Women are catching up with men in education. Yet, they still earn less than men and are much less represented in the top deciles of the income ladder.
Women are catching up with men in education. Yet, they still earn less than men and are much less represented in the top deciles of the income ladder.
In around 350 days’ time, the year 2015 will begin. But, erm, shouldn’t we rather still be remarking that we’ve just celebrated the start of 2014? The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have a target achievement date of 2015. Which is next year. Once you consider it’s been over 4,800 days since world leaders adopted the […]
Aid, donations and relief supplies are making their way to the parts of the Philippines most affected by the recent disaster. A conference held earlier this week in London and attended by high-level representatives of governments, U.N. agencies and NGOs, wasn’t directly focused on responding to the “relief gridlock” and misery riddling the lives of many […]
You may have heard of the U.N., but have you ever heard of UNRISD? Perhaps not – as a research institute they aren’t going to grab as many headlines as the WHO, UNESCO or the Security Council. Yet the work they do is just as valuable, the latest example being a new program exploring when […]
Crystal balls, horse-drawn carts, headscarves and tarot cards. If we were playing a word-association game, what group of people would spring to mind? If your brain is leaning toward ‘gypsy’ then you get a point. In Europe, gypsy is a common way of describing Roma and travellers; however, this fairground fairytale image of a freewheeling […]
Depending on how you are dressed, you can signal your status, identity, job and a myriad other markers which help locate you in a sociopolitical context. They can show your distinctiveness, or membership within a group. Many jobs require a uniform, from the armed forces to hospitals to customer services, and in many countries around […]
When the moon hits your eye like’a big pizza pie…that’s amore. Substitute “moon” for “man” and “that’s amore” for a significant proportion of Italian women. Exact figures on domestic violence are unknown for obvious reasons, but the more troubling occurrence of women being murdered is also not noted in official statistics. At least 127 women […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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.
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 […]
When it comes to the Vatican, all eyes recently have been on Pope Benedict XVI’s tour to Mexico and Cuba, and the adulation that followed. In his Easter vigil mass he noted that “Today we can illuminate our cities so brightly that the stars of the sky are no longer visible…With regard to material things, […]
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – shortened to CEDAW – celebrates its 31st birthday in September 2012 (counting from when it entered into force). If you happen to be in New York City before March 2012, you have the opportunity to experience ‘international law as art’ at Croatian […]
Just in time for the weekend, here’s a round-up of some articles and podcasts to keep you informed. Do you have any suggestions? Please post them in the comments!
I recently came across an interesting paper at Brookings by Wang Feng, The Future of a Demographic Overachiever: Long-Term Implications of the Demographic Transition in China. The title of the paper is self-explanatory as to the subject. Through his research, Wang found a consistent continual demographic decline in China. This is not necessarily news, but […]