By Richard Dobbs, Corinne Sawers, Fraser Thompson, James Manyika, Jonathan Woetzel, Peter Child, Sorcha McKenna, and Angela Spatharou
Box 1. The complex causes of obesity
The root causes of rising obesity are highly complex, spanning evolutionary, biological, psychological, sociological, economic, and institutional factors. The UK government Foresight research on obesity identified more than 100 variables that directly or indirectly affect obesity outcomes (Exhibit 1).
Because of centuries of food insecurity, human beings have evolved with a biological ability to cope with food scarcity rather than abundance. The human body seeks out energy-dense foods and tries to conserve energy as fat. Hormones that regulate hunger and satiety encourage people to seek extra food when food is scarce but do not seem to have the ability to prevent over-consumption or encourage extra calorie burning when food is abundant. Modern life makes fewer physical demands on many people, who lead less active lifestyles as technology replaces the need for physical labor. With many jobs now sedentary, exercise is a conscious and optional choice.
The Stop the Violence Project (STVP) was a major focus of activity for WWDA over the past 12 months, and an enormous step forward in WWDA’s efforts to address and prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities.
The STVP emerged from WWDA’s long standing commitment to addressing one of the most pressing issues for our membership: violence against women and girls with disabilities in Australia. Managed and implemented by WWDA, in conjunction with a research team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a project team from People with Disabilities Australia (PWDA), the project was national in scope and aligned with the CRPD and the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020. It’s intent was to lay the groundwork for improved service provision by building the evidence-base for future reforms so that the service system is more responsive to the needs of women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of domestic and family violence. The STVP formed one of the Council of Australian Government’s (COAG) Reform projects under the First Action Plan of the Government’s 12 year National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 (the National Plan). The Project addressed two key immediate national initiatives under the First Action Plan, which were specifically focussed on women and girls with disabilities:
Child marriage holds back 15 million girls a year, or about 41,000 a day, denying them fundamental rights and undermining their future. If there is no reduction in child marriage, 1.2 billion girls will marry as children by 2050 – equivalent to the entire population of India.
The resolution marks the first time that UN member states have agreed upon substantive recommendations for the steps that States, international organizations and others must take to address the problem. The resolution situates the issue firmly within the post-2015 development agenda, recognizing the need to give due consideration to the inclusion of a target to end child, early and forced marriage in the final framework.
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly 69/XX. Child, Early and Forced Marriage
Извор: WUNRN – 21.11.2014
A better world – strengthening women`s land rights
Извор: WUNRN – 21.11.2014
One Billion Rising event in New York City, 2013
In this comment, Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, explains why more governments need to sign and ratify the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women.
“Daily headlines tell us that violence against women sadly continues around the world. The Council of Europe makes ending such violence a top priority, because it breeches basic human rights.
One need not look far to comprehend the massive scope of the problem.
Millions of women and girls worldwide experience violence every day. This abuse takes many forms, including intimate physical and sexual partner violence, female genital mutilation, child and forced marriage, sex trafficking, and rape. A just published Lancet Series on Violence against women and girls shows that such abuse is preventable.
