

The Hindu Succession Act needs to be amended to be more fair to deceased women's relatives

2011-07-31T06:11:00.000-07:00

Let us amend the law, it is only fair to women
Dr. Justice AR. Lakshmanan

Section 15 should be amended, so that in case a female Hindu dies intestate leaving her self-acquired property with no heirs, as mentioned in Clause ‘a' of Section 15, the property should devolve on her husband's heirs and also on the heirs of her paternal side.

This refers to the article “A law that thwarts justice” (The Hindu, June 27, 2011) by Ms. Prabha Sridevan, former Judge of the Madras High Court. I have analysed it and am in agreement with the views expressed by the author for my own reasons.

As Chairman of the Law Commission of India, I took up for consideration the necessity of amending Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 which deals with the general rules of Succession in the case of female Hindus dying intestate — not having made a will before one dies — in view of the vast societal changes that have taken place.

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 is part of the Hindu Code which includes the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956.

The Hindu Succession Act made a revolutionary change in the law for female Hindus. For the first time, a Hindu female could become an absolute owner of property. She could inherit equally with a male counterpart and a widow was also given importance regarding the succession of her husband's property as also to her father's property. The Act was amended in 2005 to provide that the daughter of a co-parcener in a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara Law shall, by birth, become a co-parcener in her own right in the same manner as the son, having the same rights and liabilities in respect of the said property as that of a son.

Scheme of succession

Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act propounds a definite and uniform scheme of succession to the property of a female Hindu who dies intestate. There are also rules set out in Section 16 of the Act which provides for the order of succession and the manner of distribution among heirs of a female Hindu.

Source of acquisition

The group of heirs of the female Hindu dying intestate is described in 5 categories as ‘a' to ‘e' of Section 15 (1) which is illustrated as under:

In a case where she dies intestate leaving property, her property will firstly devolve upon her sons and daughters so also the husband. The children of any pre-deceased son or daughter are also included in the first category of heirs of a female Hindu;

In case she does not have any heir as referred to above, i.e., sons, daughters and husband including children of any pre-deceased sons or daughters (as per clause ‘a') living at the time of her death, then the next heirs will be the heirs of the husband;

Thirdly, if there are no heirs of the husband, the property would devolve upon the mother and father;

Fourthly, if the mother and father are not alive, then the property would devolve upon the heirs of the father which means brother, sister, etc;

The last and the fifth category is the heirs of the mother upon whom the property of the female Hindu will devolve if in the absence of any heirs falling in the four preceding categories.

This is the general rule of succession, but the Section also provides for two exceptions which are stated in Sub-Section (2). Accordingly, if a female dies without leaving any issue, then the property inherited by her from her father or mother will not devolve according to the rules laid down in the five entries as stated earlier, but upon the heirs of father. And secondly, in respect of the property inherited by her from her husband or father-in-law, the same will devolve not according to the general rule, but upon the heirs of the husband.

The Hindu Succession Bill, 1954, as originally introduced in the Rajya Sabha, did not contain any clause corresponding to Sub-Section (2) of Section 15. It came to be incorporated on the recommendations of the Joint Committee of the two Houses of Parliament. The intent of the legislature is clear that the property, if it originally belonged to the parents of the deceased female, should go to the legal heirs of the father.

So also under Clause (b) of Sub Section (2) of Section 15, the property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or her father-in-law shall also under similar circumstances, devolve upon the heirs of the husband. It is the source from which the property was inherited by the female, which is more important for the purpose of devolution of her property. The fact that a female Hindu originally had a limited right and after acquiring the full right, would not, in any way, alter the rules of succession given in Sub Section (2) of Section 15.

The 174{+t}{+h} Report of the Law Commission also examined the subject of “Property Rights of Women; Proposed Reforms under the Hindu Law” and had noted that the rules of devolution of the property of a female who dies intestate reflects patriarchal assumptions.

The basis of inheritance of a female Hindu's property who dies intestate would thus be the SOURCE from which such female Hindu came into the possession of the property and the manner of inheritance which would decide the manner of devolution.

The term ‘property' though not specified in this Section means property of the deceased heritable under the Act. It includes both movable and immovable property owned and acquired by her by inheritance or by devise or at a partition or by gift or by her skill or exertion or by purchase or prescription. This Section does not differentiate between the property inherited and self-acquired property of a Hindu female; it only prescribes that if a property is inherited from husband or father-in-law, it would go to her husband's heirs and if the property is inherited from her father or mother, in that case, the property would not go to her husband's, but to the heirs of the father and mother.

This is very aptly illustrated by the following illustration:- A married Hindu female dies intestate leaving the property which is her self-acquired property. She has no issue and was a widow at the time of her death. As per the present position of law, her property would devolve in the second category, i.e., to her husband's heirs. Thus, in a case where the mother of her husband is alive, her whole property would devolve on her mother-in-law. If the mother-in-law is also not alive, it would devolve as per the rules laid down in case of a male Hindu dying intestate, i.e., if the father of her deceased husband is alive, the next to inherit will be her father-in-law and if in the third category, the father-in-law is also not alive, then her property would devolve on the brother and sister of the deceased husband.

Thus, in the case of the self-acquired property of a Hindu married female dying intestate, her property devolves on her husband's heirs. Her paternal and material heirs do not inherit, but the distant relations of her husband would inherit as per the husband's heirs.

The case for change

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 was enacted when, in the structure of the Hindu society, women hardly went out to work. There has been a vast change in the social scene in the past few years and women have made progress in all spheres. The consequence is that women are owning property earned by their own skill. These situations were not foreseen by the legislators.

If that is so, what is the impact of these socio-economic changes? Do they warrant any change in the law of succession in relation to the property of a female Hindu dying intestate? What is the fallout of a gradual disintegration of the joint Hindu family and the emergence of nuclear families as a unit of society over the years in the context of law of succession governing the issue at hand?

A fundamental tenet of the law of succession has been the proximity of relation in which a Successor stands to the person who originally held the property that may be the subject matter of inheritance in a given case. The fact that women have been given the right to inherit from her parental side also assumes relevance in the present context. These developments and changes lead to competing arguments and approaches that may be taken in re-defining the law of succession in case of a female Hindu dying intestate. Thus, three alternative options emerge for consideration, namely:

1. Self-acquired property of a female Hindu dying intestate should devolve first upon her heirs from the natal family.

2. Self-acquired property of a female Hindu dying intestate should devolve equally upon the heirs of her husband and the heirs from her natal family.

3. Self-acquired property of a female Hindu dying intestate should devolve first upon the heirs of her husband.

The third option may be taken first as this can be disposed of summarily. The option essentially means continuation of the status quo. We have seen earlier that socio-economic changes warrant corresponding changes in the law as well.

We may now take up the first option. The protagonists of this approach contend that the general order of succession reflects a gender bias. It will be relevant to refer to a passage in Pradhan Saxena – Succession Laws and Gender Justice in Re-defining Family Law in India by Archana Parasar, Amit Dhanda, New Delhi.

The supporters of the said approach contend that the joint family system has slowly eroded and that an increasing number of nuclear and semi-nuclear families have replaced the traditional Mitakshara Hindu joint family system. Women are also becoming more economically independent. With the growth of the nuclear family, a married woman's dependency on her natal family and continued closeness to it is much greater today even if it was not so earlier. Most married women would prefer that their parents should be the more preferred heirs to inherit her property if her children and husband are not alive. She would also prefer that her sister and brother have a better right to inherit her property than her brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Accordingly, it is urged that Section 15(1) should be modified to ensure that the general order of succession does not place a woman's husband's heirs above those who belong to her natal family like her father and mother and thereafter, her brother and sister. It is contended that when a man dies intestate, his wife's relatives do not even figure in the order of succession despite the manner in which he may have acquired the property. In view of this, parity is sought in the case of a female by applying the same rules as applicable to male's property.

Accordingly, it is suggested that it would be better to amend Section 15(1) to specify the general rules of devolution, which will apply not only to self-acquired property by a woman, but also to other property acquired through her family, gifts, etc. The only proviso which would then be needed would be the property that a woman acquires from her husband's family.

The second option in this regard is that the property of a female Hindu dying intestate devolves upon the heirs depending upon the source from which, the said property was acquired by her, the self-acquired property of such female be simultaneously inherited by her heirs both from the husband family as well as the natal family in equal share. The fact remains that in spite of her closeness to and dependence on her natal family, her relations with her husband's family are not separated and uprooted in entirety. She continues to be a member of her husband's family, getting support from it in all walks of life. One cannot afford to ignore the ground realities in this regard. The social ethos and the mores of our patriarchal system demand that the existing system should not be totally reversed as claimed by the protagonists of the first option. Lest, there may be social and family tensions which may not be in the overall interest of the family as a whole and as such, ought to be avoided. In any case, it is open to the female Hindu to bequeath her property the way she likes by executing a Will.

Conclusions

In the present scenario, when amendments are made to the effect that women have been entitled to inherit property from her parental side as well as from husband's side, it will be quite justified if equal right is given to her parental heirs along with her husband's heirs to inherit her property.

It is, therefore, proposed that in order to bring about a balance, Section 15 should be amended, so that in case a female Hindu dies intestate leaving her self-acquired property with no heirs, as mentioned in Clause ‘a' of Section 15, the property should devolve on her husband's heirs and also on the heirs of her paternal side.

If this amendment is brought about, the effect will be as under:

A married Hindu female dies intestate leaving self-acquired property at the time of her death, the only surviving relatives being her mother-in-law (L) and her mother (M).

Pre-Amendment

As per the present law, her property would devolve entirely on ‘L' and ‘M' will not get anything from her property.

Post Amendment

By the proposed amendment, her mother-in-law and mother should equally inherit her self-acquired property.

A married Hindu female dies intestate leaving self-acquired property and she has no heirs as per Clause ‘a' of the Schedule, the only surviving relatives are her husband's brother and sister (BL & SL) and her own brother and sister (B&S).

Pre-Amendment

As per the present law, her property would normally devolve upon ‘BL' and ‘SL'. ‘B' and ‘S' do not inherit anything from her in this property.

Post Amendment

By the proposed amendment, her own brother and sister should equally inherit along with her brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

The above amendment, suggested by me as Chairman of 18{+t}{+h} Law Commission as early as in June 2008 in the public interest, is still pending with the Union Law Ministry.

(The writer is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and former Chairman, Law Commission of India. His email id is jusarlakshmanan@ gmail.com)

Link: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2288188.ece

Great development - Lady of the house now head of the family in India

2011-07-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

On Monday, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, cleared a version of the food security Bill that accepts several provisions recommended by the Sonia Gandhi headed-National Advisory Council (NAC) and rejects some others. Predictably, public attention has concentrated on the latter.

Unnoticed among the NAC recommendations that have been accepted by the government, therefore, lies a radical new proposal that has the potential to re-arrange the power play in the family and in society: the ration card will be issued in the name of the adult woman in the household.

Under the chapter titled “Women’s Empowerment” in the Bill passed by the EGoM, that is slimmer and more cryptic than the NAC document, the eldest woman in the family, not less than 18 years of age, shall be deemed to be the head of the household for the purpose of distribution of ration cards in every household, ‘priority’ as well as ‘general’, under the Bill. Additionally, according to the Bill, in case of a household that does not have an adult woman, but has female members below the age of 18, such members will become the head of the household on turning 18. Only in case of a household with no female member, will an adult male be treated as head of the family.

According to NAC sources, there was complete unanimity among members and strong support from Sonia Gandhi for the proposal to bring the woman centrestage because, after all, the woman is “the natural custodian of food and nutritional security in the family”.

While there are other “pro-women” features in the Bill — such as preference in licensing and management of fair price ration shops to women and women’s collectives and nutritional support to pregnant and lactating mothers as a legal entitlement — the proposed legal recognition to the woman as head of the household is likely to be the most spectacular and unprecedented step of all. Even in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, seen to be the sterling achievement of the NAC in its first avtar, in as much as the law provided a statutory guarantee of wage employment to vulnerable groups within a rights-based framework, the woman was seen essentially as a member of the male-dominated family.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Lady-of-the-house-now-head-of-the-family/817237/

Send the UN your input about harmful cultural practices such as genital mutilation, early and forced marriage by Aug 31

2011-07-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

Via GLRF-Tribal@googlegroups.com: Gender, Livelihoods and Resources Forum (GLRF), is a regional forum based in Jharkhand (India). Advocates for Tribal Women's Land based Resource Rights (including training and services) from all stakeholders - Community, Private and State, for creating a gender-just environment.

-----

Joint CEDAW-CRC General Recommendation / Comment on Harmful Practices

Re: Call for papers on harmful practices

Source: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/JointCEDAW-CRC-GeneralRecommendation.htm

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child both contain legally binding obligations in relation to the elimination of harmful practices affecting girls under eighteen that are based on gender stereotypes and prejudices grounded in patriarchy. By virtue of this shared mandate, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) have decided to elaborate a joint General Recommendation/Comment on harmful practices. General comments of the CRC and general recommendations of CEDAW are elaborated by these Committees with a view to clarifying the normative contents of specific rights provided for under the treaties that they respectively monitor or particular themes of relevance to the treaties, as well as offer guidance about practical measures of implementation.

The present General Recommendation/Comment will also aim at clarifying the obligations of States Parties to CRC with respect to harmful practices that affect the enjoyment of the rights of boys in a discriminatory manner, and of States Parties to CEDAW with respect to the elimination of harmful practices (as defined in the General Recommendation/Comment) that affect the rights of adult women, either directly or as effects of practices to which they were subjected when they were children.

The harmful practices covered by this General Recommendation/Comment include traditional or emerging practices, prescribed by social norms, which are often embedded in culture. As female genital mutilation, early marriage and forced marriage are practices that often come before the Committees, are well studied and have been gradually reduced with certain legislative and programmatic approaches, this General Recommendation/General Comment will use them as key illustrative examples. However, the General Recommendation/Comment will provide a conceptual framework and recommendations for State Party action that are applicable to all harmful practices that fall within its scope.

The CEDAW and CRC Committees welcome inputs on harmful practices affecting girls under eighteen years of age, in English, French or Spanish, particularly from interested organizations and individuals who have extensive experience or information on harmful practices affecting girls under eighteen. The submissions should be as concise as possible and sent to the following email address in Word format by no later than 31 August 2011: cedaw-crc@ohchr.org. While the Committees generally seek inputs of no more than 12 pages, lengthy submissions will also be accepted but should include a table of contents and an executive summary. All submissions should be accompanied by a brief presentation (1 paragraph is sufficient) on the experience of the submitting individual or organization in the subject matter. The submissions received will subsequently be posted on a webpage dedicated to the joint General Recommendation/Comment. Please note that the United Nations does not offer remuneration of any kind for inputs into General Comments or Recommendations.

Allow us to express our appreciation in advance for your active support of the work of our Committees..

Sincerely,

Silvia Pimentel
Chairperson
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Jean Zermatten
Chairperson
Committee on the Rights of the Child

Google has an award for Indian women students in engineering!

2011-07-09T22:20:00.001-07:00

http://www.google.co.in/jobs/womeninengineering/faqs.html

Keep watching that website if you know someone who'd like to win the cash prize of one lakh...

Nice to see an article about the role of the press in addressing increased violence against women!

2011-07-07T09:40:00.003-07:00

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/article2155999.ece

Opinion » Readers' Editor
July 4, 2011
Arresting crime against women: key role for press
S. Viswanathan

When the Mumbai police finally cracked the daylight murder of
investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey and arrested seven persons
contracted by the long-absconding underworld gangster, Chotta Rajan,
thousands of readers were still restless over the delay in discovering
the motive behind the ghastly crime. Many readers of this newspaper,
who expressed solidarity through their mails, attributed the
breakthrough to the relentless pressure from journalists and the
spontaneous support of the public, who were outraged at the brutality
involved. While one reader wrote that the police must go beyond
arresting the alleged assailants and wipe out „the entire crime
syndicate responsible for the murder,‰ another reader expressed the
view that „the dismantling of the underworld is equally important.‰
Yet another feared that „the main killers may never be apprehended‰
and advised the journalists and whistle-blowers to exercise the utmost
vigil, especially when they deal with „the underworld and political
corruption.‰

One could only hope that investigation and prosecution reach a speedy
and successful conclusion. Even as this process proceeds, the State
government would do well to honour its own word and put in place
effective protection for journalists against their adversaries.

Rising trend in crime against women

Meanwhile, several incidents of violence targeting mostly the deprived
sections of the people in different parts of the country are
disturbing and disheartening. Growing violence against women is a
cause for great concern.

Five recent incidents of violence have been reported in Uttar Pradesh
within a couple of days in mid-June. In Kanauj district, a minor Dalit
girl was assaulted by two young men in an attempt to molest her; when
she resisted, the girl was stabbed repeatedly in her eyes. Doctors
said later that the cornea of her left eye had been totally damaged
and the chances of restoring her vision were ruled out. In another
incident in Basti district, a Dalit girl was reportedly raped. A day
later, a 35-year-old woman with two children was raped, allegedly by a
gang of three in Etah district. The same day, in Gonda district, the
body of a Dalit girl was found in a field. Three persons were said to
be involved in the crime and the police did not rule out rape. In
another incident in Firozabad district, a girl aged 15 was reportedly
raped.

In Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, a minor girl was reported to
have been sexually assaulted and burnt on June 29 by a pastor. The
girl died of severe burns at a hospital. The pastor was taken into
custody.

In Tamil Nadu, P. Krishnaveni, president of the Thalayuthu village
panchayat in Tirunelveli district, was brutally attacked by a gang a
few weeks ago. Admitted in hospital with nine stab injuries, the Dalit
panchayat chief is recovering. A fact-finding body that visited the
victim and the village under her control said that the panchayat
president faced discrimination from the day she took charge nearly
five years ago. She was not even allowed to sit in the chair allotted
to her in her office. Repeated complaints to authorities from the
panchayat chief, the fact-finding body said, were of no avail.

Poor conviction rate

These crimes against women happened in three States and were reported
by the news media in a short span of about two weeks. It is not as
though most other States are free from such violence against women.
About two lakh cases of violence have been registered by the National
Crime Records Bureau, according to its recent data.

It is well known that discriminatory and oppressive social attitudes,
not to mention plain greed and corruption, infect the attitude of the
authorities, and especially the police, in many cases when serious
complaints go uninvestigated or are poorly investigated. Only when
investigation is free, fair, and speedy and only when the conviction
rate improves in cases where women are the targets of various forms of
violence can crimes against women be brought down. The press has a key
role to play in working against any cover-up in this area.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

Useful - please circulate - Anyone can email UN Women about human rights violations against women anywhere!

2011-07-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Confidential communications procedure of the Commission on the Status of Women:
This year's deadline for submissions under the communications procedure of the Commission on the Status of Women is 1 August 2011 and the e-mail address for submissions is now the following: cp-csw@unwomen.org

More info at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/communications_procedure.html

Indian women world's most stressed - survey

2011-06-30T01:12:00.000-07:00

Via Network of Women in Media, India yahoo group:

Tue, Jun 28 12:24 PM IST
By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Women around the world feel stressed and pressed for
time, but women in emerging markets are more stressed than their sisters in
developed nations -- and Indian women say they are the most stressed of all,
according to a survey published on Tuesday.

But while women in emerging markets may be under more pressure, they are
also far more hopeful, with most seeing more financial stability and better
chances for education for their daughters, according to the survey of 21
developed and emerging nations by global information and analytics firm
Nielsen.

An overwhelming 87 percent of Indian women said they felt stressed most of
the time, and 82 percent had no time to relax.

Despite being stressed, though, Indian women were also the most likely to
spend any extra cash they might happen to have on themselves over the next
five years.

Nearly all, 96 percent, anticpated buying clothes, while 77 percent said
they would splash out on health and beauty products and 44 percent on home
electronics.

"Women across the globe are achieving higher levels of education, joining
the workforce in greater numbers and contributing more to the household
income," said Susan Whiting, vice chair at Nielsen, in a statement.

"Women tell Nielsen they feel empowered to reach their goals and get what
they want, but at the same time, this level of empowerment results in added
stress."

Mexican women came in second in terms of stress and lack of time, with 74
percent, followed by Russia with 69 percent, which the survey blamed partly
on the intense pace of social change, with what took half a century to
evolve in developed countries compressed into five for their emerging
cousins.

The highest stress levels in developed countries were Spain with 66 percent
and France with 65 percent. Some 53 percent of U.S. women said they were
stressed.

MORE STRESS, BUT MORE HOPE

Women in general felt they had more opportunities than their mothers no
matter where they were living.

But women in emerging markets believed their daughters will have more
chances than they did, while those in developed nations said their girls
will only have the same opportunites, not more.

In emerging markets, 80 percent of women surveyed believe their daughters
will have greater financial stability and 83 percent believe they will have
more educational opportunity.

Only 40 percent of women in developed nations saw their daughters having
more financial stability, and only 54 percent forecast more educational
chances.

"The difference in perceptions is ... reflective of the belief that women in
developed countries have achieved a certain level of attainment and
success," said Whiting.

"While women in emerging markets see tremendous growth in the opportunities
for their daughters, a plateau of hope is evident in developed countries."

The most optimistic women were in Turkey, an overwhelming 92 percent of whom
thought their daughters would have more opportunities than they did,
followed by 89 percent of Nigerians and Malaysians.

Only half of U.S. women thought the same.

No matter where they were, though, women were more keyed into social
networking than men, talking 28 percent more and texting 14 percent more
every month. They also visited more Internet community sites.

More than half of women in both developed and emerging nations said that
computers, mobile phones and smart phones had changed their lives for the
better.

"To connect with women, strategies should be social and relevant," said
Whiting, noting that social networking meant women followed brands more than
men.

"Women are much more likely to engage with media that seamlessly integrates
into and improves their day-to-day lives."

The survey was conducted from February to April and covered nearly 6,500
women in Turkey, Russia, South Africa, Nigeria, China, Thailand, India,
Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,
Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

WAVE featured on India Governance website as a best practice!

2011-06-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

Please comment -

http://indiagovernance.gov.in/bestpractices.php?id=856

Thanks to Attrika Hazarika at One World South Asia for interviewing and documenting us!

One young journalist's account of being bribed with 'gifts' from the corporate world

2011-06-29T02:04:00.000-07:00

http://espydreams.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/the-disgrace-of-being-a-business-journalist/

How many of us feel that our biological clock is ticking?

2011-06-29T00:34:00.001-07:00

Ever thought about artificial insemination/ freezing eggs, etc?

Check out this blog: http://wannabeamma.wordpress.com/

Then share your thoughts...

The need for bloggers who are citizen journalists

2011-06-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

Via Zest Media yahoo group:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6549817,00.html

Press Freedom | 20.06.2011
World needs journalists now more than ever, says expert

Person standing in front of magazine stand
News comes in many forms
Journalists have been denied access to some events in the Arab world,
meaning bloggers are key to reporting on human rights abuses. Press
freedom expert Joel Simon explains how this could represent a change
in roles.

Joel Simon is executive director of the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ), an international non-profit organization run by
journalists for journalists. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in New
York, the CPJ campaigns for freedom of the press and the right of
journalists to report news without fear. Deutsche Welle spoke with him
about the changing face of journalism in the internet age.

Deutsche Welle: What is your definition of a journalist?

Joel Simon: In the most basic form, journalists gather and disseminate
information that is of interest and relevance to the public. There are
professional journalists who do this and there are people who do it as
citizens. Because of new technologies there are more citizen
journalists today then perhaps at any time in history. But the
profession is none in which you need a license to practice.

Are bloggers journalists? Joel Simon Joel Simon is the executive director of CPJ

Bloggers can be journalists. When there is an issue of whether a
particular individual is a journalist or not, we read up on it. We
read the blog, we make sure that we read it in the language that it
has been written in, we look at the context in which it was written,
we look at the function that it is performing. There are blogs about
all sorts of things that certainly don't qualify as journalism. But
there are many blogs which are clearly journalistic.

In 2009, you said that "bloggers are at the vanguard of the online
revolution." Are they at the vanguard of modern journalism, too?

At that time, there was so much emphasis on bloggers because that was
the new medium through which the public was engaging in this new form
of journalism. But there are new tools available now, like Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube, and other kinds of social media. I think what has
clearly happened is that the ability of citizens to engage in
journalism and to disseminate what they see and what they think to a
portion of the public is now institutionalized. This in no way
diminishes the critically important role of professional journalists
who do it for a living, who are trained, who work with institutional
support and resources. We absolutely need them.

facebook logo with silhouette of poeple on laptopsFacebook and Twitter
were vital for Arab world bloggers I had a look at your "Prison Census
2010." You investigated 145 cases and 69 of these imprisoned
journalists were working with the internet - most of them being
bloggers. In what respect does the online revolution change your work
as an organization defending journalists worldwide?

In many repressive societies there is no outlet through which people
can express critical views, express criticism of the government. So
they have chosen to do that through blogs and other forms of social
media because there is no outlet in the institutional press. The
governments in these countries have recognized that this represents a
threat to them and they crack down. We have seen this in places like
China and Iran. We have seen that throughout the Middle East over the
last several months.

Syrian protestorsSyrian protests have largely been reported on by
online journalists Let's take the footage that we get from Syria these
days, or the pictures that reached us from Iran during the Green
Revolution of 2009, especially the ones of murdered student Neda.
Without bloggers and YouTubers, the international mainstream media
would not have been able to report.

That is true. But if you look at Syria now, that also shows the
deficiencies or the limitations of not having professional,
institutional journalists on the scene with resources. Yes, we know
something about what is happening in Syria but it is fragmented. It is
very difficult to understand and verify the context. And the Syrian
government has made a systematic, effective effort to shut out the
international media and to shut down the indigenous Syrian media. So
citizen journalists and human rights activists and others have stepped
into the fold at a great risk to themselves. But our understanding of
events is fragmented and partial and that is not an acceptable
situation.

Pile of newspapers Traditional media is experiencing dramatic changes
Professional journalists are trained to gather facts and to check them
and not to take sides. But if it comes to massive human rights abuses,
don't we have to take sides at some point like citizen journalists do
right from the start? Don't we run the risk that our so-called
balanced professional reporting is actually aiding the perpetrators
much more than the victims?

Some journalists even among the professionals have very strong
opinions and they believe very fervently that it is their role to
document and denounce human rights abusers. You know, you have to be
committed to the facts, you have to be open to new information, and
you have to verify and check the information that you disseminate.
Those are the basic ethical obligations of all journalists. But
journalists absolutely have an obligation to document human rights
abuses because they are newsworthy.

Is the internet revolution more of a chance or a threat to press
freedom and to the exposure of human rights abuses?

It is both. It is a revolutionary communications technology. But I
have been talking to people who have been looking at this issue
historically and people ask the same kind of questions about the
telephone and the telegraph and the radio and the television. Any new
media that has come along that has allowed people to inform the public
more rapidly and more effectively has transformed journalism. In the
end it will sort itself out because there is a basic human impulse
both to gather information and to disseminate that information. And
there is a basic human impulse to want to be informed about what is
happening around us. The medium through which that is done may change
but the basic exercise of journalism will not.

CPJ logoCPJ is based in New York

So even in times of blogs and Twitter and Facebook this world needs us
professional journalists?

It needs us more than ever. The number of journalists and the kinds of
journalists, that is all changing and it is expanding. There is still
a crisis in institutional journalism because the economic model is
under stress. But the basic desire of people around the world to
receive information and understand the events that are taking place
around them is stronger than ever. The interconnectedness we all have
as a result of these new technologies reinforces that. So journalists
have a vital role to play. I am absolutely convinced they will
continue to play it, and I am also convinced that there are darker
forces like repressive governments, criminal groups and militant
organizations that will continue to try to impede the work of
journalists.

Joel Simon is one of the world's leading media experts and writes for
the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Interview: Sandra Petersmann

Editor: Louisa Schaefer

Why doesn't the Indian government broadcast classes from our best schools??

2011-06-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

Via Zest Media yahoo group:

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/bangladesh-tv-starts-televising-school-classes

Bangladesh TV starts televising school classes
June 16th, 2011 - 13:09 UTC
by Andy Sennitt.

Bangladesh‚s national broadcaster, BTV, has begun televising classes
from some of the country‚s top schools. The live, nationwide
broadcasts are aimed at improving the quality of education in
Bangladesh.

On the first day of the programme, an English lesson was aired from
Viqarunnisa Noon School, an all-girls school in Dhaka. Lessons in
other subjects from two other schools will be aired over the next few
days, and the Education Minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, suggested that
the programme will be extended to other schools.

He said television sets were being distributed to some schools in
remote areas to enable students to watch the lessons.

(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

Please comment on our Ashoka Changemakers competition entry

2011-06-17T04:59:00.000-07:00

Meeting+the+Demand+of+New+Media+Women+Journalists

New study from Skoch Foundation finds poor trailing behind in banking access

2011-06-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

Rural poor getting left out ‘Financial inclusion far from inclusive’

Dear Fellow Traveller,

The total number of no-frill accounts as of 31st March 2011 stands at 74.3 million, but the number of active accounts reported by various banks varies between a miniscule 3% and 20% as per the preliminary findings of the “State of the Sector Report” for wholesome financial inclusion. Some of the preliminary findings of the study are as follows:
Out of a total of 5,165 new branches opened in 2011, only 21.86% are rural branches. Rural outreach seems to be entirely dependent on Business Correspondents. And that too seems a bit defocused due to viability concerns.
A growth rate of more than 700% in Urban Customer Service Points (CSPs) over the last year point towards the latest trend of urbanization among Business Correspondents (BCs). Although there is not much difference between growth rates, the number of urban households covered by no-frill accounts is almost double than rural households.
The availability of credit is key enabling factor for poverty alleviation. All indicators provide cause for concern: Declining growth rate of Self Help Groups, negative growth in total loans issued by co-operatives and deceleration in growth in agriculture credit to 10.6 per cent during 2010-11 from 22.9 per cent in the previous year.
Only 0.18% of the total No Frill Accounts have an overdraft which totals a mere Rs 198 crore, out of which 81% belongs to the Bank of India. No-Frill Accounts will remain unused unless there is an Overdraft incentive at the outset. This meager amount of overdraft has to be seen in context of Rs 100 crore advertising plan of Indian Banks’ Association to promote financial inclusion. This amount is sufficient to give a Rs 500 overdraft to 2 million poor households.
The two years since the first study “Speeding Financial Inclusion” was released by Skoch Development Foundation in 2009 has seen a lot of progress on the ground with Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India taking a proactive role in facilitating financial inclusion and incorporating many of its recommendations.
But given the size of the un-banked population in the country, the ongoing drive can at best be considered a "significant beginning". Only a little more than a third of India's population have access to banking services at present. In other words, only 3,500 villages have brick and mortar branches and even if another 73,000 habitations are brought under the net through the Financial Inclusion project, there would still be about 5 lakh habitations left uncovered.
Sameer Kochhar
Chairman
Skoch Group

Inviting applications for State, City and Student Coordinators in INDIA Redefined

2011-06-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

"Don't leave governance to the people who are not our representatives, don't leave Policy to the people who do not feel they are accountable to us, and don't leave all the other problems like literacy, slums, environment etc to NGOs and social workers who struggle without Citizen's support"

Best Humanitarian Initiative 2009 award winner INDIA Redefined is a non political Citizen’s Empowerment movement has brought together common people working for the country on one platform. The mission is to empower citizens of India by bringing about a behavioural change in the masses towards discharging their responsibilities and exercising their rights which are constitutional, societal and social.

All over world the Govt. sector, corporate sector, NGO sector are working but INDIA Redefined is bringing the fourth sector i.e. Common people working for country on one platform . That too in masses!. Common people till now have only come together if they are against something ; e.g All Independence movements, Movements against corruption, they have never come on one platform to work for country and then empowering themselves.

In pursuance of the above stated objective, INDIA Redefined is inviting applications from committed individuals for the posts of State Coordinators in States all over the country, City Coordinators in all Cities, Student State Coordinators and Student Coordinators from individual Universities/Colleges/Areas.

The application should:
1. Specify the Post for which you are applying
2. Consist the answer to as to why you want to join the INDIA Redefined movement
3. Please read the work profiles of coordinators on www.indiaredefined.org before applying

All applications should be mailed to the email address indiaredefined@gmail.com and youth4change@indiaredefined.org before June 18, 2011. Since we aim to form working committees within individual states as soon as possible, no application after the given date will be considered.

Also apply for internship of INDIA Redefined at ranjanakantiindiaredefined-a4c.org

http://www.pringoo.com/mystore/indiaredefinedstore

INDIA Redefined merchandise (Store) Buy Sweatshirt,T-shirt,Mug,Poster,Chocolate,Teddybear,Cap,Apron,Coaster,Tiffinbox,Mousepad,Sipper,SchoolBag,Keychain,PencilBox,Sticker,Canvas

If you are willing to mentor ten semi illiterate Indians then JOIN INDIA Redefinedwww.indiaredefined.org C.U.R.E INDIA Campaign - Citizen United for Redefining & Empowering. "Ek Ka Dus" is the first Initiative of C.U.R.E. India Campaign. Make a difference in the lives of ten underprivileged Indians and let them become your follower.

India Redefined Initiatives -“I Care” ,"Educate India", "Develop your own village", "Cure India" , “Youth Campaign-Clean, Green, United, Peaceful India”

You can see Ranjana Kanti's interview aired in 2 parts on ETV Urdu on 19th and 26th April in the programme "Ham Badlenge Desh Badlega"

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL6xfpbaiKk&feature=related (Aired on 19th April 2011)

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yn4n_IsABuk (Aired on 26th April 2011)

Many INDIA Redefined Supporters have put their INDIA Redefined badges on their facebook and other social networking sites.Those who do not have INDIA Redefined Badge with them, Please send us your pic on ranjanakanti@indiaredefined.org, so that we can make your INDIA Redefined badge , which will be sent to you on your mail and you can put it on your facebook and other social networking sites.

Do some event under IR banner which can be downloaded from website.
Help in finding IT people for making IR Portal.
Make more and more People join this movement IR. Spread the message through media, speeches, mails etc.
Read everything on website once again and Talk to me once at 9004188844

TEAM INDIA Redefined
www.indiaredefined.org

INDIA Redefined is asking for ISR Individual Social Responsibi

Vision
Create an India of tomorrow which is
· Awakened, informed and educated
· Clean, green and sustainable
· Healthy, prosperous and happy

Mission
Empower citizens of India by bringing about a behavioral change in the masses towards discharging their Responsibilities and exercising their Rights, which are:
· Constitutional
· Social
· Societal

Wikipedia event in Bombay - talk about Creative Commons - Sat 18 June

2011-06-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings from wikipedians in Mumbai!

We're hosting a talk on Creative Commons licencing Saturday 18 June at 5 pm at National College's Conference Hall and would love it if you could be there.

The talk, by Dr Shishir Jha, project lead, Creative Commons India, will touch on various conceptual and practical aspects of these licences that are of relevance to filmmakers, photographers, writers, musicians, artists, media practitioners, non-profits, activists, lawyers, archives, galleries, libraries, museums and interested others.

Some of the questions the presentation will explore:
*What are the ideological and philosophical underpinnings of Creative Commons licenses?
*Why licence via Creative Commons?
*What does the shift from copyright ('all rights reserved') to creative commons licencing ('some rights reserved') mean conceptually and in practice?
*What kinds of Creative Commons licences are currently available? What are the implications of each?
*What are the benefits and risks of distributing one's work under a Creative Commons licence?

The presentation will be followed by an interactive q and a session, including case studies of using CC licences in India.

Hope to see you there!

Date: Saturday 18 June
Time: 5 pm
Place: National College, Conference Hall, Linking Road, Bandra

Cheers
Bishakha
on behalf of wikipedians in Mumbai

When protectors against crime become perpetrators of it

2011-06-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

The alleged rape and murder of Sonam Ali, a 14 year minor girl, in Lakhimpur district of Uttar Pradesh is another shocking revelation of human rights violations. The girl’s body was found hanging from a tree near an under-construction block in Nighasan police station of the same district. The body was recovered last Friday.

Reports suggest that the girl stayed close to the station and had entered the premises to regain her strayed buffalo from that area. It was suspected that she was approached by the policemen. And when she did not return home, her mother went to seek police help. It was latter in the evening that Sonam's body was found in the same premise hanging from a tree.

Initially, the police tried to project it as a suicide while the mother accused the police men posted at this station of murder and rape. While 11 policemen were suspended the next day, police seemed to be contrived about its action. Those who were suspended include: two sub-inspectors, one head constable and eight constables.

The initial post-mortem of the girl prompted the police to make this a suicide case. It was only after a lot of condemnation from the centre, members of opposition and civil society that UP chief minister, Mayawati ordered another post-mortem by a panel of doctors from other districts. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also sent a probe team after it took suo motu cognisance of media reports alleging that a teenage girl was raped and killed at police station.

The second post-mortem has revealed that the girl was murdered, but has ruled out rape. The three doctors who conducted the previous post-mortem have been suspended and a top police officer has been removed. Neither of the two post-mortems has discovered rape while officers are still trying to probe the rape angel.

Another important update that has come in the media is Sonam’s five year old brother Arman’s acknowledgment to the police that he saw her sister dragged inside the police station on Friday. He identified this man named Chander who with others beat his sister and strangled his sister.

Following this important lead, the police may arrest the three suspects named by Sonam’s father in the FIR. Watchman Intezam Ali, 41, had named station house officer Ravi Srivastava, sub-inspector Vinod Kumar Singh and head constable Surendra Pratap Singh.

While this case had already become a political battle ground among the UP govt., the Congress, the BJP and the SP; a major blow for the government when Sonam’s mother alleged that the family was offered Rs 5Lacs to keep mum and give vague statements. This led to the second post-mortem, and the action against the first panel of doctors, and the police official.

Criminal Investigation Department of the crime branch is handling the investigation, but Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today demanded a CBI probe. The BJP and the Samajwadis are supporting the demand. Although it may take some time for the findings to come out and government to take appropriate action, case like this has revealed a very dark side of the police system.

Stand up for journalists to protect free speech in India!

2011-06-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Press Release
June 13, 2011

The killing of Mid-Day (Special Investigations) Editor J Dey on June
11, 2011, was the third death of a journalist in India over the last
six months. In all three instances, investigations are on but no
arrests have been made, much less is there any headway as to the
killers or their motives.

The impunity with which these attacks have taken place only shows
that, in India, freedom of speech and expression cannot be taken for
granted. The Free Speech Tracker set up last year by the Free Speech
Hub to monitor all instances of violations of freedom of speech and
expression reveals that attacks on journalists and intimidation of
editors and writers continued unabated.

· On December 20, 2010, Sushil Pathak, a journalist with
Dainik Bhaskar in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, was shot dead while
returning home after a late night shift. The general secretary of the
Bilaspur Press Club, Pathak is surived by his wife and two children.
An investigation began into his death but till February this year, no
headway was made into it. Following sustain protests from journalists’
organisations as well as opposition parties in Chhattisgarh, the
state’s Chief Minister Raman Singh, ordered that the investigation be
handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

· On January 23, 2011, Umesh Rajput, a reporter with Nai
Duniya was shot dead by two masked assailants on a motorcycle. A note,
stating "Khabar chaapna band nahi karoge toh mare jaoge" (If you don't
stop publishing news, you will be killed), was found near the crime
scene.

Apart from these deaths, there have been 14 instances of attacks on
journalist in this year alone.

On January 3, Sudhir Dhawale, dalit activist and editor of Vidrohi, a
Marathi magazine, was arrested and charged with sedition and links
with Maoists.

In January, Somanath Sahu, reporter of ‘Dharitri', was prevented from
attending a press conference at the office of the Deputy Commissioner
of Police, Shaheed Nagar, Bhubaneshwar and threatened with dire
consequences for writing reports that went against the police.

Rajat Ranjan Das, a reporter of Sambad daily, sustained fractures and
head injuries by alleged supporters of Saikh Babu, a ruling Biju
Janata Dal leader from Pipili, Orissa in February.

In the same month MBC TV reporter Kiran Kanungo and cameraperson
Prasant Jena were roughed up by a group of BJD workers in Banki. And,
in a separate incident the same day, OTV reporter NM Baisakh and his
cameraman Anup Ray were beaten up by anti-social elements in Paradeep
when they were covering a protest dharna outside the IOCL main gate by
local people demanding jobs and compensation.

In February, an NDTV team of journalists and camera crew were harassed
and illegally detained allegedly by staff belonging to the Adani group
when the were filming a report on the large-scale destruction of
mangroves in Mundra, Gujarat, due to the construction of a port by the
company.

In April, Bikash Swain, the publisher of Suryaprava, an Odiya daily
alleged intimidation by police, following a series of adverse reports
that he published. Last September, Swain was arrested by police and
protests by journalists about vindictive action by police have
obviously failed to have an effect.

On May 3, ironically on World Press freedom Day, Goan Observer
journalist Gary Azavedo was attacked and illegally detained by
security staff of a mining company in Cauverm, Goa when he went there
to cover the on-going agitation against mining companies.

In May, three journalists were beaten up allegedly by CPI(M)
supporters in Burdwan district in West Bengal.

On May 8, in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, a group of youths, allegedly
supporters of Nabam Tuki, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee
president and State PWD Minister, attacked several media offices,
including the local office of PTI and a local newspaper Arunachal
Front, apparently to protest a report in a leading daily involving
their leader.

On May 19, MiD DAY reporter Tarakant Dwivedi, better known as Akela,
was arrested under the Official Secrets Act by the Government Railway
Police (GRP) for an article written over a year ago in the Mumbai
Mirror that exposed the poor condition in which hi-tech weapons
procured after the 26/11 attack were being kept by the railway
security forces.

On May 21, unidentified assailants waylaid V B Unnithan, Kollam-based
senior reporter of the widely circulated Malayalam daily, Mathrubhumi,
and assaulted him with iron rods. Unnithan was heading home after work
on April 16.

Geeta Seshu, Coordinator, The Free Speech Hub (www.thehoot.org)
98922-14601
Attacks on journalists in India – a report from The Free Speech Hub of
thehoot.org

WAVE is looking for one awesome intern in Goa - apply now!

2011-06-12T04:07:00.000-07:00

WAVE is a start-up social enterprise that can be described as a young women-led media network and platform that reports rights violations, provides solution-oriented perspectives and harnesses the power of a collective new media community to take action towards sustainable development.

We are seeking an exceptional intern to work out of the director's home-office in Goa for a minimum of three months.

Intern responsibilities:
Promotion of videos: Send to film festivals and solicit more videos for our website from media colleges, etc.

Partner organisations: Connect with contact persons to encourage use of WAVE cameras locally, provide information about WAVE's current activities and solicit videos.

Research and funding: Assist with fundraising. Connect with organisations and foundations in India and abroad to provide information about WAVE and explore collaboration opportunities.

Preferred qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree or higher.
- Strong interest in citizen journalism, new media and feminism.
- Well-organised.
- Good at written and spoken communications in English and Hindi.
- Computer and internet savvy.

Benefits:
A basic stipend of Rs 5000/month will be paid. Accomodation and transport will need to be borne by the intern, but we will help with arrangements.

This is also a great learning opportunity in video production, new media and creative advocacy.

Application deadline: July 1. Candidate to be selected by July 15.
Preferred start date: August 1

To apply:
Send an email cover letter describing why you would like to intern and explain any relevant experience to womenaloud@gmail.com

Check out the blog created at WAVE's workshop at St Anthony's college in Shillong

2011-06-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

Babul Gogoi created a great-looking blog at the Citizen Journalism and New Media workshop that WAVE co-organised with the mass media department of St Anthony's College in Shillong on May 24-25. Watch some of the creative videos the students produced and the blogs they wrote about social issues there.

How essential - Online activism toolkit for feminists!

2011-06-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

Download it here now!

Thanks for Fundsforngos.org for alerting us to this development!

Fellowship for social researchers in gender studies and other

2011-06-08T23:44:00.001-07:00

Applies to all areas but northeast Wavers especially take note and circulate in your networks... You can earn Rs 20,000 per month for research, and maybe you can pitch to research on video?

http://www.fundsforngos.org/india/icssr-invites-applications-fellowships-open-northeast-category/

http://www.icssr.org/advemp2.htm

Also, you can forward this opportunity to study in Singapore to those who in 10th standard:
http://www.fundsforngos.org/india/sia-youth-scholarship-excellent-indian-students-completed-standard-10-2011-study-singapore/

Rhodes scholarship available to pursue a BA at Oxford Univ

2011-06-06T23:20:00.001-07:00

For Indian citizens under 25 years, click the link below for more info:

http://www.fundsforngos.org/india/rhodes-scholarship-opportunity-indian-students-study-oxford/

Essay contest - Women and climate change - Due June 1

2011-05-26T01:13:00.001-07:00

Call for papers

The role of human activity in accelerating climate change is beyond doubt. The fourth assessment report (4AR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), confirmed that overwhelming scientific evidence links impact of human activity to climate change and unless action to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases is taken, the world is on a path to runaway warming.

Why is it so important to integrate gender aspects into debates on climate change?

Climate change and climate impacts are not gender neutral. Gender equality is a critical component of responses to climate change at all levels - it should be integrated in all aspects of climate change planning and decision making.

At first glance, it might seem unintuitive to link climate change and gender issues. However, since societies still largely rely on gendered roles and responsibilities, both sexes do not have the same impact on climate change, and perhaps more importantly, are differently affected by it.

Women are disproportionately affected

Gender aspects of climate change are a matter of justice, human rights, and human security. Women are the poorest people in the poorest areas. Moreover, several studies indicate that the death rate in natural disasters can be four times higher for women. We have compelling data on how women are more vulnerable to climate change. It is thus important to be committed to gender sensitive approaches. We must adapt the mechanisms in place so that they reduce, or at least do not increase the gender issues.

Women empowerment and women's role

Women are change agents on both household and community levels with regard to natural resource management. Women are long-time leaders on poverty eradication and sustainability, and gender equality is a key issue in the climate change debate. If we do not implement gender-sensitive policies to fight the climate change, it will have disastrous consequences on the gender balance.

On the other hand, if we include and empower women, who are often responsible for agriculture, food and water supply, as well as first education of the next generation, we will do a better job in addressing the climate change and its consequences.

Mainstreaming the gender perspective is not only a sensible choice for our societies; it is a better, more efficient way to reach our goals.

Because this subject is at the very core of our preoccupations as members of the Green Party, we need to have better information and understanding on this subject, and answer these questions:

How can we counteract the disproportionate burden of climate change on women? How to empower women so that they become a key partner in reducing climate change?

How can gender equality be fully integrated into climate policies?

We encourage everyone to send us a paper with ideas and propositions on these issues.

TERMS OF PARTICIPATION

By taking part in the contest, participants agree on the terms of participation.

How and when to hand in my paper?

All papers have to be sent per e-mail to Greens.essaycontest@europarl.europa.eu before 1 June 2011, midnight. Papers sent after the deadline will not be accepted.

Who can apply?

Everyone.

Do I have to be a European citizen?
No, contributions from around the world are welcome.

About languages
Papers can be written in one of the four following languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

What kind of paper?

Papers should have the written form of an essay.

How long should the paper be?
Papers should be between 20.000 and 28.000 characters (with spaces) long.

How should it be presented?

Papers should be typed. No handwritten paper will be accepted.

What will happen next?

A jury made up of Green Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Green Party, the Federation of Young European Greens, Green Foundations, EGGO (European Green Gender Observatory) and NGOs will select the best essays.

Depending on the number of papers submitted, a pre-jury might do a pre-selection for the final jury.

What is the prize for the winner?

First of all, the best three essay writers will be invited to the Green Summer University in Frankfurt (Oder) and Slubice (1). This invitation includes transportation costs, hotel room for three nights and meals for the four days

The best essays will also be published in their original language and English, with a preface from Members of the Parliament and members of the jury. This book will be printed out and distributed during the University (to be confirmed depending on printing delays). The winners will get 10 copies each.

An event will be organised for the winners to read their essays to a selected audience, followed by a private dinner with members of the jury.

(1) The Summer University is an annual European event organized by the Green Party. Last year, it brought together almost 1000 people from all walks of life. Greens and non-Greens, NGO representatives, scientists, managers and trade unionists, intellectuals and artists, students and other young people attended 4 plenary sessions and 46 workshops, 10 cultural events and 10 excursions.

Check out this blog post by Sapna on the 10x10 project's blog

2011-05-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

10x10 is a global movement for girls' education - a film and social action campaign. They learned about WAVE because Sapna was part of World Pulse's Voices of Our Future training program and asked her to guest write a blog.

Read the post here.

Now all of you reading are invited to guest write a blog for Wave ;)

International Day of Action for Women's Health May 28

2011-05-16T02:00:00.001-07:00

Study in Italy - Pavia scholarship - deadline May 30

2011-05-15T09:15:00.001-07:00

Established in the year 1361, University of Pavia in Lombardy, Italy is one of the oldest universities in Europe. The university has a history of promoting international cooperation by offering scholarships in various degree courses to students from developing and low-income countries under its Fund for Knowledge and Cooperation (FC&K) program.

During the academic year 2011-12, University of Pavia is offering 51 scholarships amounting to 1,000 Euro per month to students coming from the developing countries. However preference will be given to the scholars from the countries classified as low-income economies or Lower-middle-income economies by the World Bank. Under this scholarship program, the students have the option to study at the University of Pavia or at the Institute for Advanced Study of Pavia (IUSS).

Expenses against visa fee and travel will also be borne by the university. Though, the students who have already received scholarship under the FC&K program during the academic year 2011-12 can also apply for the scholarship during the year 2011-12, but they are not eligible for getting visa fees and travel expenses.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The scholarships to successful candidates will be awarded as per the following norms:

1. Successful candidates will have to confirm their acceptance of the scholarship and of its conditions within the within the time limit set in the letter communicating the awarding of the scholarship. If a candidate fails to confirm his/her acceptance, the scholarship will be awarded to the following candidate in rank;

2. Once received the declaration of acceptance of the scholarship, the University of Pavia will:

send a prepaid travel ticket to Italy and provide for the travel expenses back to the developing country. Visa requirements will be care of the candidate, and will be reimbursed upon presentation of appropriate receipts;
provide the candidate with the scholarship according to the final decision of the Commission: monthly installments of 1.000 Euros each (the number of installments assigned to each successful candidate will be decided by the Commission);
arrange an accommodation in one of the University Residences of Pavia (lodging expenses will have to be paid by the candidate; if the candidate does not accept the proposed lodging, s/he will have to find another one by him/herself);
provide a card for meals at University canteens (the candidate will get the student discount for the meals, which will be at his/her expense);
guarantee all the facilities required during the period of residence – libraries, computer facilities, etc., including all the services of the Faculty which the student is associated with;
help the candidate to settle through the services offered for free by the Welcome Point of the University of Pavia, which will provide also the information about applying for a student residence permit.

3. Insurances will be direct care of the selected candidates. In particular, health insurance might be bought by the candidate before leaving the country of origin, being this usually mandatory while applying for the Visa.

The deadline to submit the application form for this FC&K scholarship program is May 30, 2011.

Source Link: http://www.fundsforngos.org/scholarships-2/scholarship-opportunity-students-developing-countries-study-university-pavia-italy-fck-program#ixzz1MRH0vKXS
Copyright©FUNDSFORNGOS.ORG. Do not remove this link.
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Teaching women in slums to make biodegradable sanitary napkins!

2011-05-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

What a great idea - congrats to the NGO SIFE in Delhi for winning first place at the Dell Social Innovation Honours for this idea!

Read the full story here.

PWESCR Leadership Institute event in Nepal June 21

2011-05-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab to be held in India in March 2012!

2011-05-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here’s an incredible opportunity for all aspiring scriptwriters. Mumbai Mantra Media Limited has collaborated with Sundance Institute, founded by Robert Redford, to organize the first Screenwriter’s Lab in India which will be entirely modelled on the Sundance Lab which is held in Park City, Utah every year.

In the past, Sundance Institute has supported projects like Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Walter Salles’ Central Station, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry, and Joshua Marston’s Maria Full of Grace, among many others. This initiative fulfills the Mumbai Mantra's desire to help Indian storytellers achieve their fullest potential and assist them to develop stories that resonate to a larger audience in India and internationally.

The Lab (planned in March 2012) will be a 5-day workshop that will give the Indian screenwriters an opportunity to work intensively on their script with Creative Advisors, who would be established screenwriters and filmmakers from around the world. Scripts could be in any Indian language including English. However, the application for the Lab will only be accepted in English. The applications are open till June 1 and after this the screenwriters will have atleast 3 more months to send in their complete script. Only 6-8 screenwriters will be selected for this workshop. Please note that there is no submission/ registration fee involved in this. Application details and a detailed FAQ is available on

www.mumbaimantra.com

Moushumi Basu publishes third story on Radio Netherlands website

2011-05-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

The story reveals the sorry state of India's largest salt-water lake Chilika in Orissa where 'prawn mafia' are chasing out traditional fishermen by laying enclosures and farming lucrative prawns so other fish cannot thrive in the same waters. The state is colluding with the mafia which haven't been restrained in spite of court orders. Now the traditional fishermen are launching a 'do or die' campaign to take down the prawn enclosures!

Read the full story here.

Fight poverty, invest in girls - UNESCO

2011-05-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Bangkok, 29 April 2011 – If we are serious about making a real, positive change to society, we need to make a firm commitment to a long-term investment in girls’ and women’s education. This potential investment offers high returns, including accelerated social and economic progress, and the unique power to break the cycle of poverty.

A successful educational process will afford, women and men, girls and boys, the same entitlements to all aspects of human development, including economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights; the same level of respect; the same opportunities to make choices; and the same level of power to shape the outcomes of these choices.

This week we will mark Global Action Week (2-8 May), an annual event commemorated worldwide to highlight the importance of Education for All. Let’s use this important occasion to take a closer look at this year’s theme: Gender Equality in Education. Education leads to profound life-changing choices.

However, in this advanced age of the 21st Century, over 39 million girls in the Asia-Pacific region, who do not have access to a primary-level education, are still denied this fundamental human right.

Inequality in education cripples the lives of millions of girls and women around the world. While the rights of women have made significant progress, women are still second-rate citizens in too many countries today. According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) statistics, women perform 66 per cent of the world’s work; help to produce 50 per cent of global food output; but earn less than 10 per cent of the global income and own just one per cent of the global property stock.

Although the gender gap in education has narrowed over the past decade, girls are still at a disadvantage, particularly in their access to upper secondary education. Women in South Asia, for example have only half as many years of education as their male counterparts, and female enrolment rates at the upper secondary level are two-thirds of those of males.

Illiteracy does not look good on a work resume. Yet, the latest United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) statistics show that in South and West Asia, on average, only one in two women could read and write. In stark contrast, approximately seven out of ten men can do so. In East-Asia and the Pacific, a staggering 74.5 million women are illiterate, representing 71 per cent of total 105 million adults.

These issues go to the heart of UNESCO’s mission; promoting a quality education for all, including women and girls. Education is critical to laying the foundations for gender equality and the empowerment of women. This includes supporting quality education from early childhood education, through to primary and secondary levels and up to tertiary and vocational training.

Achieving equality in primary and secondary education is critical to overcoming development challenges and structural discrimination. However, equality goes beyond the enrolment of the equivalent number of boys and girls. True equality must include the education process and its outcomes. It must improve on three axes: curriculum; the learning and physical environment; and the quantity and quality of teachers.

Still today, in many developing countries, the fate of most women’s prospects lies in getting married, procreating when still very young, and then tending to their families. This starts at adolescence when many girls are busy looking after their siblings, cooking, cleaning, and doing mundane household chores, while their chances of going to school, or receiving medical care, are much lower than their male counterparts.

Adolescence is a critical stage; if a girl pursues the course dictated by poverty, she will be obliged to abandon her schooling and she will almost certainly get married at an early age or become pregnant. The depressing statistics show that in developing countries, an estimated 25 to 50 per cent of adolescent girls are mothers before they reach the age of 18. It is depressing because, as an uneducated mother lacking life and labour skills, this girl will be less likely to work or earn an income, less likely to stand up for her rights, and less likely to have an influence in the household and in public life. Moreover, she will be more vulnerable to sexual violence and HIV infection.

Every year, according to UNFPA, 14 million adolescent girls give birth. This is the root to the astounding fact that the leading cause of death for girls aged 15-19 result from complications from pregnancy. Adolescent girls are also two to five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than women in their twenties, and their babies are 1.5 times more likely to die before their first birthday. Each sad story, multiplied by millions of girls, consigns entire communities and nations to chronic poverty and poor health. There is an alternative, if a girl continues her schooling and learns life skills, she will marry later, have fewer, healthier children, earn a higher salary and be more likely to send her children to school.

Investing in girls’ education is the right thing to do. Women represent half the population, “hold up half of the sky”, and should have their rightful share in making the decisions that affects their lives and their countries. Women and girls are half of the human capital available to decrease poverty and attain development. However, without education they are unable to fully participate in pursuing these targets. Investing in girls’ education is also the intelligent approach as it makes simple economic sense. Nationwide, each additional year of schooling raises average annual gross domestic product growth by 0.37 per cent. An added year of school increases girls’ eventual wages by 10 per cent, reduces the probability of infant mortality by 10 per cent, and decreases female fertility rates by 10 per cent. Moreover, when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90 per cent of it in their families, as opposed to 30 to 40 per cent for men.

Therefore, an investment in girls’ education is possibly the best investment that can be made in the developing world. Girls are a powerful transformative force and, if given the opportunity, hold the key to a better future.

Let’s use the occasion of Global Action Week to raise the critical need to invest our time, energy, thought and funding in girls’ and women’s education. Let us strive to equally support the realization of the full potential of all of our children; girls, and boys alike. It is about the lives of over one billion women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region and the countless more lives that are affected by them. It is about coming out of poverty. It is about our collective global future.

Link: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1105/S00019/fight-poverty-invest-in-girls-unesco.htm
Source: Scoop World
Published: May 1, 2011

Clean Tech Media Award deadline May 15

2011-05-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

The Clean Tech Media Award is given to encourage and enhance public awareness and raise ecological and economical consciousness and commitment to promote green technologies. The award bridges the gap between entrepreneurs, scientists, politicians, artists, media representatives and consumers and raises awareness and boosts the popularity of the sustainable revolution. The Clean Tech Media Award 2011 takes place the 16th of September at Hansestadt Hamburg; 2011th Green Capital. In proper celebratory style the awards will be given away in the five categories i.e. Energy, Communication, Young Scientist, Lifestyle and Mobility.

Award Categories:

Energy: The category is going to honour the production, distribution, storage and use of resource saving or pollutant-free energy sources to protect the environment. The category will mainly focus on Solar, Wind, and Water and geothermal energy.

Communication: This category aims to honour the celebrities and organizations that fight against climate change and thus are making climate protection and Clean Tech even more popular. The outcome can be as diverse as e.g. marketing campaigns or cultural initiatives, TV spots, radio-shows and movies etc.

Mobility: Pioneering innovations in the resource saving mobility field –in the air, on water or on the ground, are rewarded in this category.

Lifestyle: The lifestyle category awards technologies that make it possible to obtain an ecological consumption- and life-style without abandoning high quality standards.

Young Scientist: This category honours young scientists who present innovative scientific research results, which can provide solutions for climate protection, and thus contribute to economic growth.

Deadline for project submission: May 15th, 2011

Source Link: http://www.fundsforngos.org/awards-and-prizes/clean-tech-media-award#ixzz1LXmOx3Dc
Copyright©FUNDSFORNGOS.ORG. Do not remove this link.
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Surprise, doubt and confusion: Pakistan’s reaction to bin Laden killing

2011-05-04T08:06:00.001-07:00

In the 48 hours following the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death in Pakistan, the country’s government and United States officials have done a strange public dance about Pakistan’s role leading up to the mission.

By Sara Nics (South Asia Wired/Radio Netherlands Worldwide)

Bin Laden was killed in an all-American operation, according to US officials. In a brief press release on Monday, Pakistan’s government reinforced that point, despite earlier confused statements about whether or not the country had been involved.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry released a much longer statement that “categorically denied” any prior knowledge about the attack.

The statement said, “As far as the target compound is concerned, ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence] had been sharing information with CIA and other friendly intelligence agencies since 2009. The intelligence flow indicating some foreigners in the surroundings of Abbottabad, continued till mid April 2011.”

Skepticism and theories
A wide range of theories are circulating about the motivations behind the US-Pakistan pas-de-deux. At one end of the spectrum is the speculation that Pakistan knew about the operation but is afraid of reprisals from Al-Qaeda if they admit involvement. Other commentators theorise that parts of Pakistan’s administration were protecting bin Laden and his family, and the government is now trying to cover it up.

Regardless of where the truth lies, there is one key point on which Pakistan and the US agree publicly: Osama bin Laden is dead. But not everyone is convinced.

Corpse photo
Some people in Abbottabad, where Osama apparently lived for a few years, are speculating that bin Laden was not killed on Sunday, says Suzanna Koster, South Asia Wired’s correspondent in Pakistan. “The local paper is also saying that it’s all American propaganda,” she reports.

Koster says many of the local residents she has talked with will only believe that bin Laden is dead when they see a photo of his corpse. Although some media outlets published a photo purportedly of bin Laden’s body, the picture was quickly labeled a fake.

War on terror
But some residents also believe that the death of Osama bin Laden should mark the end of America’s war on terror in the region.

“We are relieved,” says Kamran, one of the many Pakistanis who exchange the hot summer sun for the relative coolness of Abbottabad. “We hope this war ends now in Afghanistan. This search and raids should end, you know. That is how we feel. NATO has been blaming Osama, but he’s gone now. So leave the rest of the world in peace. We want peace. Everybody wants peace”.

Lies
Mohammad Ilyas, standing near the sealed area around Osama bin Laden’s house, echoes the sentiment of many people in the village when he says that the US is lying about his death. “We don’t know if he’s dead or alive. President Obama also doesn’t know as he’s in [Washington] and not here. I think the US is lying to the world.”

Quiet
Military patrols have kept the streets of Abbottabad largely quiet since bin Laden’s killing. The area has now been cordoned off for the media. In Karachi, however, some people took to the streets yesterday to offer funerary prayers for bin Laden. In Quetta, close to the border with Afghanistan, people reportedly rallied to condemn bin Laden’s killing.

Journalist manhandled by mining goons in Goa on International Press Freedom Day

2011-05-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

Panaji, Goa. The Goa Union of Journalists(GUJ), in a press note issued
after an executive committee meeting held in Panaji on Tuesday,
condemned in strong words the high handed action of security staff of
mining company in Cauverm on Tuesday to detain, ill-treat, manhandle
Goan Observer journalist Gary Azavedo who had gone to cover the
on-going agitation against mining companies at Cavrem.

It is all the more shocking that this incident was taking place in
south Goa on a day when the GUJ members where busy in a function to
celebrate the International Freedom of the Press Day in Panaji. It
raises the serious question of freedom of press in the State.

If the mining company security felt that the journalist had
trespassed, the most legitimate course of action should have been to
lodge a police complaint and not to “shove the journalist in a jeep by
security personnel by force, manhandle him, threaten him to off-load
his camera, tear his bag, confiscate his cell and then leave him
stranded to walk back from the site office where he was taken for
enquiry,” as has been mentioned into his police complaint lodged by
Mr. Azavedo at the Quepem police station.

The GUJ has demanded that the Goa Government and the police should
take cognizance of the complaint and take immediate action so that the
freedom of media while covering people’s movements and agitations is
protected.

The GUJ executive has made it clear that the media will not be cowed
down by such intimidating tactics deployed by vested interests against
media-persons but GUJ will work to unite media-persons and mobilize
people to fight such tactics which are dangerous to democracy.

The GUJ has noted the promptness with which Inspector General of
Police Sundari Nanda acted when the GUJ President brought the incident
of "missing of a journalist who was on an assignment at Carvem mines"
to her notice on Tuesday afternoon and hoped that she will take firm
action on the complaint lodged by the journalist.

Prakash W. Kamat,
President, Goa Union of Journalists,
Panaji.

WAVE videoblogger Vandana invited from Himachal Pradesh to speak at Lady Doak College, Tamil Nadu

2011-05-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

At the South Asia Film Festival in Lady Doak College, Madurai

15-17 February 2011

Girls interested in producing videos raise their hands

Participants: 48 college students studying subjects ranging from zoology to economics. All the students were women. Teachers teaching gender studies, environmental studies and economics also attended the festival. 81% of them had never seen a documentary before they attended the festival.

Organisers: International Study Centre and Women’s Study Centre (WSC) at Lady Doak College and South India Term Abroad (SITA).

About the film festival: Film South Asia aims to popularise documentary films among people as a source of information and enterntainment. 15 outstanding films from the festival are selected to make up Travelling Film South Asia. This festival travels all over the subcontinent and the world. TFSA’s each edition has been to 40 venues. The festival helps in creating awareness and understanding among audiences across borders in South Asia.

Objectives of the film fest:

To expose students to the various social issues that exist in South Asia
To give them a platform to talk to filmmakers and build new perspectives
To motivate young women to learn about media and develop an interest in film

Day One: The inaugral session was held in the evening of the first day. I chatted with a couple of students before the session began formally. Some of them were friendly but some were also shy. Though I had been told that they all spoke English, it seemed like they were more comfortable conversing in Tamil. By talking to them, I tried to get an idea about what kind of media they are exposed to and how much technology they use. The session began with the screening of Goddesses, a Tamil documentary film by Leena Manimekhalai. Leena is an independent filmmaker, poet and actor, based in Chennai. She has directed more than 10 documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. After we finished watching the film, students and faculty had a small discussion about it.

Day Two: In the morning, three documentaries – The Promised Land, Children Of God and In Search of Riyal, were screened parallely at 3 different venues. The screenings were followed by a session on Videblogging and WAVE with the students. I began the session by asking the girls about their opinion on media and women’s reprsentation in the media. A few students pointed out that media can deliver misleading information. Most of the students were clueless about the profit-driven, elitist and gender-insensitive side of mainstream media. A small task was given to the students - analysing women’s roles in advertisements on TV. As the discussion progressed, students talked about how ads completely promote gender stereotyping. I asked them if they could escape the mainstream media? Most of them said no.

This was just the right time to introduce to the concept of alternate, people-participatory and community media. When I asked the girls about their internet usage, most of them said they use the Internet but only for looking up information, sending emails and using social networking sites. None of them blog.

The discussion moved to how young people’s perspective and opinion on issues affecting them is important, the power of Internet, freedom of expression, blogging and videoblogging.

Videoblogging was a very new concept for them. Very few of them had used YouTube. Most of them knew how to use a digital camera. They said if given a little training, they could easily use handicams.

I talked to them about how WAVE was born and what it aims to do. I showed them WAVE videos made in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and Tamil Nadu. After watching the videos, they had a lot of questions – do Himachali hats have a market, how much does a weaver family earn, how much time does it take to shoot a video, etc. They said they had never realised that women have no land rights. They found the plastic roads video impressive and wondered if something similar could be done in their city where plastic waste is a menace. Students left the room with a question – could they make advocacy videos about issues affecting their city?

In the evening, they got an opportunity to meet Leena, who talked about what inspired her to make films and the different films she has made. There was a long discussion on Goddesses. After that, two other films directed by her were shown. I could see that students completely related to these films because they were in Tamil.

Students watch the WAVE introduction video

Day Three: Students watched films all day and came together in the evening for the closing session of the festival. This is what they had to say about the fest:

They learnt about real facts and gained a better understanding of social issues.
They felt inspired to think critically and got new ideas.
All of them said if given a chance they would like to learn film production and work on a project!

Jaaga (Bangalore) video and animation fellowships!

2011-05-02T05:37:00.001-07:00

JAAGA MEDIA CENTER FELLOWSHIP
3 months starting 10th May 2011. Daily 10am to 5pm.
At Jaaga, No. 16/1, Rhenius St. Shanthinagar, Opp. Hockey Stadium, Bangalore - 560003 | www.jaaga.in/media-center
Deadline to Apply: Thursday 7th May 2011 | Number of Fellowships: 3

Fellows will be expected to attend everyday and under the guidance of Clemence Barret follow the prescribed coursework.
The course is production based. Learning is centred around Short Documentary Film-making processes and practices.
Daily screenings of world-class examples in this form will be watched and dissected.
Fellows will work hands-on on specific projects under the Media Center, namely The Whitefield Diaries, Bangalore Art Diaries, Crafts of Hampi and Jaaga Journals.

Interested candidates are to email archana@jaaga.in &cb@clemencebarret.com with a Resume and a short paragraph (200 words) describing themselves and their interest in this Fellowship.

Article about the lack of opportunities for working women in Goa by Sapna Shahani

2011-05-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Goa’s Women Professionals want more, and they want it now
By Sapna Shahani

Lillian D’Costa, 32, left the idyllic village of Saligao in North Goa where she had spent her childhood years, and moved to Bangalore, in neighbouring Karnataka five years ago. “I had reached a point where I wasn’t growing any more and realised I needed a change,” she recalls. “I’m sure that Goa offers a better quality of life than many other states, but that’s if you’re economically well-placed. If you’re young and need opportunities for growth, Goa does not work.”

Ashwina Souza, 23, left her family in the Southern Goan town of Vasco last year to pursue a Ph.D in Industrial Psychology in Mumbai. “My seniors told me that the faculty here in Goa was not as good as in Mumbai. Besides, in a place like Mumbai, there are so many industries and they need people like us. Among my circle of friends, many have left Goa – perhaps six or eight out of 10.”

Two voices of young women professionals from a state that has recorded the highest per capita income among all Indian states in a 2009-10, according to the central statistical office. However, a study by the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour and Employment also reveals that Goa has the highest unemployment rate in the country. What’s worse, according to another study conducted by Goa’s Ministry of Labour in 2009, only one-fourth of those employed in the state are women.

These figures imply that not only is Goa’s wealth not distributed equally across all sections of society, its working women are clearly marginal players in the state’s economy. Unless efforts are made to reverse this trend, Goa stands to lose young talent, with many youngsters like Lillian and Ashwina being forced to leave home for educational and employment opportunities in other states. Indeed, they are left with little choice, given the rising inflation and high cost of living in Goa.

Perhaps in response to the impending crisis, Goa recently became the first state in India to announce a dole for jobless youth. But such political gestures are merely symbolic. There still isn’t much public discussion about creating jobs for the state’s 80,000 people registered with the Employment Exchange. The Goa Chamber of Commerce carries a telling piece of information on its website: “Roughly about 15,000 graduates come out of Goan colleges every year. The government on its own will not be in a position to provide employment to these youth…”

There is widespread consensus in Goa that higher education in the state does not prepare graduates for real jobs. While the state has focused on primary education – ranking 11th among all Indian states in terms of performance – higher education appears to have stagnated. Public perception is that it is best to earn one’s degree or post-graduate qualification outside the state if one can afford to do so.

Says Aldina Gomes, a lecturer at Carmel College for Women in Nuvem, “As a professor, I’m a little against how academics is handled here. Everyone has to study humanities but they don’t really have a connection to the subject. They won’t pursue humanities as a career but will end up doing something completely different… There is a clear lack of vocational guidance for students as well as career opportunities. There should be many more entrance exams, job-specific courses and certificates that can get you jobs.”

Of course, women students are full of expectations. Take Zaheera Vaz, 20, who is about to start her Master’s degree course in Political Science at Goa University. She is keen to have extra-curricular activities that could help her develop her analytical skills. Nashoma De Jesus, 22, who is currently finishing her Master’s degree in International Studies at Goa University, would like more field experience. “The education system is too theoretical. We need more exposure while we’re studying. Internships should be mandatory,” she argues.

But this would require more investment in higher education, as Sabina Martins, a prominent women’s rights activist and school teacher with a Ph.D in chemistry, points out. “I did my research in carbon, which can be prepared from coconut shells. I thought since Goa has so many coconut shells and carbon is in high demand, being used for water purification and in so many other applications, it should be easy to make carbon this way. I went to see the only plant that does this in Goa and it was run by someone from outside the state. Planning here is devoid of research,” she says.

Those who don’t leave the state and are lucky enough to find jobs after they graduate, get measly salaries, sometimes as low as Rs 4,000 (US41=Rs 44) a month. Aglin Barretto, 23, has a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and works in two schools as a counsellor. Her salary? Just Rs 5,000 per month.

Both opportunities and salaries are lower in Goa than elsewhere and that is a source of angst for young women like Skitter Faia, 32, who works in a PR firm in state capital Panaji. “I hear a lot of people talking about job security and I think that means a government job where you can work or not work and still take a salary home,” observes Skitter. Others feel that appreciation and promotions don’t easily come the way of women employees. Clara Rodrigues, 24, a journalist based in Saligao, rues the fact that the glass ceiling obstructs many ambitions women may harbour, “We need opportunities to grow vertically in the organisation.”

But this does not mean that women have stopped dreaming of personal growth and freedom. Interestingly, one of the reasons why many young women here prefer to migrate out of the state is to free themselves from the diktat of conservative families and the norms that mark rural life. D’Costa says, “As a single woman living outside the state, you don’t have to rush home. Or face judgmental people in the village who are always assessing you. Or hear that your phone isn’t accessible. These are constraints I experience every time I return to Goa.”

Despite the stereotypes fostered by the coastal tourist belt, life in Goa’s hinterland is fairly restrictive for young women and the general outlook is narrow. Ashwina shares a personal anecdote, “Once in college, a teacher asked us why we wanted to go to college. Students gave all sorts of answers. Some argued that it was their ticket to leave home; others said it was their certificate for marriage; still others just wanted to ‘pass time’, while a few talked of how it was the best way to make friends. Only three of us – out of a class of 60 – said they were in college to pursue a career.”

She and others like her want the state to be more pro-active about broadening professional vistas. Not only would this bring economic benefits to the state, it would mean more women in the workplace, they argue. For instance, they point out, that Goa – with its educated population – is eminently suited to emerge as an IT hub, yet little is being done to achieve this.

Says D’Costa, “The government wants to invite only ‘clean’ industries to the state. With its good roads, broadband connectively and relatively cheaper land, it could easily attract the IT industry. IT companies are moving out of Bangalore to places like Chennai and Vellore, but why aren’t they coming to Goa? Bangalore was once known as a retiree’s city, but now it has reinvented itself as a world city. Why can’t Goa make the same transition?”

If Goa has to keep pace with the hopes and expectations of women like D’Costa, it would need to do much more to expand employment opportunities for young professionals.

–

Published in Deccan Herald, Bangalore edition, 30^th April 2011

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/157633/looking-growth-go-some-place.html

Say no to the new internet censorship law in India!

2011-04-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/technology/28internet.html

India Puts Tight Leash on Internet Free Speech
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

An Internet cafe in New Delhi. New rules require Web sites and service
providers to remove some content that officials and even private
citizens find objectionable.
By VIKAS BAJAJ
Published: April 27, 2011

MUMBAI, India ˜ Free speech advocates and Internet users are
protesting new Indian regulations restricting Web content that, among
other things, can be considered „disparaging,‰ „harassing,‰
„blasphemous‰ or „hateful.‰

The new rules, quietly issued by the country‚s Department of
Information Technology earlier this month and only now attracting
attention, allow officials and private citizens to demand that
Internet sites and service providers remove content they consider
objectionable on the basis of a long list of criteria.

Critics of the new rules say the restrictions could severely curtail
debate and discussion on the Internet, whose use has been growing fast
in India.

The list of objectionable content is sweeping and includes anything
that „threatens the unity, integrity, defense, security or sovereignty
of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order.‰

The rules highlight the ambivalence with which Indian officials have
long treated freedom of expression. The country‚s constitution allows
„reasonable restrictions‰ on free speech but lawmakers have
periodically stretched that definition to ban books, movies and other
material about sensitive subjects like sex, politics and religion.

An Indian state, for example, recently banned an American author‚s new
biography of the Indian freedom fighter Mohandas Gandhi that critics
have argued disparages Mr. Gandhi by talking about his relationship
with another man.

Although fewer than 10 percent of Indians have access to the Internet,
that number has been growing fast ˜ especially on mobile devices.
There are more than 700 million cellphone accounts in India.

The country has also established a thriving technology industry that
writes software and creates Web services primarily for Western
clients.

Even before the new rules ˜ known as the Information Technology
(Intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011 ˜ India has periodically tried
to restrict speech on the Internet. In 2009, the government banned a
popular and graphic online comic strip, Savita Bhabhi, about a
housewife with an active sex life. Indian officials have also required
social networking sites like Orkut to take down posts deemed offensive
to ethnic and religious groups.

Using a freedom of information law, the Center for Internet and
Society, a Bangalore-based research and advocacy group, recently
obtained and published a list of 11 Web sites banned by the Department
of Information Technology. Other government agencies have probably
blocked more sites, the group said.

The new Internet rules go further than existing Indian laws and
restrictions, said Sunil Abraham, the executive director for the
Center for Internet and Society. The rules require Internet
„intermediaries‰ ˜ an all-encompassing group that includes sites like
YouTube and Facebook and companies that host Web sites or provide
Internet connections ˜ to respond to any demand to take down offensive
content within 36 hours. The rules do not provide a way for content
producers to defend their work or appeal a decision to take content
down.

„These rules overly favor those who want to clamp down on freedom of
expression,‰ Mr. Abraham said. „Whenever there are limits of freedom
of expression, in order for those limits to be considered
constitutionally valid, those limits have to be clear and not be very
vague. Many of these rules that seek to place limits are very, very
vague.‰

An official for the People‚s Union for Civil Liberties, an advocacy
group based in New Delhi, said on Wednesday that it was considering a
legal challenge to the constitutionality of the new rules.

„What are we, Saudi Arabia?‰ said Pushkar Raj, the group‚s general
secretary. „We don‚t expect this from India. This is something very
serious.‰

An official at the Department of Information Technology, Gulshan Rai,
did not return calls and messages.

The rules are based on a 2008 information technology law that India‚s
Parliament passed shortly after a three-day siege on Mumbai by
Pakistan-based terrorists that killed more than 163 people. That law,
among other things, granted authorities more expansive powers to
monitor electronic communications for reasons of national security. It
also granted privacy protections to consumers.

While advocates for free speech and civil liberties have complained
that the 2008 law goes too far in violating the rights of Indians,
Internet firms have expressed support for it. The law removed
liability from Internet intermediaries as long as they were not active
participants in creating content that was later deemed to be
offensive.

Subho Ray, the president of the Internet and Mobile Association of
India, which represents companies like Google and eBay, said the
liability waiver was a big improvement over a previous law that had
been used to hold intermediaries liable for hosting content created by
others. In 2004, for instance, the police arrested eBay‚s top India
executive because a user of the company‚s Indian auction site had
offered to sell a video clip of a teenage couple having sex.

„The new I.T. Act (2008) is, in fact, a large improvement on the old
one,‰ Mr. Ray said in an e-mail response to questions.

Mr. Ray said his association had not taken a stand on the new
regulations. An India-based spokeswoman for Google declined to comment
on the new rules, saying the company needed more time to respond.

Along with the new content regulations, the government also issued
rules governing data security, Internet cafes and the electronic
provision of government services.

Film festival for works that have received support from foundations, etc - deadline June 6!

2011-04-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately there is a $60 application fee, but it's a unique festival so may be worth it for some... See the actual post here.

The Council on Foundations and Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM) are seeking submissions of films and videos for the Council on Foundations' 45th Annual Film & Video Festival, to be held April 29-May 1, 2012, in Los Angeles.

THE FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL

The festival showcases films, videos and television programs that have received support from foundations, corporate giving programs and donor networks with the aim of encouraging grantmakers to use media to advance their philanthropic goals. The festival promotes foundation support of creative, high-quality productions that expand the boundaries of the use of media for the social good.

Submissions may target local, state, regional, national and international audiences. The committee will give special consideration to projects that demonstrate innovative strategies for distribution, outreach, public education and civic engagement such as multi-platform distribution through websites, social networking or mobile applications; distribution through schools, libraries or the meetings and conferences of nonprofit organizations; or other comprehensive distribution/engagement plans.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible, projects must have received full or partial funding for production, distribution and/or outreach from a private, community, operating or corporate foundation; a corporate giving program; or a donor network. The grantmaker does not have to be a member of the Council or GFEM. The Council will not consider submissions that have been funded solely by public agencies or federal or state grants. The films and videos must have been completed within the two years prior to June 6, 2011. Works may be of any length - from feature length to a brief public service announcement. They can be dramatic narrative or documentary. No works in progress will be considered. All submission forms, DVDs, and entry fees must be received by June 6.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

Organizations and filmmakers may submit as many film and video projects as they wish. For each submission, the Council must receive the following by June 6:

The submission form, completed online at www.fundfilm.org/call_for_entries. Print a copy of your form before you submit it electronically.
Five printed copies of the submission form, along with five DVD copies of your film.
A check in the amount of $60 payable to the Council on Foundations for each submission. This fee helps cover a portion of the program's administrative expenses.

DVD submission instructions:

Do not include more than one project on a single DVD.
Films in languages other than English must have subtitles or be dubbed. DVDs must be formatted in Region 0 or 1.
If submitting a film from a multi-part series, submit only one episode, up to 90 minutes, that stands on its own.

Projects may be submitted by filmmakers, project directors, sponsors or funding sources. If possible, the person or organization submitting the work should provide published reviews of the work, articles about the project or funders, and promotional and outreach materials, such as stills, brochures, press releases, etc.

The Council on Foundations can only be responsible for the safety of your work while it's in our possession - from the time it arrives at the Council's offices to the time it is returned to you. If damage or loss occurs during this time frame, the Council will compensate you for the DVD(s) lost or damaged. Please do not submit original materials. DVDs and submitted materials will not be returned. Please direct all questions to Evelyn Gibson at gibse@cof.org.

SELECTION PROCESS AND CRITERIA

Projects will be reviewed by a program curator and a diverse screening committee consisting of grantmakers, filmmakers and media users. Projects will be partially judged on the quality of the storytelling and the film's production values. Foundations are interested in films that can be used to bring attention to important issues, introduce audiences to new or unfamiliar cultures, or provide new information including ideas that counter-balance conventional thinking. In addition to a film's content, therefore, 50 percent of the judging will be based on the quality of a project's outreach or audience engagement plan.

Approximately 15 films are selected to be in the festival. Of those, two films will receive the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media from Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media. Named in honor of a man who broke traditional molds of documentary filmmaking and put excellence and innovation at the forefront of his work, the Henry Hampton Award honors the very best in foundation-funded media.

If your film or video is selected for the festival, it will be promoted to funders and screened during the Council on Foundations' Annual Conference, the Fall Conference for Community Foundations and the Family Philanthropy Conference. By submitting an entry, you certify that you have copyrights to the film that authorize you to permit the Council to screen the film at its events. The Council will only show films on a non-commercial basis. Only the winners of the Henry Hampton Award, however, will be invited to attend the Annual Conference. A short clip of the festival selections also will be shown on the Council's Film & Video Festival website at www.fundfilm.org.

ABOUT THE COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS

Formed in 1949, the Council on Foundations is a nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations. Members of the Council include approximately 1,800 independent, operating, community, public and company-sponsored foundations, and corporate giving programs in the United States and abroad. The Council's mission is to provide the opportunity, leadership and tools needed by philanthropic organizations to expand, enhance and sustain their ability to advance the common good. Visit the Council's website at www.cof.org.

ABOUT GRANTMAKERS IN FILM + ELECTRONIC MEDIA

GFEM is an association of grantmakers committed to advancing the field of media arts and public interest media funding. It serves as a resource for grantmakers who fund media content, infrastructure and policy, as well as for those who employ media to further their program goals. GFEM members reflect a wide range of interests and approaches, but share a common interest in the key role media play in building public will and shaping civil society. GFEM is an affinity group of the Council on Foundations. For more information please visit www.gfem.org.

2011 FESTIVAL FILMS:

Winners of the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media:

Budrus · Crime After Crime

Other festival films:

Dirty Business: "Clean Coal" and the Battle for Our Energy Future · Home Across Lands · Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think · Living Downstream · Lost Angels · Off and Running · Pressure Cooker · Rachel Is · War Don Don · William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

Minor Foundation competition for communicating climate change through graphics

2011-04-29T03:29:00.000-07:00

The Minor Foundation for Major Challenges, a Norwegian nonprofit organizations has launched a competition called “Communicating the Future – Explaining Climate Change through Graphics.” The competition aims to select an extraordinarily good way of communicating the issue of man-made climate change.

The competition aims to inspire participants that have the ability to communicate a complex message in a way that might surprise or even awaken people.

If you can illustrate man-made climate change, its causes or consequences in a way that brings the response

- Aha!

- So this is what it is all about!

- Something has to be done about it!

- We have to reduce our emissions of CO2!

A jury will select three concept notes out of the submissions received by the Foundation. These concept notes will each receive a sum of 100,000 Norwegian kroner. The winner of the competition will receive a sum of 500.000 Norwegian kroner that is meant to finance the completion and implementation of the idea.

Proposals have to be submitted online. The deadline to make the submissions is 1 May 2011.

Source Link: http://www.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/minor-foundation-major-challenges-announces-competition-communicating-future-explaining-climate-change-graphics#ixzz1KuIzSgPC
Copyright©FUNDSFORNGOS.ORG. Do not remove this link.
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

An interesting article about why Indians are still starving by the wonderful Vandana Shiva

2011-04-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hunger, by design
By Vandana Shiva
Mar 03 2011

Why is every fourth Indian hungry? Why is every third woman in India
anaemic and malnourished? Why is every second child underweight and
stunted? Why has the hunger and malnutrition crisis deepened even as
India has nine per cent growth? Why is "Shining India" a "Starving
India"?

In my view, hunger is a structural part of the design of the
industrialised, globalised food system. Hunger is an intrinsic part of
the design of capital-intensive, chemical-intensive monocultures of
industrial agriculture, also called the "Green Revolution".

India's Green Revolution from 1940s to 1970s was neither green, nor
revolutionary. It merely created a market for corporations by
transforming war chemicals into agrichemicals and breeding crops to
respond to high chemical inputs. It increased production of a few
commodities - rice and wheat - at the cost of the production of
pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and millets. It focused on one
region, Punjab, and pushed the agriculture of other regions into
neglect.

This is a design for scarcity.
Hunger is also designed into a non-sustainable production system in
which costs of inputs are higher than the price of outputs. The farmer
gets trapped into a negative economy with debt, and suicide is an
inevitable consequence. The 2,00,000 farmer suicides since 1997 are
part of the genocidal design of corporate-driven high-cost
agriculture.

There is now talk of a second Green Revolution in India. This one is
based on genetic engineering, which is being introduced into
agriculture largely to allow corporations to claim intellectual
property rights and patents on seeds. The floodgate of patenting seeds
was opened through the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) agreement of World Trade Organisation (WTO).

When seed is transformed from a source of life into "intellectual
property" which becomes a source of super profits through royalty
collections, both biodiversity and small farmers disappear. We have
seen this happen with Bt. Cotton.

The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) of the WTO was designed to allow
Cargill and other agribusiness corporations access to world markets.
This was done by forcing countries to remove import restrictions and
using $400 billion to subsidise and dump artificial cheap food
commodities on the Third World. The case of dumping of soya and
destruction of India's domestic edible oil production and distribution
is an example of how the global reach of multinational corporations
creates hunger, driving down farm prices and destroying local
livelihoods.

Indian farmers are losing $25 billion every year to falling prices.
While farm prices fall, food prices continue to rise, creating a
double burden of hunger for rural communities. This is why half of the
hungry people in India and the world are farmers.

Globalised forced trade in food, falsely called free trade, has
aggravated the hunger crisis by undermining food sovereignty and food
democracy. With the deadlock in the Doha round of WTO, forced trade is
being driven by bilateral agreements such as the US-India Knowledge
Initiative in Agriculture on the board of which sit corporations like
Monsanto, Cargill/ADM and Walmart.

Sadly, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is trying to use the
food crisis that his trade liberalisation policies have been creating
to hand over India's seed supply to Monsanto, food supply to Cargill
and other corporations and retail to Walmart, in line with the
US-India AoA signed with President Bush in 2005. Speaking at a
conference on food crisis and food inflation on February 4, 2011, Dr
Singh said, "India needs to shore up farm supply claims by bringing in
organised retail players" (read Walmart). Research shows that
globalised, industrialised retail is destroying farmers' livelihoods
and leading to wastage of 50 per cent food. This too is hunger by
design.

Both the US and Indian governments are supporting US agri-business
corporations to expand markets and profits. Farmers' rights and
people's right to food are extinguished as corporate rights to
limitless profits design "the market". Instead of the right to food
being sacred, "the market" becomes sacred.

When the Supreme Court of India told the government to distribute the
food grain that was rotting in godowns, Dr Singh said that giving food
away free will kill the farmer's incentive to produce and adversely
affect prices and wages. When the National Advisory Committee (NAC),
headed by Sonia Gandhi, drafted a Food Security Act, the Prime
Minister-appointed Rangarajan Committee said that stepped-up
procurements could "distort" open market food prices. In other words,
corporate rights to profit through creation of hunger must be
protected even as people die.

Planning Commission vice-chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia invited Gulf
countries to farm in India and export food to their countries during a
visit to Muscat. A Bahrain firm, Nader and Ebrahim Group, recently
tied up with Pune-based Sanghar to grow bananas on 400 acres. Indian
laws do not allow foreigners to buy land. So the Planning Commission
chief is encouraging foreign corporations to partner with Indian
companies for contract farming.

Diverting land from food for local communities to cash crops for the
rich in US, Europe and the Gulf countries is not a solution for
hunger; this will aggravate the food crisis. This is not investment in
agriculture, it is land grab and food grab. To get rid of hunger we
need a paradigm shift in the design of our food systems.

We need to shift from monocultures to diversity, from chemical
intensive to ecological, biodiversity-intensive, from
capital-intensive to low-cost farming systems. We need to shift from
centralised, globalised food supply controlled by a handful of
corporations to decentralised, localised food systems that are
resilient in the context of climate vulnerability and price
volatility. Such system could feed India's population.

Industrial monocultures produce less food and nutrition per acre than
biodiverse ecological farms. Biodiversity organic farming, if adopted
nationally, could provide enough calories for 2.4 billion, enough
protein for 2.5 billion, enough carotene for 1.5 billion, and enough
folic acid for 1.7 billion pregnant women. We must end hunger by
building food democracy, by reclaiming our seed sovereignty, food
sovereignty and land sovereignty.

* Dr Vandana Shiva is the executive director of the Navdanya Trust

Source URL:
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comment/hunger-design-175

Great new movies by and about women from US-based Women's ENews

2011-04-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

This article was written in March but it's still worth sharing the movie recommendations since these films are made by and about women... Click here.

Wouldn't it be good if we could watch these in India? Promote independent cinema by hosting screenings!

The need for a 5th World Conference on Women (hasn't been one since Beijing in 1995!)

2011-04-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

WRITTEN STATEMENT FOR THE ECOSOC HIGH LEVEL SEGMENT UN GENEVA 4-7 July 2011
Joint written Statement submitted by the Women’s World Summit Foundation - WWSF (in special UN ECOSOC consultative status) and endorsed by NGOs in Ecosoc consultative status

Title: The need for a 5th World Conference on Women
The last United Nations World Conference on Women took place in Beijing almost 16 years ago in September 1995. The Platform for Action adopted on this occasion needs a renewed push for implementation as the realization of gender equality, sustainable development and peace for the women in the world is still lacking.
Recommendation
The undersigned organizations recommend to the 54 ECOSOC Member Governments to decide on the convening of a UN 5th World Conference on Women, preferably in 2015. Such a UN World Conference would be the first in the 21st century and would not renegotiate the Beijing decisions but deal exclusively with the new and emerging issues in the world, i.e. the food, water, financial and fuel crisis and nuclear challenges, as well as the promising information technologies and social networks, available today, that can bring issues and solutions into global awareness, empowerment and unprecedented participation around the world.
UN Women headed by Under Secretary-General Michelle Bachelet and a UN NGO 5WCW will generate awareness of both this new super agency and the conference, raise consciousness, media-coverage and funds for both.
The proceedings of delegates
can be transmitted via live-streaming, webcasts, smartphones and other technologies that will emerge by 2015, to reach every woman, man and youth throughout the world, catalyzing a societal transformation, confronting the challenges and creating a new future.
Another positive result will be the empowerment of the next generation of global and local women leaders who will get to know one another during the 5th WCW, share experiences, programs for the future, and stay connected. With the Millennium Development Goals coming up for review in 2015, which touch essential aspects of women’s well-being and need women’s empowerment for their full realization, the mobilization of women has been the most effective and often the only reason for gains made so far. Great solidarity and international cooperation is also needed to achieve the shared objectives of the International Conference
on Population and Development (ICPD) by 2015. The need to have women involved at every level of decision-making has become a prerequisite for the achievement of the UN objectives.
A 5WCW will also raise concern about the world’s children and youth and for the need to create of a world fit for children and youth, especially in creating a culture of prevention of abuse and violence.
Women want a UN 5WCW
Once the decision to have this conference is made, the news will spread from women to women via geometric progression and the world will be better for it. Indicators: a grassroots petition has over 11’000 signatures standing behind a 5th WCW. http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-a-un-5th-world-conference-on- women.html
Thank you for your attention.
Elly Pradervand, WWSF Founder/CEO
Women’s World Summit Foundation
www.woman.ch - wwsf@wwsf.ch

Earth Day - Earth Charter - Gender

2011-04-24T23:19:00.003-07:00

Via Womensescr google group:

http://earthday2011.org/

EARTH DAY - April 22, 2011
Celebrate Earth Day EVERY DAY.
________________________________________________________

http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/pages/Read-the-Charter.html
The Earth Charter

11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
a. Secure the human rights of women and girls and end all violence against them.
b. Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries.
c. Strengthen families and ensure the safety and loving nurture of all family members.

________________________________________________________________________
The Earth Charter

PREAMBLE

We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.

Earth, Our Home
Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life's evolution. The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources is a common concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust.

The Global Situation
The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.

The Challenges Ahead
The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.

Universal Responsibility
To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.
We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. Therefore, together in hope we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.

PRINCIPLES

I. RESPECT AND CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY OF LIFE

1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
a. Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
b. Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual, artistic, ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.

2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
a. Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.
b. Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.

3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
a. Ensure that communities at all levels guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms and provide everyone an opportunity to realize his or her full potential.
b. Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.

4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
a. Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.
b. Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.

In order to fulfill these four broad commitments, it is necessary to:

II. ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY

5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
a. Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.
b. Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.
c. Promote the recovery of endangered species and ecosystems.
d. Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.
e. Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.
f. Manage the extraction and use of non-renewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage.

6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
a. Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.
b. Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.
c. Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.
d. Prevent pollution of any part of the environment and allow no build-up of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances.
e. Avoid military activities damaging to the environment.

7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.
a. Reduce, reuse, and recycle the materials used in production and consumption systems, and ensure that residual waste can be assimilated by ecological systems.
b. Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy, and rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
c. Promote the development, adoption, and equitable transfer of environmentally sound technologies.
d. Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.
e. Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.
f. Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.
a. Support international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.
b. Recognize and preserve the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being.
c. Ensure that information of vital importance to human health and environmental protection, including genetic information, remains available in the public domain.

III. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE

9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.
a. Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.
b. Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.
c. Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and enable them to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.

10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
a. Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.
b. Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.
c. Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.
d. Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.

11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
a. Secure the human rights of women and girls and end all violence against them.
b. Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries.
c. Strengthen families and ensure the safety and loving nurture of all family members.

12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
a. Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.
b. Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands and resources and to their related practice of sustainable livelihoods.
c. Honor and support the young people of our communities, enabling them to fulfill their essential role in creating sustainable societies.
d. Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.

IV. DEMOCRACY, NONVIOLENCE, AND PEACE

13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to justice.
a. Uphold the right of everyone to receive clear and timely information on environmental matters and all development plans and activities which are likely to affect them or in which they have an interest.
b. Support local, regional and global civil society, and promote the meaningful participation of all interested individuals and organizations in decision making.
c. Protect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and dissent.
d. Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and independent judicial procedures, including remedies and redress for environmental harm and the threat of such harm.
e. Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions.
f. Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

14. Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
a. Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.
b. Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.
c. Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.
d. Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.

15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
a. Prevent cruelty to animals kept in human societies and protect them from suffering.
b. Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.
c. Avoid or eliminate to the full extent possible the taking or destruction of non-targeted species.

16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace.
a. Encourage and support mutual understanding, solidarity, and cooperation among all peoples and within and among nations.
b. Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.
c. Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration.
d. Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
e. Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.
f. Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.

THE WAY FORWARD

As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of these Earth Charter principles. To fulfill this promise, we must commit ourselves to adopt and promote the values and objectives of the Charter.

This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Our cultural diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures will find their own distinctive ways to realize the vision. We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and wisdom.

Life often involves tensions between important values. This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals. Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play. The arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments are all called to offer creative leadership. The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.

In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.

Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.

Link: http://www.wunrn.com/news/2011/04_11/04_18/041811_earth.htm

We need to recognise housework as contributing to our economy as women's time is spent at home instead of earning outside...

2011-04-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Has the paradigm for women labour changed?
Ranchi: Across millions of households in India, straddling the rural and urban, there seems to be a tacit understanding that women of the house including girls should put in long hours of work to ensure the functioning of the house and the comfort of all members.

This assumption invariably is followed by another one that the work done by women across millions of households across the country does not amount to a contribution to the family or society or the economy. In a nutshell, the hours of cleaning, cooking, rearing children, looking after the sick and elderly, fetching water, cattle rearing and a multitude of tasks especially in agricultural based homes is simply unrecognised.

The term for it is 'service', in the larger ambit of 'family and social duty' and is perceived to be different from the contribution of men, which is 'labour'.

This view pervades across society. In a personal or subjective sphere, this would amount to an undervaluing of women, leading to discrimination. In a larger arena or a more objective sense, this engenders an erroneous evaluation of the women''s contribution to society, and a miscalculation of her worth to the economy.

If one were to calculate or put a figure on it, the picture could change drastically. The wheels of social progress, the growth of the economy is today dependent on the labour of women. This needs to be quantified so that it is recognised and due value given to it. It should also lead to changing social perceptions, which view women''s role in society as 'unproductive'.

Apart from domestic or household work, more women are likely to be involved in 'undocumented' or 'disguised' work like farm labourers, domestic or artisan. According to a 1991 World Bank Report this could be 90 per cent of working women.

Women are also less likely to be counted into the official workforce as many of these overlap with the ''household'' work category. In fact it is crucial that such errors are dispensed with and the leaders in society and indeed the political leadership in any region or country factor this in while planning for economic growth and social development.

From the four walls of domesticity, this view pervades the larger labour market. Invariably women get lower wages than men. It is true that in modern economies, the opportunities for women have opened up and they ''man'' or perhaps to use a more appropriate term, they ''woman'' diverse fields from agriculture, construction, healthcare, banks, schools, marketing, science, research, infact practically every field or endeavour of human activity.

Yet they remain marginalized; and are a category of citizens who provide equal work on lower wages.

Given the entrenched systems of thought and practice, it has been a long struggle by women''s groups and social activists of questioning fundamental attitudes of discrimination towards women, one that reflects in economic disparities and of course in social mores.

Women in India are gradually becoming aware of their rights, but the pace is painfully slow. That the odds are heavily stacked against them is a given; the challenge is how to go around it.

Movements that demand 'Equal Wages for Equal Work' is one. Clarity and vision needed to give women their due place in the social, economic and political spheres of the country.

Understandably this is a huge challenge. It calls for not only changing stereotypes, but also evolving policies, allocating funds and ensuring implementation. One of the crucial areas, which are crying out for this kind of attention, is the issue of women labourers working in the unorganised sector.

According to 1991 census, alarming 95 per cent women belong to this category. Do they get equal wages for their labour as men? What about facilities which women workforce requires and infact is an agenda for many social and political movements. Maternity benefits, crèche or day-care facilities for children, toilets form this agenda which governments are then pressured to adopt. Again, the extent to which women are taken care of shows the maturity of not only the women''s movements but the stage of evolution of any society across the world.

We are sadly not very high on this scale. A report prepared by the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Labour under Sudhakar Reddy in 2006 outlines the unorganized labourer social security. Women who do not get salary, wages or benefits from the market are excluded from the term 'labourers'. Nor does it provide for labour rights, or social security rights, for women.

It then seems preposterous to say that women, the large unorganized, unrecognized workforce is at the crossroads.

Terming the 'labour' of women as 'service' or 'devotion' or 'shramdaan' does not hide the calumny; it brings it out in even sharper ways. The Constitution of India seeks to promote and sustain democratic values, social justice and equity.

The Government of India is meant to take this as the foundational guideline and evolve policies to further a prosperous, just and equitable society. So why are women sidelined in countless ways as she goes about her business of living, earning, nurturing, and contributing to society?

Why this endemic discrimination, both at the work place and at home, her supposedly safe haven? Infact, the Charkha Development Communications, feels the safe haven needs to extend beyond the home to the larger society and nation. Only then can our society and this nation really evolve.

http://www.sify.com/news/has-the-paradigm-for-women-labour-changed-news-national-ldcr4gbidie.html

Sify news

March 2, 2011

Waver Kalki Subramaniam interviewed on Radio Netherlands!

2011-04-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Kalki, wish you more and more success in advocating for transgender rights!

Listen to Kalki's story here.

A great example of humourous writing about a political issue

2011-04-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hats off to Bachi Karkaria's witty editorial 'Kaun Banega Corruptpati?'

Salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill - let's demand that this be implemented!

2011-04-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal, this Bill has been refined on the basis of feedback received from public on website and after series of public consultations. It has also been vetted by and is supported by Shanti Bhushan, J M Lyngdoh, Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare etc. It was sent to the PM and all CMs on 1st December. However, there is no response.

An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month’s time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

But won’t the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won’t be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

JAN LOKPAL BILL will act as deterrent and instill fear against corruption

(This movement is neither affiliated nor aligned to any political party)

India Against Corruption: A-119, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, UP | 09718500606

www.indiaagainstcorruption.org | indiaagainstcorruption.2010@gmail.com | facebook.com/indiacor

Another picture from Wave's advisory board meeting

2011-04-22T23:37:00.001-07:00

From left: Karon Shaiva, Nina Sabnani and trustee Sapna Shahani discuss Wave's future at an advisory board meeting recently.

Wave first advisory board meeting in Bombay recently

2011-04-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

From left: Advisory board members Himanshu Vyas, Nina Sabnani, Karon Shaiva and trustee Angana Jhaveri.

What was discussed: Financial matters, upgrading the website, film festivals, membership, cameras, Wave's blogathon event for International Women's Day, continued impact, outreach, interns and adding board members. If anyone would like to volunteer with Wave, do let us know.

WAGGGS girl guides from around the world!

2011-04-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Sapna Shahani speaks at World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in Pune

2011-04-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

Content of her speech at the closing ceremony of a multi-centred girl guides conference:
The reason I think blogging is important is because it's a way to express something which will not be censored and can influence someone's point of view in your community, in your country or somewhere else in the world. It's a way of getting your voice heard and adding your voice to those of others and collectively making a CHANGE. What's more is that as women, our voices are hardly heard in the mainstream media or on the internet. In fact, only 24% of the people interviewed, heard, seen or read about in mainstream broadcast and print news are female. So it's important to add our perspectives online as women who are privileged in a way to be educated, have access to technology and have participated in international trainings like these.

now I'm going to tell you a bit more of my story and why I set up an organisation related to videoblogging. My name Sapna means dream in Hindi and I'm happy to say that I set up my dream project two years ago called WAVE - Women Aloud Videoblogging for Empowerment - which is the only country-wide network for young women videobloggers in the world. We did this because we wanted to hear what young women thought about education, health, democracy, the environment, and we wanted to encourage young women to participate more in solving local problems. We selected one young woman from each of India's 28 states, trained them in video and gave them cameras so they could participate in a 9-month long mentorship program.

Altogether, we helped this group of 30 girls make 175 videos so far which you can see on our website - WaveIndia.org. We have had over 14,000 different people visit our website and our videos have been seen over 70,000 times on YouTube and other video sites. We have won national and international awards like the Stockholm Challenge this year which is for innovation in the field of information and communication technology or ICT. Some of the videos have won international film festival awards and earned money for the girls who made the videos. For example, just yesterday, I heard that our youngest participant who is 19 years old from a state called Rajasthan made a video about a female rickshaw driver, won an award at the New York based Women's Voices Now film festival and won $3000! Besides the girls benefiting from this program, many people in India and abroad have become aware of issues on the ground in remote areas of India, successful models of NGOs, inspiring women etc.

So earlier I asked how many of you had heard about community media and not many put your hands up so I'll explain what it is. The idea is that ordinary citizens should have access to public airwaves also so that it's not just controlled by few elite types or by the government. So at Berkeley Community Media where I worked, residents of the city could get a membership for not too much money, take some workshops, borrow a video camera from us, shoot a TV show, and we would air it on one of our two channels without censoring it. So people could make a stand-up comedy show or a cooking show, it was up to them! We also recorded and aired all the government meetings so that citizens knew what rules were being made and could have a say in democratic processes! In India, community radio had been introduced and many NGOs and colleges have radio stations. But we don't have community video or TV yet.

So to sum up, I hope my example shows you that one person can start something that makes a difference. I hope you will all find what you are passionate about, and then plan a way to implement it because it will make you very happy and be a great contribution to the world. I hope you will also contribute your ideas on the internet - blog, edit wiki pages, add your comments on videos or news stories, whatever way you prefer to have a voice! There are a lot of problems in the world and each of us can make small or big changes. It just depends on us.

Know of a mobile phone innovation for social change? Apply for this award before April 30

2011-04-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

RECOGNIZING INNOVATIONS IN TELECOM AND MOBILE CONTENT & APPLICATIONS FOR MASSES
Greetings from the mBillionth Award South Asia Secretariat here at New Delhi, India! The mBillionthAward South Asia 2011 (http://mbillionth.in/) recognizes and felicitates Mobile & Telecom technology based initiatives & innovations.
The mBillionth Award is endorsed by Govt. of India's Ministry of Communication & IT and many prominent associations and organizations in South Asia like IAMAI, MINT, NIXI, ICTA in Sri Lanka (host for the Jury), DNet from Bangladesh, Bytesforall and so on. We are seeking nominations from 8 South Asian countries for their innovations in making mobile reach the masses with meaningful content and services.
We are keen to hear from you if you have one or more telecom or mobile-based products, solutions and implementations that are beneficial to the masses.
Inviting you to participate in this mission to celebrate innovations and help spread the word about this initiative and join us at http://www.facebook.com/mbillionth and http://twitter.com/mbillionth.
The categories for nomination are: m-Business & Commerce/Banking, m-Culture & Heritage, m-Governance, m-Education & Learning, m-Entertainment, m-Health, m- Environment, m-Inclusion, m-Infrastructure, m-News & Journalism and m-Travel & Tourism. The last day for nomination is April 30, 2011.
Apply online at http://mBillionth.in OR download and email us filled-up form to mbillionth@defindia.net.

IndiaRedefined.org looking for interns

2011-04-19T07:28:00.001-07:00

JOIN INDIA Redefined C.U.R.E INDIA Campaign - Citizen United for Redefining & Empowering.

INDIA Redefined is a Non Political Citizen Empowerment Movement www.indiaredefined.org

All over world the Govt. sector, corporate sector, NGO sector are working but INDIA Redefined is bringing the fourth sector i.e. Common people working for country on one platform . That too in masses!.

INDIA Redefined is asking for ISR Individual Social Responsibility

Vision
Create an India of tomorrow which is
· Awakened, informed and educated
· Clean, green and sustainable
· Healthy, prosperous and happy

Mission
Empower citizens of India by bringing about a behavioral change in the masses towards discharging their Responsibilities and exercising their Rights, which are:
· Constitutional
· Social
· Societal

India Redefined Internship is for two months. If anyone is interested in internship then please send resume on ranjanakanti@indiaredefined-a4c.org
after joining on www.indiaredefined.org
All Interns are required to wear INDIA Redefined Identity Card during any activity being carried out. Identity card and Joining form can be downloaded from www.indiaredefined.org by clicking on "Download" link.
For further information about India Redefined visit – www.indiaredefined.org.

"India Redefined" is seeking motivated and committed individuals, to work on voluntary basis and to form Working Committee of India Redefined movement, Form Working Members Committee in your area,colleges with people who have expertise, passion, interest and skill in any one of the following areas

1) Information Technology
2) Writing and Communication
3) Events organizing
4) Project conceptualizing and project writing (for participatory projects)
5) Speakers
6) Unity and Peace Groups

Hope you must have read the one year Journey of INDIA Redefined, which has inspired so many citizens.

People around the Globe have supported INDIA Redefined, for Awakened INDIA,Educated INDIA, Clean INDIA,Green INDIA,Healthy INDIA which results to Prosperous INDIA,Peaceful INDIA,United INDIA &ultimately leads to Happy India.Also helped in reaching media,corporates,people for more resources to make it successful.

Thousands of Indians are everyday putting their ISR – Individual Social Responsibility-on this platform of INDIA Redefined,a platform for ordinary citizens by ordinary citizens,which has no membership fees. But needs a donation – of your TIME.

We have left governance to people who are not really our representative, policy to people who do not feel they are accountable to us, and we have left all the other problems like slums, literacy, environment etc to NGOs and social workers who struggle without Citizen's support.INDIA Redefined,a non political citizen’s empowerment movement creates responsible,empowered citizens.

INDIA Redefined has created many Responsible and Empowered Citizens. And still needs many more in leadership roles for creating a Happy India. INDIA Redefined is a vision created by ordinary people like you and me who understood this simple concept of making a difference in the lives of others and our Indian society by bringing in a fourth sector – to harness the power of the people. .

The idea is to mobilize these masses and bring them together,By creating an opportunity for them, to achieve small successes in doing something for the society… Something within his resources and available time– a simple successful activity, that would not only be beneficial at a larger scale but also provide the motivation to strive for bigger changes. Developing this behavioral change across Indians of all strata, INDIA Redefined plans to tackle problems, leveraging the power of individual. What makes this movement unique or even different? Well, there are many wonderful organizations, NGO, Charities which do a lot of wonderful work - But it never seems to be enough. Most of them work within a context or for a specific cause that the overall positive effect ….. is lost in the gaps. One of the biggest reasons is that we have not tapped efficiently into the potential of the individual. INDIA Redefined is a platform for people from different, different social class, having different outlooks and opinions to come together and work towards redefining India. That is why INDIA Redefined’s vision is created by an amalgamation of different visions that ultimately leads to a HAPPY INDIA. It is important to understand that we are not affiliated with a single political party or motive. But do not hesitate to work with any and every political party, business houses or NGO for the right cause. By bringing drops of people together on a common platform INDIA Redefined creates an ocean – Ocean strong enough to make government, politicians, public servants not only accountable but also make each Indian an Awakened Citizen The idea has not only got support of people but also was adjudged “The Best Humanitarian Initiative” in December 2009. In this long journey of redefining India, we have taken only a few baby steps. But then again, a journey of thousand miles begins with a single step…This idea…of a movement that is trying to tackle most, if not all, social issues asks you for only one thing – DONATION OF TIME.

Please talk to me or write me once you make some people join this initiative in your area or colleges with whom you can plan some events under INDIA Redefined banner in your area/college and write the details of it.

INDIA Redefined Event details should be in a format like

Name of the Responsible INDIA Redefined member:

Contact details:

Objective of the Event:

No of days Weeks the Event will be conducted:

The Audience or participants for whom the event is being organised
... number of beneficiaries

The application form for the participants or audience (can even be
just a list of names, email ids, phone nos)

Remarks or feed back note book for the participants or audience ....
at least ten percent participants feed back to be taken.

INDIA Redefined needs help in generating resources and funds for our future projects, in which many NRIs will also participate like " March for Happy India", " Develop your own village", " Clean- Green Campaigns", "I Care for India", , "I Donate- 6 months of my life"-all these causes (we need your suggestions for these and even names of these projects also) by selling INDIA Redefined T Shirts, Mugs, Bands, Caps or any other way you can think. Some creative people are already designing these T shirts . Please help in contacting people from Rotary, Lions, Lionness, schools, colleges, corporates, NGO, or any other organization who can help INDIA Redefined in selling these Tshirts or other things.

March for Happy India has got great response from so many people from different backgrounds like College Professors,Principals, Defence people, Students, RTI people, Corporates, NGOs, Police people, Politicians, Judges, Bureaucrats, NRIs, Lawyers, Media. Lets see how many of them actually support. But still now many of us can actually see a faint ray of hope at the end of long dark tunnel for making India a Happy Country.

Ranjana Kanti's Profile

Ranjana Kanti is the co-founder, visionary and a grassroots worker behind INDIA Redefined which is a non-political Citizen’s Empowerment Movement. Thousands of people have come together on this common platform INDIA Redefined, irrespective of their religion, political affiliations, language, state, caste etc. She is also a co-founder of E-dutainment Unlimited, providing training in animation & graphics. Ranjana earned her bachelor’s in English from Delhi University, by training an Animator and Graphic Designer and is also a post graduate in social enterprise management from Mumbai University. She has been working for the social causes for the last two decades which includes:
Under Ranjana’s leadership, INDIA Redefined www.indiaredefined.org the non political a citizen’s empowerment movement, is actually becoming people’s movement day by day, creating responsible, empowered citizens by bringing about “Behavioral Change” throughout the country and awakening people to take up local causes like environmental, education, health, governance etc. She has identified many people, motivated them and made them committed individuals, to work on voluntary basis with Central Advisory Committee and Working Committee of India Redefined movement, who have expertise, passion and skill in Information Technology, Writing and Communication, Events organizing, Project conceptualizing and project writing (for participatory projects), Speakers, Peace and Unity Group. In different cities she is guiding people to set up such Working Committee for India Redefined movement. She has made Coordinators in different cities and Student coordinators in many colleges.
And motivated many ordinary citizen’s to instill a sense of citizen’s responsibility (ISR- Individual Social Responsibility) and awareness of citizen’s rights. Under her guidance students have participated in India Redefined's Youth campaign for Green, Clean, Peaceful, United India . Thousands of ordinary Indian Citizen's participated in "I Care" Project. Youth, studying in colleges, are helping to implement “EDUCATE INDIA", a dream of Ranjana. By giving a structure to those who 'Desire to do Something', by creating an opportunity for Indians to achieve small successes in doing something for the society… something within their own resources and available time – a simple successful activity, that would not only be beneficial at a larger scale but also provide the motivation to strive for bigger changes – Ranjana is motivating ordinary citizens to be the CHANGE they wish INDIA to become. “Clean Home Competition for Slums”, Flood Relief works, Tree plantation Projects, Free Eye Check-up camp, awareness about the pollution level in RIVER, campaigns to sensitize the local people about their heritage and culture.
Providing free training in graphics & animation to economically weak youths . On an average, every quarter 5-10 such youths were trained for free. Free seminars, lectures & workshops to increase awareness of Multimedia as a career at various organizations e.g. YMCA, Schools & Colleges. Assistance in placement of these students after successful training completion, to make them economically independent.

Social Work for Blinds, Making audio cassettes from books which are not available in Braille. Motivating others to do the same. Selection of relevant articles, news items for Braille Press. Counseling and problem solving for visually handicapped persons. Coordinating with the Principal & Staff on behalf of visually handicapped children for admissions in normal schools and overseeing a smooth subsequent transition & integration with other normal children. Teaching and reading to visually handicapped students due to lack of books in Braille. Arranging writers for blinds for their exams.
Providing non formal education to street children and the children of migratory construction workers. Working all alone initially developed a rapport with a group of 85 such children and their parents. Conducted basic education through games, books & activities like story telling, craft etc. in open public spaces like Stations, grounds, public garden etc. Arranged for a proper classroom from a school for social causes and involved organizations to take over the responsibility of providing teachers for structured education process. Assisted in developing syllabus and activities for these children till such time that the whole process was running smoothly. Providing guidance and helping to conduct cultural and craft activities in Underprivileged Schools. Organized numerous Folk Dances, Qawwali and Drama for these schools. Guided/ assisted students and teacher in model making, theme decoration. Assisted teachers in concept and execution of tableau of various themes. Presided as judge for various competitions in such schools.
Free tuition for children from illiterate parents who are not able to cope up with the studies at school.
Free computer literacy for senior citizens in E-dutainment Unlimited.
Helped set up training and later business for economically deprived housewives in "Saree Fall Stitching", "Tailoring & Hand Embroidery", "Spice Grinding & Packaging" “sweets making”, “Snacks making, packing and supplying to local shops” etc.
Initiated Vermi-culture projects in housing societies, including training on garbage segregation etc. Conducted seminar, programmes & campaigns on Environmental conservation, relocation of street hawkers, vegetable vendors at a designated place, extra garbage collection dumps & dustbins placed at extra location for improved cleanliness.
Represented economically weak parents in school for fees concessions.
Undertook awareness programs in slums regarding importance of vaccinations, cleanliness & hygiene, education etc.
She has organized street plays to give visibility to common causes as communal harmony and lives of riot affected people, population, anti plastic, corruption.
Awards & Coverage:
'The Best Humanitarian Initiative of the Year' award for INDIA Redefined in Dec. 2009.
Global Youth Leadership Award 2009 (Sole awardee under Social Work category).
Women of Substance award by “Stree Shakti” in 2007.
Have been covered as an Individual by various Newspapers, Magazines and TV channels for her works for economic empowerment of urban slum youth and INDIA Redefined.
Have been invited to various forums like Rotary, Events, Conferences, and institutions for giving a talk on INDIA Redefined. Invited as a Chief Guest in different colleges, schools to give speeches to youth in different cities. Her talks are on these topics:
“Creating India of tomorrow”.
“Inspiring Citizen’s “
“An Idea worth Spreading”
“Philanthropy”
“The Journey of My Life”
“ISR-Individual Social Responsibility”
“Citizen Empowerment”

TEAM INDIA Redefined

www.indiaredefined.org

Filmmakers Residency in Canada

2011-04-19T02:00:00.001-07:00

The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is seeking
applications for its residency program. LIFT is an artist-run production and
educational media arts organization dedicated to celebrating excellence in
the moving image.

LIFT's residency program focuses on the production of film-based works with
equipment and facilities to which the artist would not have access in their
local region. Artists are expected to be at an established point in their
practice (although not necessarily working predominantly with film).

Eligibility:

International (non-Canadian) artists.

Application:

 Proposal/Artist statement (including how they intend to engage the local
community during their stay
and how LIFT can help create access to equipment or facilities not available
at their home location)
 Curriculum vitae
 Proposed budget (including funding sources for materials)
 Visual support material of past work (do not send originals, documentation
will not be returned)

Mail applications to:
International Artist Residencies 2011/12 Application
c/o Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT)
1137 Dupont Street
Toronto, Ontario
M6H 2A3 CANADA

Grant

The maximum cash funding for projects is $3,000 (CAD) for travel,
accommodation and per diems. Equipment and facilities will be provided by
LIFT to a maximum of $3,000 (CAD), LIFT equipment rates can be found at
www.lift.on.ca. The artist is responsible for the costs of all film stock,
chemicals, lab fees and other expendables.

Contact

Ben Donoghue, Executive Director
submissions@lift.on.ca

for more information:

www.lift.on.ca

Open Society Documentary Photography grant due May 11

2011-04-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

Five to eight grants of $5,000 to $30,000 will be awarded to encourage new ways of presenting documentary photography to the public. More info here.

Women Deliver Blogging competition - April 22 deadline

2011-04-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

“Women Bloggers Deliver” will award two female bloggers with a trip to Kenya to learn about clean water and women in development...

More info here:
http://www.womendeliver.org/updates/entry/women-deliver-and-vestergaard-frandsen-announce-competition-for-women-blogg/

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation photography grant $5000 - apply before May 31

2011-04-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

More information at: http://mrofoundation.org/

Japan Charity Short Film Project: Let's Make "EGAO (Smile)" Short Film with your pictures!

2011-04-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Dear All, short film lovers,

Hope this email finds you all well. Thank you so much for your kind words and thought to us in Japan.

We, at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, as the Japanese people are facing unprecedented suffering and hardship while striving to begin the process of healing and recovery from the Tohoku Region earthquake and tsunami, have had repeated soul searching discussions and deliberations on what we could do as a festival to help in these efforts.

As a result, we’ve come to the decision that in order to bring even one smile and even a tiny bit of inspiration to as many people as possible through the power of the stories and images of short films, our mission will be to make a short film with you, our supporters, that will give people the inspiration and strength of heart to take that first step towards recovery and the future. We will, with your help, create a short film using your pictures that reflect your feelings of empathy and desire to support those in need.

Yes, we need your help! We are now gathering so many pictures from all over the world and will make a short film using your picture along with a Japanese pop music provided by a Japanese famous singer (TBA).

The theme of the picture is: Capturing the Moment - Bring a Smile to Someone -
Anything would be acceptable, ANYTHING!!
More details can be found here: http://www.shortshorts.org/CharityShortFilmProject_ENG.pdf
How to participate:

Twitter: Follow us @ssff_en and send us the direct mail (@ssff_en) with picture with hushtag #EGAO

Facebook: Put your picture on the wall on http://www.facebook.com/shortshortsfilmfestivalasia

Email: Send the picture to egao@shortshorts.org

Send us your picture for this charity project! Believe the power of images! Be part of this project and cheer up Japan!

Best wishes from Tokyo,

All Staffs from Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia

Call for papers about sexuality in Muslim context before April 25

2011-04-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

Women Living Under Muslim Laws is inviting papers for its forthcoming Dossier 32: Sexuality in Muslim Contexts. Since the 1980s, across the globe and in many Muslim contexts women have witnessed and contested a rising tide of politico-fundamentalist movements, in which social conservatives and actors linked to the religious right invoke Islam to control the expression of women’s sexuality. This control comes in myriad forms and includes restricting women’s mobility, socialisation and modes of dress, and their autonomous control of reproductive rights, as well as women’s ability to make free choices concerning marriage and sexual partners. http://www.wluml.org/node/7066

Young women are often denied access to comprehensive sexual education and sexual health services. Within marriage, women are also often denied the right to use contraception and protection, even when their husbands may have HIV or other STIs. This control of women’s sexuality is increasingly being legitimated across Muslim nations by legal means; through strict legislation and the creation of moral police forces charged with the right to reinforce, often violently, adherence to proposed moral codes. Across contexts ‘anti-pornography’ laws are being brought to the table, and sex work remains criminalised and stigmatised. Queerness and transsexuality remain incredibly taboo, though women’s movements in Muslim contexts are increasingly taking up the challenge of breaking these silences.

Besides papers that explore such topics, we are also interested in receiving short reports (1,000 words) on various initiatives that women have taken up to promote women’s sexual autonomy or to counteract and resist limitations imposed on women by state or non-state actors.

Possible topics to explore include:

· Violence against women as a mechanism of controlling women’s sexuality (‘honour’ killings, stoning, femicide, female genital mutilation, etc.)

· Sexual politics of human rights

· Transsexuality

· Anti-pornography legislation

· Sex work

· Moral policing

· Sexual orientation

· Dress codes

· Women’s autonomous control of their reproductive rights

· HIV and sex education

· Autonomy in marriage and divorce

· Marital rape

The above list is not exhaustive and we are also open to other relevant suggestions.

Articles should be 4,000-7,000 words including references. We would like to have abstracts submitted by 25 April 2011, with full papers received by 20 June 2011. We will also consider published papers which are not freely available on the internet that may be relevant to activists focusing on issues concerning various aspects of sexuality.

Please email abstracts to the WLUML Publications Officer: pubs@wluml.org

Women Living Under Muslim Laws
International Coordination Office
www.wluml.org
wluml@wluml.org
WLUML Facebook page

_______________________________________________
Wluml-news-en mailing list
Wluml-news-en@wluml-pic.org
http://lists.wluml-pic.org/mailman/listinfo/wluml-news-en

Marevic H. Parcon

Programme Officer - Asia

Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR)

Red Mundial de Mujeres por los Derechos Reproductivos

Réseau Mondial de Femmes pour les Droits Reproductifs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 Dao Street, Project 3
Barangay Quirino 3-A
Quezon City, 1102 Philippines

Tel.+ 63 (2) 913 6708
Telefax: + 63 (2) 7093193

bing@wgnrr.org; office@wgnrr.org; admin@wgnrr.org
www.wgnrr.org

WG-Terrein
Marius van Bouwdijk Bastiaansestraat 56
1054 SP Amsterdam

Tel. +31 (0) 6 27549863

WGNRR is southern-based global network that builds and strengthens movements for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and justice. We are working towards realisation of full sexual and reproductive health and rights of all people, with a particular focus on the most marginalised. WGNRR is not a funding agency nor funding activities and projects. We work in collaboration with other networks and partners.

India has 904 girls for 1000 boys, and surprisingly Goa has a low ratio too!

2011-04-13T00:32:00.000-07:00

Pictures from a march for missing girls (declining sex ratio) in Goa recently

2011-04-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

School boys carry an empty coffin to signify the killing of girl children in Calangute, Goa.

Short Takes Film Festival - deadline May 10

2011-04-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

Fundraiser with Asha Bhosale in Mumbai April 15 - help build girls toilets in schools!

2011-04-12T05:10:00.001-07:00

FICCI FLO Mumbai Chapter invites you to ‘PHIR WAHI SHAAM – Asha ke Naam’ – a fund raiser for the SGS Abhiyaan programme that provides hygienic sanitation facilities in schools for girls. This special musical evening on April 15th, 2011 at SRI Shanmukhananda Auditorium will feature a selection of vintage classics from Bollywood. The Program is conceived and presented by the premier Vintage Musical troupe – Musicolor.

We believe that the cause is as close to your heart as it is for us and it is indeed important for us to garner support for the event and the project from organizations and individuals such as yours to promote and implement these plans going forward.

80G certificates will be provided for Sponsorship and Advertisements. Donor passes and project details have been attached for your kind perusal and action.

Sincerely,
For FICCI FLO Mumbai Chapter

Women bearing the brunt of social prejudice, conflict in Kashmir

2011-04-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

By Zeenat Zeeshan Fazil - This article won an award for Media Reporting on Development at Development Networks.

Yes, many aspects of normal civilian life are compromised in Kashmir, as in any area of conflict. But in Kashmir, there is an overlay of this reality with another one; of women being treated with insensitivity, callousness and being subjected to all manner of discrimination, and in extreme cases-violence.

The rape and killing of two young women in Sopore has drawn the ire of many in Kashmir’s multi-layered society and polity. The last few months have been a period of relative quiet after the spiral of violence last summer and killings that have now erupted are once again a reminder of how tenuous this peace may be.
The incident is no doubt horrific and highly condemnable, but it also depends on the lens one is looking at such acts of violence. Is it only an incident triggered by a particular set of circumstances at a particular time or is it symptomatic of a larger malaise affecting society in Kashmir, that of degradation of women in many spheres of life and in the larger society and polity?
Yes, many aspects of normal civilian life are compromised in Kashmir, as in any area of conflict. But in Kashmir, there is an overlay of this reality with another one; of women being treated with insensitivity, callousness and being subjected to all manner of discrimination, and in extreme cases-violence. There is an inherited tapestry of Kashmir’s societal norms which are discriminatory, that are then exacerbated by the over two decades of conflict Whatever the provocation for this incident and the steps to prevent such attacks in the future, the fact still remains that women in pre-conflict Kashmir have suffered in different ways.
The problem is deep-rooted, pervasive. Social prejudices reinforce the woman’s identity as being subordinate to the male. Domestic violence is more widespread than is reported. Dowry is an ugly reality with ceaseless demands leading to a high degree of stress. According to Dr. Mushtaq Margoob, well-known psychiatrist in the Valley “Women's physical and mental health is often permanently damaged or impaired. In some cases there can be fatal consequences as in the case of dowry deaths.”
In Kashmiri society, women are generally repressed. The region over the decades has witnessed tremendous change with the processes of industrialization and modernization ushering in enhanced levels of economic prosperity and education. The traditional role of women in society has also changed but it has also brought about new areas of stress within the old mould. Pre-conflict, the suicides amongst women can be said to reflect this but there has been an alarming rise of suicides over the last two decades with some 12000-18000 persons committing suicide. According to leading sociologist, Dr. Bashir Ahmed Dabla suicides amongst women are more. He cites the ongoing conflict as the major underlying factor.
It is not always easy to discern how the existing patterns of societal norms and attitudes towards women, reach a point of conflagration but they feed each other. A woman who has been abused either at home or has been a victim of attack, molestation or worse rape by any of the players operating in the conflict zone finds it difficult to register her complaint with the authorities. She finds very little support from the family or society and often carries a stigma for a wrong that has been done to her. The Minister for Social Welfare, Sakina Itoo agrees with this view and holds the police accountable for negligence in registering their complaints. “Hundreds of women have informed me that police refuse to register their complaints of domestic violence,” states Itoo.
The environment for women in Kashmir is far from conducive and the fall-out of the conflict has taken a huge toll not only on the physical security of women but their psychological well-being, mental peace. People anywhere in the world exposed to benumbing violence in any situation of armed conflict are prone to developing psychological disorders and this is equally true for Kashmir where the incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) has grown. According to Dr. Margoob, “Women constitute more than 55% of the patients seeking treatment at Kashmir's only mental health hospital in Srinagar. Most are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD).” Margoob says women are more prone to PTSD than men. Whether this is a reflection of the odds stacked against them or their coping mechanisms can be debated but there are no simple answers.
The atmosphere of conflict pervades all of society and within that what women endure, what are the points of breakdown, what are the factors both underlying and immediately provocative, which lead to their suffering and in a sense their marginalisation? The answers need to be urgently sought.
Margoob believes that hundreds of women do not approach medical help because of illiteracy and social taboos attached to the mental health hospitals. “They continue to suffer silently,” he says. Abdul Rashid Hanjoora, a committed social activists says, “Women are often caught in a vicious circle of economic dependence, a sense of insecurity, a lack of awareness about their rights” These factors effectively keep a woman trapped in circumstances that maybe harmful to her physical or mental health but the shroud of privacy or so-called sanctity of a home often stops outside agencies from knowing about let alone acting upon the problem. Hanjoora also reiterates the belief that it is social stigma that prevents many cases of domestic violence being reported thus giving a false picture of the situation. He says “We need to ponder on how degradation of women can be stopped. It needs support from all quarters, be it government, NGOs and women themselves,”
What could signal hope is that the police acknowledges that violence against women gets ‘least’ attention and seeks to correct its image as being negligent by taking firm action. Says the state’s police chief, Khuldeep Khoda “We are aware about most cases not getting registered in police stations not only because our administration mechanism is weak but other reasons as well. “ He says increasing the number of women’s police stations was a step in the direction “ In order to control crime against women, we have established two women police stations - one in Jammu and another in Kashmir, exclusively headed by women officers. These have helped police a lot in controlling the crimes against women. Our target is to establish women’s police stations at all district headquarters of J&K”
That women have got a raw deal over the ages in Kashmiri society is now being accepted as a credible view within enlightened sections. It is vital that in the larger ramifications of seeking solutions for the region’s way forward politically, economically and culturally, this is not ignored.
Read full contribution and respond: http://groups.comminit.com/node/330862

WAVEr Moushumi Basu's second story published by Radio Netherlands!

2011-04-07T00:23:00.000-07:00

WAVE facilitates a relationship between citizen journalist mentees in India and Radio Netherlands so that unique news stories reach a worldwide audience.

Check out her story about tribal activist Dayamani Barla's journey in Jharkhand!

Also, take a look at her previous story about the toxic health effects of the Indian government's uranium mine on tribals living in the vicinity

And get in touch if you would like to submit stories too!

Evaluating Media (Spiritual advice from Daily Om)

2011-04-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

It is up to us to seek out media that empowers and informs us, and to say no to media that drains energy and hope.

There is a lot of information available to us at this time in history, more than ever before, and it travels fast. We are able to learn in the blink of an eye about something that happened halfway around the world, and it‚s natural for us to want to know what‚s going on. However, it‚s also fair to say that we don‚t want to become so caught up in one way of looking at events that we lose perspective. Often, the news comes to us in a very fear-oriented format, and when too many of us get caught up in fear, the balance of the whole is disrupted. It helps to remember that we have a much greater and more positive impact on the world when we maintain our inner sense of peace and joy.

We are aware enough to know when we are eating something that is not good for us, because we don‚t feel well after we‚ve eaten it. In the same way, we can determine for ourselves whether the sources in which our information comes are ultimately healthful. News can be presented in a way that inspires us to take positive action to help the world, or it can be presented in a way that leaves us feeling powerless and sad. It is up to us to seek out and support media that empowers and informs us, and to say no to media that drains our energy and our hope.

For a time, it may even be of benefit to commit to a media fast, in which we stop taking information in for a time to give ourselves a rest. When we return to the task of taking in and processing the information all around us, we will come to it with a fresh mind. This will enable us to really notice how we are affected by what we hear and see, and to make conscious choices about the sources of information that we allow into our lives.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Transnational Laughter – Contemporary Film and TV Comedy across National Borders

2011-04-04T19:22:00.001-07:00

Deadline: 30 April 2011

CALL FOR PAPERS: Transnational Laughter – Contemporary Film and TV Comedy across National Borders

I am seeking proposals and contributions for a collection of original essays entitled Transnational Laughter: Contemporary Film and TV Comedy across National Borders. As the first edited volume of its kind, Transnational Laughter seeks to expand the field of media studies and shed light on overlooked areas of academic interest, taking comedy and its various subgenres (including black comedy, improv, modern slapstick, the romcom, satire, scatological humor, sketch comedy, spoofs, stand-up, and so forth) as vehicles through which to assess the international transit of these specific cultural forms over the past 25-30 years. Focusing on recent industrial and technological developments that have facilitated the global circulation, consumption, and reception of humor-based short films, feature-length motion pictures, and television programs (from Canada to Romania to South Africa to New Zealand to Taiwan to Venezuela and beyond), the essays in this volume will collectively make the case that, counter to traditional wisdom, comedy does travel, albeit often in limited (and unexpected) ways due to cultural differences, industry regulations, political factors, and/or language barriers.

Although an emphasis will be placed on the reception of texts across national and regional borders, contributors are invited to take a variety of critical approaches or theoretical perspectives in the analyses of their chosen case studies. Contributors should feel free to pursue qualitative research in the areas of media industries, audience studies, spectatorship, situated (counter)publics, and resistant or negotiated reading strategies adopted by in-group or out-group members. In hopes of reaching a wide readership, the essays should be sophisticated and scholarly, yet relatively jargon-free.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· culturally specific forms of physical and/or spoken comedy located in selected national contexts, e.g. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Mainland China, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and so forth

· exemplary, humor-based works that have been produced in largely overlooked areas of the world, i.e., countries that have not received much attention in the existing literature on international film and television comedy

· recent film and TV remakes of international comedies and the challenges of cultural translation/adaptation

· different manifestations of comic satisfaction, such as laughter, finger-snaps, whistles, etc., found in regionally specific contexts of film and television reception

· humor "on the move” and the mobile consumption of comedy (liminal spectatorship)

· cross-cultural "cringe,” the global "gross out” moment, and the affective trajectories of scatological comedy

· international comedy film festivals, media outlets, cable networks, and the marketing/selling/exhibition of humor-based cultural productions across borders

· YouTube and other video-sharing websites through which comedy is made to "circulate” virtually

· stars of global comedy and the "transnationalizing” of comedic talent

· racial and ethnic diversity in internationally distributed comedy productions

· sexual identity and gender politics in internationally distributed comedy productions

· social class and strategies of "containment”

Please send your abstract (500-750 words in length) or completed essay (5,000-7,000 words), plus a brief biographical statement, as e-mail attachments (in Word or as a Rich Text File) to the email address listed below.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is April 30, 2011. Once I have determined which essays to include in the volume, I will send the manuscript proposal to a university press this summer. The tentative deadline for the completion of essays (after acceptance) will be December 30, 2011.

Dr. David Scott Diffrient
Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies
Department of Communication Studies
Colorado State University
Scott.Diffrient@colostate.edu

Harsimrat announces girls college for every constituency in Punjab

2011-04-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

MANSA:Harsimrat Kaur Badal Member Parliament from Bathinda and Patron of Nanhi Chhan Foundation Sunday said that education alone can get the women equal rights in the society and for this foundation would request Punjab government to set up at least one girls degree college in every constituency of Punjab to open avenues of education for the girls.

Addressing a first all women conference here Sunday in which more than 10 thousand ladies from Mansa district assembled, Badal said that women themselves would have to rise for their rights and protect their identity in the society. She said that until and unless women themselves would not say big no to social malice of dowry besides female foeticide, women cannot achieve the goal of gender equality in the country. She said that Nanhi Chhan mission has made a beginning in the society to bring attitudinal change amongst the people regarding their preference for male child and she was happy that this message was getting percolated in the remote villages of Punjab.

Distributing certificates and stitching machines to the girl student completing the course in the centre run by Nanhi Chhan Badal said that Nanhi Chhan foundation would start more vocational courses to make girls students financially self dependent Announcing a state wide programme Badal said that Nanhi Chhan foundation would organise all women rally in every district of the state to take this message to every women of Punjab.

She said that she would impress upon Chief Minister to sanction additional colleges so that each constituency should have one girls college. Badal distributed 10 thousand saplings of plants to the ladies in the conference who would plant these saplings in their respective villages with a vow to protect girl child as well as nurture that plant throughout their life.

On this occasion Member Parliament Parmjit Kaur Gulshan, Information Commissioner Jaspal Kaur Bhunder also addressed the audience. Prominent among those present on the occasion included Dilraj Singh Bhunder Chairman Zila Parishad, Sukhwinder Singh Aulakh Halka Incharge Mansa,Kamaljit Kaur President Istri wing of SAD.

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/harsimrat-announces-girls-college-every-constituency-punjab/28791

UN calls for ‘new era of social justice’ for all with basic services and decent jobs

2011-04-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

18 February 2011 – With 80 per cent of the world’s people lacking adequate social protection and global inequalities growing, top United Nations officials are calling for a new era of social justice that offers basic services, decently paid jobs, and safeguards for the poor, vulnerable and marginalized.

“Social justice is more than an ethical imperative; it is a foundation for national stability and global prosperity,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message ahead of the World Day of Social Justice, observed on 20 February. “Equal opportunity, solidarity and respect for human rights, these are essential to unlocking the full productive potential of nations and peoples.”

UN International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Juan Somavia also highlighted the linkage between social justice and national stability, citing the protests in North Africa and the Middle East that have already driven Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from office.

“As Tunisia and Egypt are showing us, jobs and justice, bread and dignity, protection and democracy, national and global security are not unrelated demands,” he said in amessage for the Day. “What happens in the future will very much depend on whether the connections are recognized and acted upon.”

Mr. Ban said the continuing fallout from the global financial and economic crisis makes achieving social justice more important than ever. “For the tens of millions who have lost their jobs since the crisis began, the global recession is far from over,” he noted, underscoring UN efforts to establish a global “social protection floor” to guarantee food security, health services for all and old-age pensions for the 80 per cent of the world’s people who now lack protection.

“No one should live below a certain income level, and everyone should have access to essential public services such as water and sanitation, health and education,” he added. “The pursuit of social justice is crucial to maximizing the potential for growth with equity and minimizing the risks of social unrest. Together, let us rise to the challenge and ensure that our work for sustainable development delivers social justice for all.”

Mr. Somavia highlighted decent employment opportunities as a vital plank for social justice. “It is time to build a new era of social justice on a foundation of decent work,” he said. “Women and men without jobs or livelihoods really don’t care if their economies grow at 3, 5 or 10 per cent per year if such growth leaves them behind and without protection.

“They do care whether their leaders and their societies promote policies to provide jobs and justice, bread and dignity, freedom to voice their needs, their hopes and their dreams and the space to forge practical solutions where they are not always squeezed… Yet the world of work is in tatters today: more than 200 million people are unemployed worldwide, including nearly 80 million youth.”

Both these figures are at or near their highest points ever, while the number of workers in vulnerable employment – some 1.5 billion – and the 630 million working poor living with their families on $1.25 a day or less is increasing, he warned.

Among the essential stations on the path to social justice, Mr. Somavia cited the need to make job creation targets a central component of macroeconomic policy priorities alongside low inflation and sound fiscal accounts, and to provide fiscally sustainable social protection to the eight out of 10 people who lack any form of social security in the world today.

Outlining the principles behind the social protection floor earlier this week, ILO Social Security Department Director Michael Cichon stressed the fact that it would only take 2 per cent of global GDP [gross domestic product] to basically give security systems to all the world’s poor.

Tripartite delegations of Governments, employers and workers from all 183 ILO member States are due to meet in June to draw up a long-term strategy for the floor’s four entitlements that would guarantee basic income security for children; access to some social assistance for people of working age that prevents them from falling into absolute food poverty; a basic old-age pension for people over a certain age; and essential health services for all.

Need more CSR awards like Edelweiss to support orgs working towards improving lives of women and girls in India

2011-04-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

EdelGive Social Innovation Honours awarded to 5 NGOs for innovative work on women's empowerment
* Five winning NGOs include Jan Chetna Manch (Health and Well-Being), Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (Education), Prajwala (Economic Security & Livelihoods), The Hunger Project (Governance) and STEPS Women Development Organisation (Socio-Cultural Rights).

* EdelGive Foundation marks third year of impacting lives of women across India through these awards.

* Five outstanding NGOs awarded for their innovative work in the areas of Health and Well-Being, Education, Livelihoods, Governance and Social and Cultural Rights of women.
* Prize money of Rs 50 Lakhs will be awarded to the winners.
* Enhanced focus to provide capacity building support to NGOs.
EdelGive Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Edelweiss Capital Ltd. today announced the winners of the Third EdelGive Social Innovation Honours (ESIH 2011). Following a stringent four stage evaluation process five outstanding NGOs have been announced winners for their innovative work in the areas of Health and Well-Being, Education, Livelihoods, Governance and Social and Cultural Rights of women.
The winning NGOs of this year’s award are Jan Chetna Manch (Health and Well-Being), Jharkhand, for the outstanding work done to empower and improve the lives of the weakest and poorest in the villages of Bokaro district, with a particular aim of improving the overall health and well being of poor rural women, Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (Education), Rajasthan, an organization that has significantly improved girls’ enrolment, retention, and academic performance in Government schools, by leveraging existing community and Government resources in the state , Prajwala (Economic Security & Livelihoods), Andhra Pradesh, an NGO that has emerged as an anti-trafficking organization, that rescues women and children from prostitution, enabling their psychological recovery, and rehabilitating and reintegrating trafficked victims back into the society, The Hunger Project (Governance),New Delhi, an organization committed towards gender equality and women’s empowerment through political participation and STEPS Women Development Organisation (Socio-Cultural Rights) Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, a women’s organization that works on issues to do with violence and women’s rights, with a sharpened and special focus on the rights of Muslim Women.
According to Vidya Shah, Executive Director and Head, EdelGive Foundation, “In India, a high number of women and girls remain marginalized and disempowered. Through the ESIH awards, EdelGive Foundation over the last three years has raised the awareness of issues surrounding women and the girl child and has supported organizations with path-breaking approaches to tackle these challenges. Going forward, EdelGive is committed to supporting the distinctive work of these NGOs through both funding and capacity building support.”
ESIH 2011 aims to identify and reward organisations that are innovating to empower women in India. The objective is to showcase and support organizations with unique approaches to tackle challenges that women face in our country. Prize money of Rs. 50 Lakhs is being awarded to the winners across five categories of Health & Well Being, Education, Economic Security & Livelihoods, Social and Cultural Rights and Governance. Apart from award money, the Foundation has enhanced its focus this year to provide capacity building support to winning NGOs.
The winners have been selected from a pool of 235 participants across India. The selection process involved a four stage evaluation process supported by Ernst and Young as process advisors and official tabulators and included an initial application, short listing by an internal jury, visits by field assessors from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and final selection by an external jury of prominent members from the corporate, media and social sectors. The jury panel this year consisted of Chandra Iyengar, ex civil servant, Kalpana Sharma, Independent Journalist, Mala Ramadorai, musician and teacher, Roopa Kudva, Executive Director CRISIL, Shoba Narayan, Writer and Journalist, Varun Sahni, Director Impact Investment Partners, Venkat Ramaswamy, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Edelweiss Capital Limited, Zia Mody, leading corporate lawyer and Founding Partner of AZB Partners.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/edelgive-social-innovation-honours-awarded-to-5-ngos-for-innovative-workwomen%5Cs-empowerment/425671/

Poster - Engaging boys and Men for Gender Justice in Nepal

2011-03-29T23:31:00.001-07:00

Also check out pictures on EngagingMen.Net of a road show in Lucknow to advocate for safer transportation of women!

Women with Disabilities Day today - March 28

2011-03-28T00:03:00.001-07:00

Women with Disabilities Day observed on March 28 aims to increase awareness about the rights and situation of women with disabilities by serving as a portal of resources and work of the United Nations in this area.

The entry into force in 2008 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities gave hundreds of millions of such people a powerful tool that they could use to overcome their problems. By asserting the rights of people with disabilities to education, health, work, adequate living conditions, freedom of movement, freedom from exploitation and equal recognition before the law, the Convention also made it possible especially for women to have access to services and opportunities that would allow them to make decisions for themselves.

More than 600 million people in the world or 10 percent of the world’s population live with disabilities and they frequently encounter physical and social obstacles. They often lack the opportunities of the mainstream population and are usually the most marginalized in society. Disabled women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, and religion. In certain cultures, legal and institutional barriers make women and girls with disabilities the victims of twofold discrimination – as women and girls and as persons with disabilities.

People who do not have experience with disabilities in their lives should be aware of what is out there. They should understand what it’s like to struggle with poverty and abuse, to face challenges in silence and isolation, to have few opportunities for work and little or no access to healthcare and shelter.

Girls and women with any form of disability are among the more vulnerable and marginalized in society. There is, therefore, need to take their special needs into account and address their concerns in all policymaking and programs.

Link: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/311659/women-with-disabilities-day

Seeking volunteers to survey public distribution system in 10 Indian states (expenses covered) - deadline April 25

2011-03-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Via an email from WAVEr Ishani Sen:

HARD WORK, NO PAY

(Yes, we're back!)

IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR THE PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (PDS)?

WOULD CASH TRANSFERS BE BETTER

These are important questions today, especially in the context of the National Food Security Act. We believe that sound policies need to combine "cool" ideas with ground realities. To this end, we plan to conduct a survey during the month of June to study the PDS in ten Indian states.

ALL VOLUNTEERS WELCOME

Essential requirements: Volunteers should be prepared to work in rural areas for at least three weeks, without modern comforts. Prior experience of fieldwork, are preferred but not essential. Fluency in any of the following languages will be a bonus: Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, Telegu. We will be covering your expenses, but there will be no remuneration.

If you are interested, please send us your c.v. at aashu.gupta20@gmail.com by 25 April, 2011. Extra marks for early birds -we start screening applications on 10 April, 2011!

News story about WAVEr Kalki Subramaniam being inspired to start own video project for transgender women

2011-03-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Subramaniam models her video-making project on one run by WAVE or Women Aloud: Video blogging for Empowerment, which is run by Angana Jhaveri and Sapna Shahani.

Once a year the two women gather young women from every corner of India in the state of Goa for a training course in video blogging. No subject is taboo.

This is an extract about WAVE from the full news story at: http://www.womensenews.org/story/lesbian-and-transgender/110218/indian-video-activist-puts-transgender-in-focus

For the sake of women, we need a mass movement - Kishwar Desai

2011-03-27T03:35:00.000-07:00

One wonders why, whilst India is modernising and globalising so rapidly, it has been unable to carry a majority of its women with it? Why, even amongst the most deprived and backward, in each class and caste, are girls and women are at the bottom of the pile? And then, why are we surprised that the greatest victims of violence are also women, both before and after birth?

After all, if you devalue human life according to gender — isn’t it a natural corollary that they will be ill-treated and extinguished? There are many ways in which women can be wiped out — and India specialises in all of them.

Perhaps the only way women can begin to climb the ladder to equality is to create a space for themselves, as women all over the world have done. The suffragette and women’s liberation movement in the West was a powerful and often violent tool through which women gained respect at home and the workplace. However, women in India thought that we would automatically get the gains of this movement — but this has not happened, and the overweening patriarchal system which we inherited from our founding ‘fathers’ did not change even after independence and even after we had a woman prime minister.

The caste factor has probably been the worst enemy of the Indian woman — because it has prevented a gender-based unity to arise.

Similarly, the focus on religious and minority groups has also hurt the cause of women — it has prevented a targeted gender based programme to arise. This is a programme which has to cut across all age groups and sections and society — where quotas are created and reservations are given, to physically pull Indian women into an era of social and economic security. Because only if women are economically gainful — or at least have the choice of being economically valuable — will they be respected and safe from mindless violence.

But why do Indian women not rise up and fight for their rights? Isn’t it true that apart from not having the education or the self-confidence — Indian women do not even have a pan-Indian role model or a leader ? And isn’t it true that the constant aggression shown towards them (i.e, us) has given rise to the classic Stockholm syndrome: we are completely in thrall of our captors.

Violence against women in India is almost part of the country’s DNA. And docility is expected from us in the most trying circumstances. Even in our mythology, Draupadi and Sita are the dominant figures. And both women were publicly humiliated by their husbands just when they would have expected their support. Draupadi may have sought revenge — but for that too she had to depend on her husbands, the very men who had let her down! Radha, the ideal liberated woman, in love with Krishna, is also abandoned by him.

Is that remarkable—or is it just business as usual? Can we truly erase the image of a Sita sinking ultimately back into the earth, a defeated figure, or of a Radha pining for her lover ? With such ‘heroines’ as our template, is it a surprise that women can be and are, usually treated poorly? Of course, these figures are taken from the Hindu pantheon — but they are part of our dominant social narrative, which pre-dates the other reformist and religious movements.

Violence can be of many kinds : it is not always expressed through rape or physical aggression. It is also expressed through literature, song, cinema — through the so-called gentler arts. But where is the space for strong, independent-minded women in our socio-political narrative? Isn’t it true that this space is rapidly shrinking? Just because we have an elite amongst Indian women who are literate and a few of them are hugely visible, heading organizations and political parties — should we be complacent or should we realise that these remarkable achievements does not reflect the lives of ordinary women who are still subjugated and still suffer unimaginable horrors.

Are Indian women far too docile and too disunited — severely divided by class and caste to be ever united? For real change to come into society, you cannot have laws. You need a social revolution, you need a mass movement. And there has never been a movement, barring the freedom struggle , which has united India. For the sake of the women in India, can we hope for one today?

Writer Kishwar Desai is the winner of the Costa First Novel Award for ‘Witness the Night’

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/360-degree/sake-women-we-need-mass-movement-360

Deccan Chronicle

February 13th, 2011

Journalists Form National Platform for Struggles

2011-03-24T05:31:00.000-07:00

http://pd.cpim.org/2011/0213_pd/02132011_18.html

IN a joint statement issued on February 10, representatives of various
organisations of all over the country, representing over 12000
journalists, announced the setting up of a National Platform of
Journalist Organisations to work in unison with the apex Confederation
of Newspaper and News Agency Employees Organisations, the All India
Newspaper Employees Federation and other press bodies. This they said
was a united front to fight not only for a proper wage board but also
on the questions of ethics and democratisation of the media, gender
equity, media reform, and to expose the paid news syndrome and
connected deals.

The organisations which met in the office of the Delhi Union of
Journalists, with DUJ general secretary S K Pande presiding, resolved
to have continuous joint programmes, rallies and dharnas not only to
concentrate on just and fair wages but also for more social security,
a new information order and a more credible media.

The meeting took stock of the current situation including delays in
constituting a wage board. (Earlier, under the banner of the National
Alliance of Journalists, they had submitted memoranda to the Labour
Ministry, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry and the Press
Council of India.) They resolved to start a phased struggle beginning
this month end followed up by a direct action programme, to be
announced shortly.

Members took strong note of the functioning of the Press Council and
the Wage Board. The paid news syndrome and connected pressures, even
in national press bodies, was discussed and the demand made for a
Media Council and a Media Commission to restore a credible media free
from government fetters and from the stranglehold of press barons.
Drastic amendments to bring the Working Journalists Act in tune with
the present day realities and constitution of a Media Council on the
line of the earlier press commissions were also demanded.

A steering committee has been constituted with offices in Hyderabad,
Kerala and Delhi. It was announced that the Association of Accredited
News Cameramen Association (AANC) will also be fraternal ties with the
National Platform.

A General Council meeting of the National Platform is expected to take
place in Hyderabad in March end or early April, preceded by a meeting
close to Delhi. Meetings in Goa, Kerala, Orissa and UP are being
finalised.

Received via: ZestMedia

Jalebi Ink (www.jalebiink.com), a media collective for children and youth, is looking for volunteers

2011-03-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Jalebi Ink (www.jalebiink.com), a media collective for children and youth, is looking for volunteers.

( Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jalebi-Ink/120863297941920?v=info )

We seek to give young people the skills and tools to communicate about issues impacting on their lives. We have seen a lack of social issue coverage within mainstream media and a huge under-representation of youth in India. Through video, online write-ups, podcasts etc, it is youth who can bring the issues they care about to the forefront their communities. We empower youth to explore social issues and express their thoughts with the creative skills and talents they already have. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders and Jalebi Ink offers a constructive and meaningful way to channel their knowledge and opinions into projects.

Project and workshop coordinators:
We need people who will supervise and coordinate projects like Jalebi Radio, GreenWatch and My Mohalla. My Mohalla is Jalebi Ink’s critically acclaimed project that makes anthropologists of young people in the city. It has been covered extensively by the press. Started a year ago, My Mohalla attempts to track the history and culture of Mumbai neighbourhoods through interviews, images and narratives about its people and places.

What we are looking at is leaving some people in charge of specific sections on the site and projects.

These are:

My Mohalla (The Neighbourhood Project): Our premier project that is essentially narratives of neighbourhoods from POV of the children and youth. Hindustan Times called it "a living diary of Mumbai by children". Time Out magazine has called it "an initiative that makes anthropologists out of children."
Read more about it here: http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/client_coverstory/client_coverstory_details.asp?code=1056

The Book Detectives: A platform to discuss books, writers and writing.

Jalebi Radio (online)

Jalebi Talkies: Where we introduce world cinema to children.

General (Includes the sections - Chatterbox, Calendar, general inputs from kids that do not fit into any broad category etc)

We are also creating at least two new sections:

GreenWatch: A section on green issues reported by children from various cities
Jalebi's Jungli Kids: A Nature and Wildlife section

Outreach: We are also looking at increasing Outreach in Mumbai and other cities.

After an orientation session outlining what Jalebi Ink is all about and the kind of content we are for and against, the people in charge of sections will be left to take the sections pretty much where they want to. And each section head will have a short bio and photo in the team's About Us page. There will be no pressure on anyone about deadlines or targets - we just want something to keep happening on the site and in the real world -- and since there are about six diff projects and sections, uploads on the site will keep happening.

If you know of anyone who may be interested in any of the above, let me know.

Regards,
Anuradha Sengupta

New artist residency in Guwahati - A+type!

2011-03-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

Desire Machine Collective
A+type : Call for Collaborations

A+type is a new initiative of Desire Machine Collective. The founding members of DMC are Sonal Jain and Mriganka Madhukaillya.

A+type

Keywords: Show your syndrome, space as medium, melancholy, relational, architecture, decadent, mind scape, stasis, mediate, media lab, living, reinterpreting space, eating, slacking, sleeping, changing, local, collaborations, community.

  A+type, a new extension of desire machine collective, opens in March 2011. The A+type is an experiment in spatial imaginary with an objective to explore a typology of a contemporary cultural space that can create a social engagement which allows for a translocal exchange of knowledge, experiments and aesthetic experiences.

Location: A+type is situated near the bank of the river Brahmaputra in the city of Guwahati, which is a 1459.68 km away from New Delhi.

Desire Machine Collective is an artists’ collective committed to activating public spaces. A+Type reinvestigates the notion and use of space, in its common understanding. It is a durational project where an ‘Assam type’ house is opened up for people to interpret in their own ways. We make an open call for the project and accept proposals.
Participants are invited to come and live for a particular period of time in an “Assam type”, house and develop their practice in relation it. The British developed what is popularly called “Assam type" architecture as a hybrid form incorporating elements from the local indigenous architecture. These structures have become cultural markers of an era gone by and have a certain melancholy attached to them.
Participants receive a cognitive map, historical and personal background of the space and make an intervention. The duration is flexible and so are the envisaged "uses”. Residents are invited to explore and develop their individual or communal relationship to the space in terms its functional, social, architectural, historical and cultural aspects. They can choose to “use” the space as a residency, a studio, a screening space, to host talks, plays etc. Different residents constantly redefine the space and make for new interpretation of this perishing construct. Allowing for a renewed conversation on its place in history and the future.

This project initiates the process of reactivating these structures, documenting the design and history of the “Assam type” architecture and its use. The inhabitants themselves document and archive the house in creating a participatory-relational event. The project provides an opportunity to interact, experiment and work with local materials. Guwahati offers diverse inspirations as a cosmopolitan city located in the diverse region commonly referred to as the Northeast of India. The challenges of the project will encourage artists to move beyond the comfort of their studio spaces and work in new circumstances.

Since its inception in 2007, Periferry a project of desire machine collective has undertaken a number of projects dealing with hybrid practices. It has hosted many artists from diverse countries in its residency programmes, workshops, seminars and projects. It believes in fostering interactions between artists, curators, scholars, writers and young students in the local and global context. We collaborate, share and have interactions with the local artist community.

The A+type offers short duration projects and one month artist residency through out the year. While DMC welcomes any creative proposal, applicants are encouraged to first consider proposing engagement with the “Assam Type” house. We invite a letter of interest and a short proposal from interested people.

The A+type is intended for artists, designers, architects, curators, art critics, art historians and other practitioners.  Residents can make works in the form of interventions, public performances, experimental audio-visual works and interdisciplinary and hybrid forms. Work produced will be exhibited, performed and shared in Guwahati during the residency period.

Founded
Periferry - 2007

Eligibility
artists, designers, architects, curators, art critics, art historians, writers, researches, filmmakers, scientists, and other practitioners from any country.

Expectation from the artist:
* One public lecture.
* Interaction with local art students.
* The residency ends with an open studio or exhibition.
* Season: Year-round.
* Average length of residency: 1 month
* Maximum number of artists at one time: 3
* Accessibility: Sorry, no wheelchair access at this time.
* Accommodation: Individual bedroom with shared bath, common kitchen facilities.

Facilities:
*Broadband Internet connectivity.
*Lots of open space for interaction and communal gathering.
*Food: kitchen and cooking facilities. Local restaurants conveniently located close by.
*Library and archive of books with a section on the Northeast India.

Chargeable costs:
*Housing and studio: 25$ per day / 550$ per month (payable in Indian Rupees at the time of arrival).
*Charges are subject to change, please verify current charges with us.
*Other expenses to be borne by the artists.

Funding:
*This is an artist-led space; no stipends or fellowships are available.

Selection:
*Made by co-ordinator by open calls or on the basis of recommendations by other artists
*Art assistants available on moderate fee.

Health
* Hospital and pharmacy within walking distance.
* Gardens / parks /river side for walks and relaxation within easy reach.
Note: We recommend that you obtain necessary vaccinations, preventive medical procedures and appropriate medical insurance before departing to India.

How to apply?
With a letter of interest and a short proposal
An application letter with the following sections:
1. Your contact information (name, telephone, address, email, website, etc)
2. Your letter of motivation, explicitly stating why you are interested in working with “A+Type” and what you would like to do.
3. Your project proposal - Your project proposal should answer the following questions:
i) What is the title of the proposal?
ii) What do you plan to make/do?
iii) What methodologies will you use?
4. Your supporting material
i) Resumé or CV
ii) URL of online portfolio or images and project descriptions in your application.
5. Additional information
i) When would you like to come?

-- Sonal Jain & Mriganka Madhukaillya

desire machine collective

www.desiremachinecollective.net
www.periferry.in

Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency on free speech radio in LA

2011-03-21T20:32:00.001-07:00

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a community radio station in India that carried shows like this?

IDPA (Indian Documentary Producers Association) awards

2011-03-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

CALLING ENTRIES FOR IDPA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2010

Dear Friends,

It is that time of year again to send in your entries for the IDPA Awards for Excellence 2010. We do look forward to your participation and do spread the words to your friends and colleagues.

Special Categories
Films on Environment
Films on Disabilities
Films Shot on Cell Phones

Early Bird ENTRY Deadline: upto 15th March 2011
Regular ENTRY Deadline: upto April 15, 2011
Late ENTRY Deadline: upto 30th April 2011

Please find attached the entry form.
Do not miss out on the benefit of the early bird entry.

IDPA members get a discount on entry fees

For more info and details

log on to www.idpaindia.org
or Call Pooja 022-24920757

With every duly filled Entry form for IDPA AWARDS
you need to send the following
* DVD of entry. One DVD for every category.
+
Soft & Hard Copies of:

100 & 200-word synopsis of the film
Two stills from the film
Vertical Format Photograph of Director of the film
50 & 100-word Biography and Filmography of the Director
Each DVD must be labeled clearly, and must contain the film title.

along with

* Cheque/Demand Draft favouring “Indian Documentary Producers’ Association”

to
Indian Documentary Producers' Association
223 Famous Cine Building
20, Dr. E Moses Road
Mahalaxmi
Mumbai 400011
Phone 022-24920757
idpaindia@gmail.com
www.idpaindia.org