Foreign Policy Blogs

Women

Call Me, Maybe

Call Me, Maybe

When asked what items they never leave the house without, many people (in the West at least) would likely answer, “my mobile (cell) phone.” It would be pretty difficult for people in the U.K., for example, to adjust to a world where their handset didn’t accompany them everywhere; where they were unable to receive SMSs […]

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My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Here’s a little quiz to start you off with: In which profession do women make up less than 2% of the global workforce? I’ll give you a clue and exclude religious callings, firefighters and clowns from your choice of possible answers. (Hint: The title of this post might be a little bit of a giveaway!) […]

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Growing hope in India

Growing hope in India

News reporting on India, more specifically news regarding women in India, has recently been somewhat unsettling. Horrific cases of sexual abuse, some fatal, have made their way from the Indian media to a global stage. In terms of raising awareness, the impact has been powerful. Yet tarring all of India with the same brush would […]

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Violence, Peacekeeping and Negotiations: Being Part of the Solution

Violence, Peacekeeping and Negotiations: Being Part of the Solution

This past month has seen some well-written policy briefs being published on NOREF’s (the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre’s) website. As the name might suggest, a major theme running through the collection of articles is peace — and also how women can contribute. I’ve just chosen three to focus on in this post, however there are […]

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Acronyms and Acrobatics

Acronyms and Acrobatics

Tomorrow, March 15th, will mark the final day of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW57). As mentioned in my previous post, the theme running throughout the session is the issue of violence against women (VAW). If you’re unsure as to why this is a necessary focus, please remember that […]

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99 Red Balloons

99 Red Balloons

Next week, starting March 4, the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at U.N. HQ in New York. The main focus of CSW57 will be the “elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.” A worthy cause, and one which in my ideal world […]

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Hijab Awareness Day

Hijab Awareness Day

It may be a small cause — the World Hijab Day Facebook page has around 8,000 likes — but there’s no denying the reasoning behind the campaign: “Better Awareness. Greater Understanding.” Women worldwide, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are invited to spend a day in hijab to experience modest dress (and because we’re in the 21st […]

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Unsurprises and Imbalances

Unsurprises and Imbalances

“Long-standing economic trends, combined with entrenched gender inequality and austerity budgets, have left girls and their families with fewer resources, lower incomes and less access to basic services, including social safety nets.” These dispiriting words make up the opening paragraph of a new report published by Plan International and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) which […]

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Confronting Violence Against Women in India

Confronting Violence Against Women in India

In retrospect, it wasn’t that unusual of an event but would be one that finally broke the silence surrounding violence against women in the world’s second largest country. On December 16, a 23-year-old medical student travelling with a male companion on a bus in New Delhi was beaten and gang raped by a group of […]

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How Women Made Their Mark on the World In 2012

How Women Made Their Mark on the World In 2012

As a producer of global affairs television programming for the better part of the past decade, I’ve long been dismayed by the fact that the pool of guests we’re often forced to draw from is so heavily male-dominated. In my experience, women tend approach the global challenges America faces through a different prism from men, […]

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Wishing on a star…or a sleigh

Wishing on a star…or a sleigh

Dear Santa, it seems some progress for women’s rights has been made in 2012 and awareness of issues disproportionately affecting women is increasing. So thanks to the little elves who’ve made that happen. But there’s still a way to go…

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That’s Plain Sinister, Sister

That’s Plain Sinister, Sister

Perhaps appropriately (as it contains ‘Black Friday’) this has been somewhat of a dark week. The Church of England decided against allowing women to become bishops, and Saudi Arabia (according to Al Arabiya/AFP) now sends husbands an SMS when their wives leave the country.

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Acting Their Age, Generating Change

Acting Their Age, Generating Change

Last month saw the first ever Day of the Girl – now it’s time to turn round and gaze in the other direction, to an older generation: grandmothers.

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Joining the World in Prayer for Malala

Joining the World in Prayer for Malala

Image lifted from http://paknews.pk The first thing that struck me as I read reports on Malala’s shooting was the village name: Saidu Shareef. Living in Pakistan, we have been conditioned to hear of shootings, bombings and barbarity across the country and get on with our day; unless you know someone who lives where today’s incidents took […]

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“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants”

“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants”

Today is the first ever International Day of the Girl. So, get out a pen and mark it in your calendar for next year already! My colleague Cassandra Clifford wrote a piece earlier today looking at the theme of this year’s Day of the Girl, child marriage. It’s just one of many issues activist, advocacy […]

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