United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging religious leaders to prevent religion from being twisted and used to incite hate speech, which is one of the most frequent warning signs of atrocity crimes. Leaders of religions from around the world met at the to launch an action plan against genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
July 15, 2017 - NEW YORK: Voicing concern over the abuse of religion to justify incitement to violence and discrimination, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has underscored the importance of religious leaders in preventing violence and contributing to peace and stability.
"Around the world, we see how religion is being twisted [and] cynically manipulated," stressed the Secretary-General on Friday, speaking at the launch of an initiative to prevent atrocity crimes, which include genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
THESE TWO HISTORIC ARTICLES REFLECT THE VARYING VIEWS OVER YEARS ON A POTENTIAL 5th WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN – TIME WILL TELL!!
ANNE MARIE GOETZ and JOANNE SANDLER - 15 February 2015
The past four World Conferences on Women have galvanized activism and strengthened women's movement building. Now is the time to assess and rethink the decision not to convene a 5th global gathering of women.
An exchange took place last week on Twitter about whether we had more to lose or gain from holding a 5th World Conference on Women. The conversation was sponsored by the international NGO, Gender at Work , and can be seen under the hashtag: #5thwcw. The discussion was triggered by an article that we wrote taht was published on openDemocracy in January, called ‘Women’s rights have no country’.
Women and girls are dying around the world because of abusive partners denying them safe contraception Shutterstock Photo
By John Dunne – July 10, 2017
Thousands of women and girls are dying around the world because of abusive partners denying them safe contraception and abortions, a report reveals today.
Millions are being raped and forced to have multiple pregnancies, according to the research by ActionAid ahead of a summit on family planning in London. The charity helps poor women and girls across the world.
The report gives harrowing case studies of women being raped, abused and denied contraception in dozens of countries including Liberia and Rwanda.
Full Article: http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/07/2-billion-people-dont-access-clean-water-opens-fissures-inequality/
UNITED NATIONS, July 13, 2017 (IPS)- More than two billion people lack access to clean and safe drinking water, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Although significant progress to ensure access to drinking water has been achieved, there is still a long way to go to ensure its quality—deemed free from pollutants and safe for drinking.
“Clean water and sanitation is central to other outcomes, for example, nutrition among children. While many countries like India have made it a top priority, many others haven’t been able to emphasise the issue yet,” Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at UNICEF, told IPS.
“Given the persistence of all forms of violence against women including femicide, fragmented legislative response and the serious lack of comparable data on femicide at a global, regional, and national level, I have called for the establishment of a ‘Femicide watch’ that would contribute to prevention of such violence.”
– Dr. Dubravka Šimonović
Preface
Unless there is accurate and comparable data collection on a given crime, there will be no proper understanding of it and no effective strategy with which to combat it. Having clear data helps law makers and government officials win the public’s support for tackling it through targeted prevention and investigation resources. Femicide has been defined as murder of a woman by an intimate partner or family members and the targeting of women by criminal gangs or as a weapon of war. It has been universally recognised as a crime. But how do horrific crimes of this type so often slip under the radar? Why is it so difficult to collect data on such an abhorrent criminal activity and, subsequently, to arrest the perpetrators?
