Women's Views on News |
- Close the techonology gender gap
- Women celebrating women in music
- European elections: a chance for change
| Close the techonology gender gap Posted: 27 Mar 2014 08:04 AM PDT
Among the speeches given by the executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) held at New York earlier this month , was one on the subject of women and ICT. She said: ‘When women and girls have access to and are able to use ICTs [Information and Communication Technologies], we can make progress in all areas being discussed at CSW58: women's economic empowerment; ending extreme poverty; achieving the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals]; participation of women and girls in education, training and science and technology; and women's equal access to full employment and decent work UN Women places high importance on women and technology. We are exploring opportunities and partnerships to make a difference for women and girls around the world. We need to close the technology gender gap because technology in many countries is still a domain associated with men and boys. We need to break gender stereotypes and make progress because today less than 15 per cent of managers and decision-makers in the ICT sector are female. If the 21st century is to become the century of gender equality and women's empowerment, women need equal rights and equal opportunities to shape the global knowledge society and make it responsive to women's needs and empowerment. ICTs drive change and participation – Entrepreneurs need ICTs to connect with their customers, sell products to new markets, forge business contacts and obtain market prices. It is predicted that 90 per cent of future jobs in the formal sector will require ICT skills. A 2013 study on women's representation in the ICT sector in Europe suggests that if as many women worked in the digital sector as men, the European GDP could increase by an estimated Euros 9 billion. However, just 30 per cent of people who work in this sector in Europe are women. Many women entrepreneurs and workers without access to ICTs miss out on information, mobile banking, networking, political participation, and web-based and mobile-assisted learning tools and employment. We want 'smart' societies as well as 'wise' societies in which rights and social justice is at the center. We want a knowledge society where ICT connection and application are at the disposal of every woman, man, girl and boy. To get to a smart and wise knowledge society for all, we need to:
UN Women, with the support of the Government of Canada, launched the Knowledge Gateway for Women's Economic Empowerment last September. You can check us out at empowerwomen.org. This global online community enables women to:
Empowerwomen.org is a concrete ICT tool to drive the women's agenda in the economic sphere. It has already benefited over 40,000 women and men around the world. Now UN Women, together with its partners, is exploring how this global community can expand to benefit women and girls without access to computers, tablets or smart phones, and internet access. We have already reached many women on World Radio Day through radio talks, and are also exploring internet cafes and libraries. UN Women is also working to advance women's ICT access and capacities through national, regional and global policy advocacy and partnerships. Key initiatives of UN Women include: Electronic payment systems in Papua New Guinea to improve safety for women and reduce corruption; A farmer information system in Kenya to provide women farmers with up-to-date critical information about prices and weather; UN Women is working with Cisco Systems and the Government of Jordan to promote women in the ICT sector through awareness-raising, training and mentoring; Partnership with Intel for digital literacy training for young women in countries in Africa – She Will Connect.’ UN Women is also working closely with the organizations represented on the panel at the side event ‘ICT and the internet as powerful means in advancing women's rights and empowerment: possibilities and challenges’ and we hope that we will hear more from them shortly on some of these initiatives.  |
| Women celebrating women in music Posted: 27 Mar 2014 05:10 AM PDT
Outstanding female musicians are donating their time to create a one-night event at the Hippodrome Casino, one of London's few remaining Victorian music halls and the jewel-box of London’s Leicester Square. The aim of Venus Nights is to increase awareness and recognition of women working in music by hosting musical performances and collaborations – and to raise funds for women's and music charities. This year's event, on 30 March, takes place in the Hippodrome's luscious Matcham Room, which has a history of stellar performances – including Judy Garland's first and last. And in 2014 the musicians are Scarlett Rae (aka Andee Price); Maiuko; Emma Divine; Suzanne Turner; Shola Dayo; Diana De Cabarrus; Katy Windsor; Fiona McElroy; Vicky Cowes; Francesca Shaw and Natalie Verhaegen. They will honour Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Eartha Kitt and Peggy Lee. Sister RosettaTharpe, 'The Godmother of Rock and Roll', was raised performing gospel music at the Baptist church where her mother was an evangelist preacher. She was a powerful story-telling, evangelistic blues shouter with a stout command of her guitar and performance delivery. Her 1944 hit song 'Strange Things Happening Every Day‘ has been cited as being the "first rock and roll record" (Wald). Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and many others have named Sister Rosetta Tharpe as a strong influence on their work, yet she lay in an unmarked grave for many years after her early death until her 2008 induction into the Blues Hall of Fame inspired fundraising efforts for a Philadelphia grave marker for this extraordinarily influential artist. Singer and actress Earth Mae Keith – Eartha Kitt – was of mixed-race (African, Cherokee, and Caucasian) parentage in South Carolina, USA. After working in a factory but taking dance lessons, she joined a dance troupe which toured the world, and landed her in Paris. Eartha had left her dancing gig and was singing in nightclubs when Orson Welles saw and cast her. She went on to perform on Broadway, land a recording contract, and appear in a long list of films – most famously as the Extravagantly 'purr-fect' Catwoman in the 1967 Batman. Eartha's political anti-war outspokenness was the cause of her being blacklisted in the USA for a decade. She formed the Kittsville Youth Foundation in Watts and continued to speak openly and bravely for civil rights despite government surveillance. She has had her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1960. Norma Deloris Egstrom sang on local radio stations to a modest degree of success before changing her name to Peggy Lee, and performed in clubs while still a teenager. She performed around the USA, developing her subtle, sophisticated delivery as a means of competing with noisy crowds, before impressing and then joining with Benny Goodman's Orchestra. An active lyricist and musical collaborator, she enjoyed a 60-year career in music, radio, film, and television, a number of successful albums, three Grammys, an induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame – and inspired the self-assured Muppet character Miss Piggy. Among many other awards, Peggy Lee received recognition in the form of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Peggy Lee painted and wrote poetry in her later years and performed into the 1990s, even from her wheelchair. She died in 2002. Venus Nights erupted in 2013. Hard work, commitment, and volunteer efforts of the musicians, organisers, and venue resulted in a fabulous show and raised £1100 for charities. Venus Nights was the conception of Big Mamma's Door frontwoman Fiona McElroy, the actress and singer who brought her passion and experience from VDAY Ireland, producing the sell out 'Vagina Monologues' in four Irish cities for charity, to the London stage. Her vision was initially to create a performance for International Women's Day and raise funds for charity. However, Venus Nights reaches beyond International Women's Day. And the aim is to organise further events and provide more performance opportunities and exposure for professional women musicians while raising awareness and funds for women's and music charities … and, of course, to provide stellar entertainment! Proceeds from the evening will go to Eaves, Nordoff Robins and Smart Works. For tickets, click here.  |
| European elections: a chance for change Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:09 AM PDT
On 2 March 2009, the European Parliament and the Commission published the results of a survey on women and the European elections. The survey revealed that women did not consider their needs were sufficiently taken into consideration by the European Union and that discrimination – in terms of salary, the workplace setting, violence against women – was still far too frequent And men and women did not consider the EU to be close to its citizens and that those feelings impacted upon a willingness to vote. This willingness was also gendered: fewer women than men voted. This year, at a seminar marking International Women’s Day 2014, the European Parliament said the 2014 elections will be different. This year’s European elections, on 22 May, will give voters the chance to influence the future political course of the European Union when they elect the 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to represent their interests over the next five years. In the 2009 post-electoral survey women emphasised areas directly affecting day-to-day life as reasons which did or would encourage them to get involved in the elections and vote for change – issues such as economic growth, unemployment, the future of pensions and public health were all cited as important and relevant factors for women in their decisions to vote. Why does the European Parliament consider 2014 to be any different? The European Union is trying to pull through the economic crisis and EU leaders are reflecting on what direction to take in the future, so the European Parliament considers this year’s vote to be the most important to date. Women are being urged to participate in these elections quite simply because if women do not vote, they cannot influence the major factors affecting their lives. The elections will not only allow voters to pass judgement on EU leaders’ efforts to tackle the economic crisis in the eurozone and to express their views on plans for closer economic and political integration, they are also the first European elections since the Lisbon Treaty of 2009, which introduced a number of new powers for the European Parliament. The European elections now give voters a clear say as to who takes over at the helm of the EU governmental system and who is voted in as president of the European Commission. This means that when EU Member States propose a candidate they must now take into account the European Election results. In the UK we have 73 seats and almost a third (32 per cent) of the UK's MEPs are women – significantly higher than the level at the Westminster Parliament (22 per cent). The Hansard Society is hopeful of better representation for women in the UK after the May elections: ‘It seems to be traditional that there are proportionately more women elected to the Parliament in Brussels than in Westminster.’ According to their recent research the European elections look set to continue the trend. But although this 32 per cent does at first glance, looks positive, if we compare ourselves to our nearest neighbours in western Europe we don’t fare so well; only Ireland and Italy have a lower percentage of female MEPs than the UK. If more women MEPs were voted in, it would provide a greater opportunity for the issues that really matter to women to be represented in the European parliament. Nan Sloan, director of the Centre for Women and Democracy (CWD), said: “Over a third of candidates placed first on the parties' lists are women, and although many of these are MEPs seeking re-election, there are enough new candidates at this level to make a difference if they are elected. “If most of the parties (including UKIP) manage to get their top candidates elected, UK women will be better represented in Brussels. “Which would raise even more awkward questions about the likely fortunes of women at the next UK general election in 2015.” To check it all out, click here.  |
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