A delegation of six youth leaders and women activists from Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Kurdistan, and Syria participated at the 2012 International Forum of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, held in Istanbul, Turkey from the 19-22 of April to share voices and perspectives on women’s advancement and priorities for gender equality. The delegation, sponsored by […]
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“This year, in the Arab world, discourse changed from a “spring” and a revolutionary moment, to a chilling winter promising a difficult path ahead.” – Ghadeer Malek It may have seemed rather clear to followers of the news that, while women in the Middle East and North Africa played a prominent role in last year’s […]
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The rise of religious fundamentalisms is having a profound impact on rights, in every sense, in every region of the world, from Sudan to the United States. If you think you’re free of it, think again. In the panel, “Ongoing Dilemmas: Religion, fundamentalisms and human rights,” human rights advocates and progressive religious representatives discussed the ways […]
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By Pinar Ilkkaracan. In the aftermath of the Arab spring the “Turkish model” is being held out as an optimistic scenario for democratisation with an Islamic framework. In conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti, women’s rights and gender activist Pinar Ilkkaracan puts Turkey’s record under scrutiny – and finds it wanting DK: The more optimistic commentators on the […]
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Jessica Horn. In conversation with Jessica Horn, a leading Malian women’s rights activist identifies the roots of the crisis in Mali, and the opportunistic use of the crisis by Malian and international Islamic fundamentalists to gain a popular foothold in the north of the country Jessica Horn: Were there any early warnings that this crisis […]
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Fatou Guèye. After a quarter century of armed conflict, and a socio-economic fabric reduced to shreds, women in Casamance, Senegal, are winning the right to access land and rebuild peace, says Fatou Guèye Ziguinchor is a region in Casamance in the south of Senegal that is separated from the rest of the country by Gambia. […]
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CYNTHIA COCKBURN If one thing holds the overall movement of peace movements together it is the goal of violence reduction. There’s a shared conviction that violence is a choice, that there exists, much more often than commonly supposed, a more violent and a less violent course of action Can we justifiably speak of a global […]
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YAKIN ERTURK. Women’s human rights discourse and movements have become entangled within a culture-versus-rights dualism. Yakin Ertürk argues that this is a false dualism which serves both private patriarchy and public patriarchy of neo-liberal globalisation The 1990’s was a remarkable period in experiencing the unravelling of a world order that has characterised much of the […]
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Lisa Anderson. The uncertain fate of women’s rights in the turbulent Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region emerged as one of the most pressing concerns on the agenda for the 12th International Forum of the Association For Women’s Rights In Development (AWID), which launched a four-day run in Istanbul on Wednesday. “It takes a lot of […]
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Zainah Anwar (PHOTO SUNDAY’S ZAMAN, KÜRŞAT BAYHAN). In many countries of the Middle East, women are wondering what the Arab Spring means for them. Some observers are concerned that the power vacuum will leave the door open for Islamist groups to take power and force changes opposing women’s rights. Zainah Anwar, a leading Malaysian social […]
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“Democratic elections did not result in democratic actors who upheld women’s rights,” said Lina Abou-Habib, President of The Association for Women Rights in Development (AWID), encapsulating the Arab revolutions at the opening plenary of their 2012 conference. Two thousand women development activists participated in the Istanbul conference of AWID. The opening plenary zeroed in on […]
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Coverage in the mainstream Turkish media was minimal during the 12th Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) forum held in İstanbul on April 19-22. The major gathering brought together some 2,500 global civil society activists, donor agencies and development experts from some 140 countries. No television cameras were in sight as participants gathered at […]
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In all countries of the world there are cultural practices that hinder and in some cases prevent women’s and entire communities’ full enjoyment of their human rights. Different forms of gender-based violence are commonly justified in the name of culture, tradition or religion. Agendas grounded in the political manipulation of religion or culture often work […]
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Why and how did verse 4:34, and not other verses in the Qur’an, become the foundation for the legal construction of marriage? Why areqiwamah and wilayah still the basis of gender relations in the imagination of modern-day jurists and Muslims who resist and denounce equality in marriage as alien to Islam? How can we Muslim women reconstruct the […]
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Militarism, Violence & Conflict
Labour & Work
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Financial Flows
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Private Sector and Corporate Power
Culture and Religion
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