Susan notes: I am a pro-choice activist who believes that individual women know what is best for their bodies and their lives, and I believe women should have the right to choose to end unwanted pregnancies. I'm also a public speaking/presentations skills trainer/coach who appreciates a well-thought-out, well-presented argument. Furthermore, I believe it's important to remain open to all points of view.This compelling speech is a great example of a well-delivered point of view. It made me stop and think...

















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Having seen first-hand how United Nations female peacekeepers helped her own country rebuild, Sierra Leone’s highest-ranking female police officer is now hoping to duplicate those successes in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

Assistant Inspector-General Kadi Facondo is among the many police officers of the joint UN-African peacekeeping mission in Darfur (known as UNAMID) who are working to help local women deal with sexual and gender-based violence and other threats and challenges.

Ms. Facondo told the UN News Centre that her own country, Sierra Leone, has made important inroads in tacking the problems of sexual violence.

Thanks to the assistance of an earlier UN peacekeeping mission in the West African country, the police – for whom she has worked for more than a quarter of a century – set up family support units to encourage survivors of rape, domestic violence and other crimes to come forward.

These centres now number more than 81 across the country, and the “fact that we keep getting requests to establish more tell us that we are doing a good job,” Ms. Facondo said, stressing that the success is partly attributable to the efforts of female blue helmets.

Women and children, she observed, were much more comfortable talking to female peacekeepers. Not only did the presence of women police officers and enhanced training result in “issues [coming] out that they wanted to address within their communities,” but also in the expansion of the investigation of cases.

Now at UNAMID, Ms. Facondo underscored the importance of having gender officers when escorting women to collect firewood, where they face risks of murder, rape and other violence.

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UN News Centre

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Susan notes: In addition to being one of the most  successful female performers of our time, as well as the mother of two  daughters, the amazing, awesome, outspoken Annie Lennox is a passionate AIDS activist. Listen to what she said to world leaders at the recent Work Smarter  Global Health Action GBC Conference 2010














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Artist, activist and UN ambassador, Annie Lennox gives voice to women with HIV

As Afghanistan's most powerful men arrive in Kabul for a major conference aimed at starting a peace process with the Taliban, many women are worried the event could lead to a compromise of their hard-won rights.

In an effort to end the nine-year conflict, Afghanistan is holding a peace jirga -- or an assembly -- of powerful leaders, tribal elders and representatives of civil society to consider President Hamid Karzai’s plans to open talks with Taliban. But even the remote possibility of a Taliban return has touched off concern about the fate of women who were banned from schools, the work place and public life during the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.

"I'm really tired of this strategy and plans and jargon. I'd like to see activists from all 34 provinces come to Kabul and plan a much deeper understanding of what should be done in the future for women," said Orzala Ashraf Nemat, a leading women's rights activist in Kabul.

Concerned activists also point to the fact that women are not adequately represented at peace jirga, in which they represent a very small number of the 1,400 seats. And although between 30 and 50 women are expected to attend, none is involved in its planning.

Some believe that women were only given a “symbolic” role to lure Taliban to sit at the negotiations table.

"The positions of women in high-ranking roles have been significantly overshadowed ... One could be cynical and say that the reason there are so few women is to encourage the Taliban to come," said Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy chair of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission.

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MuslimsDebate.com

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It was while listening to a lecture by a Kuwaiti comic book author that Iman ben Chaibah had a moment of clarity and decided that she had to do something.

Dr Naif al Mutawa was addressing an audience at Dubai’s Capital Club when he said he created the characters in his comic book The 99 to reclaim Islam from the “militants who took it hostage” on September 11, 2001.

“He said he began writing when he saw the way people were judging Muslims and the Middle East from a stereotypical standpoint,” said Miss ben Chaibah. “He wanted to redress the image that Islam was violent and hateful.

“It suddenly struck me that I was facing a similar problem. The idea most foreigners have of Emirati women is that we were rich and lazy, only interested in fashion and designer labels and not able read or think for ourselves.

“I realised I had to use my writing to change that stereotype.”

On March 1, two weeks after hearing Dr al Mutawa speak, the 25-year-old IT product manager launched her own e-magazine. The online publication - ww.sailemagazine.com - is believed to be only the second such entity in the UAE and the first to be set up by a woman.

“People said I wouldn’t be able to do it. They thought it would be too much work, but I was determined. I knew it was what I had to do.”

As the editor-in-chief of Sail Magazine, which is published online once a month in English, Miss ben Chaibah has three rules: no fashion, no celebrities and only content that provides “value” to the reader.

“By ‘value’ I mean I want people to be inspired and I want people to think,” she said.

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By Anna Seaman
The National
Photo Credit:
Nicole Hill / The National

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