Women's Views on News |
| Sport cannot ignore human rights Posted: 08 Jun 2015 08:14 AM PDT
By Nils Muižnieks, Michel Forst and Dunja Mijatović. On 12 June the first European Games begin in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. More than 6,000 athletes from 50 countries will run, fight and jump for medals, igniting the passions of millions of Europeans. We hope they will also stand up to halt the crackdown on human-rights defenders occurring in the country. In recent years, and particularly during the last 12 months, expressing dissent or scrutinising the powerful has become a very risky business in Azerbaijan. A great number of journalists and human-rights activists have been under immense pressure and lost their freedom at the hands of a political system intolerant of criticism. Three cases help understand the magnitude of the repression. The most symbolic is that of Rasul Jafarov, the head of a non-governmental organisation. He made a name for himself by organising a campaign called 'Sing for Democracy' in the run-up to the holding of the Eurovision Song contest, which Azerbaijan hosted in 2012. He had planned to organise a new campaign called 'Sports for Rights' ahead of the European Games to support democracy through sport. Instead, he has spent the last ten months in detention on charges that defy all credibility. In April he was sentenced to 6.5 years of imprisonment for tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of authority. Leyla Yunus – one of Azerbaijan's most renowned human-rights defenders and one of three finalists for the latest European Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought – is also spending her days in pre-trial detention, charged with state treason, fraud, forgery and tax evasion. She is living in clear distress and with serious health conditions such as diabetes, Hepatitis C, and kidney problems. Her husband, Arif, is also since August in a prison of the Ministry of National Security. The couple have not been allowed to meet since their arrest. The third case is that of Khadija Ismayilova, a prominent investigative journalist who won in April two prestigious awards for her reports on corruption and for her fight for freedom of expression. She learned the news in Kurdakhani prison, where she has been kept since December. Initially accused of inciting suicide, new bogus charges of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of authority were brought against her in February. On 14 May her pre-trial detention was extended for three more months. This wave of repression also targets foreigners. Journalists, members of non-governmental organisations and UN officials have also experienced first-hand the callous arsenal of intimidation, harassment and obstruction the Azerbaijani authorities have put in place to stifle criticism. The Azerbaijani government defends its policy by arguing that all these cases concern unlawful acts committed by individuals. It says it is wrong to see political motivation behind the wave of arrests of human-rights defenders. We disagree. We have co-operated with these activists and journalists over the years and we know them well. They are far from being criminals. The reality is that the rule of law has been twisted to justify repression: criminal prosecutions have been initiated to punish those who dissent; legislation has been introduced to restrict the activities of non-governmental organisations; the police have been used to repress peaceful protesters. Practically all the partners of human-rights organisations have been detained, subjected to pressure to disrupt their activities or have fled the country as a consequence of the reprisals the authorities orchestrated against them. It is time to halt this, and sport can help. At a minimum, athletes should be aware of the social and political context in the country in which they will be competing. They might want to raise these issues with their hosts or local athletes and even use their popularity to support those who have been unjustly locked up. We hope that they will make the right choice and use the spirit of these games to help reverse the trend of repression against those who have done nothing other than promote human rights. Nils Muižnieks is the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights; Michel Forst is the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human-rights defenders; and Dunja Mijatović is the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s representative on freedom of the media. A version of this article appeared in openDemocracy on 3 June 2015.  |
| UN Women’s new portal project up and running Posted: 08 Jun 2015 07:58 AM PDT
Today 4 out of 10 workers globally are women. Yet the majority of women have insecure jobs, earn on average 20 per cent less than men, and do most of the unpaid work. Raising female employment to male levels could raise GDP by up to 34 per cent, and economically empowered women improve workplace performance, raise agricultural productivity, increase household income, and raise healthier, better-educated children. The Knowledge Gateway for Women's Economic Empowerment project – EmpowerWomen.org – is an open global platform that promotes collaboration, learning and innovation to advance women's economic empowerment. It connects women and men in more than 190 economies with development partners from the private sector, civil society, academia, governments and international organisations. The Knowledge Gateway came about as a result of the international conference on women's economic empowerment jointly organised by UN Women and Canada in October 2011 in Ottawa, Canada. One of the main recommendations was the need for a dynamic platform for knowledge sharing and knowledge creation around the topic of women's economic empowerment. The Knowledge Gateway was launched on 23 September 2013 during a high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly at an event hosted by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, and Lynne Yelich, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs and Consular, Government of Canada. The aim of the online platform is to bring together partners – such as UN system agencies, governments, civil society and the private sector – and connect them with women entrepreneurs, practitioners, researchers and gender activists from around the world. It will provide up-to-date information, technical resources and good practices for women's business and economic opportunities and interactive online discussions and a learning centre with regular e-courses and webinars. In addition to a team in New York, the Knowledge Gateway is setting up a regional presence in Bangkok, Cairo, Dakar, Istanbul, Nairobi and Panama to capture local knowledge effectively and facilitate outreach activities. Partners already on board include the UN Global Compact, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, Microsoft, the Coca-Cola Company, Women's World Banking, Women in Informal Employment Globalising and Organising (WIEGO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the UN World Tourism Organisation and the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE). The advisory board also has members from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on it. EmpowerWomen is a community-driven online platform that provides opportunities for women and men to: Explore over 1,000 resources and tools for driving the agenda of gender equality and women's economic empowerment and for helping women to achieve their economic goals; Connect businesses, entrepreneurs, farmers, workers, politicians, policy-makers, professionals, researchers, and advocates for women's economic empowerment; Discuss what governments, companies, civil society, communities, families and individuals can do to advance economic empowerment of women; and Learn new skills and gain insights on how to enter the job market, develop a career, run a business, claim economic rights, and succeed professionally. Registered members can benefit from and actively participate in several online activities on topics related to women's economic empowerment including: Expert-led online discussions; Peer inputs to national policy reviews and reforms; Awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns, including on social media; Photo and video contests; Role models and inspiring stories of women in the economy; Learning and skills development activities; News about events relating to women's economic empowerment worldwide; Blog posts on innovation and entrepreneurship; and Good practices on gender-aware business. To get started and become a member of the community, please register and complete your profile. Registration is free and open to everyone. As a member you will be able to explore the wealth of resources and learning opportunities, connect with other members, share your experience, views and insights, and make a real difference in advancing women's economic empowerment. And you can also check out Empower Women out on their facebook page.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |