Full Coverage: Gender

30.04.2008 BANGKOK, Apr 29 (IPS) - As if the burdens they shoulder are not enough, Asia's women are being compelled to bear the additional weight of rising food prices, say women's rights activists from across the region.

29.04.2008 Women are the worst hit by the ongoing food crisis in Asia. According to Committee for Asian Women (CAW), female workers are compelled to take additional jobs in the informal sector, where there are no steady wages or social benefits.

29.04.2008 In a country where millions of girls are deprived of learning opportunities, UNICEF along with Afghanistan Girls’ Education Initiative (AGEI) has roped in young people to advocate the cause of female education. Called the ‘Young Champions’, these men and women interact with communities to promote gender equality in schooling.

23.04.2008 UNESCOÂ’s Global Monitoring Report: Education for All by 2015? Will we make it? provides a mid-term assessment of where the world stands on its commitment to provide basic education for all. The report stresses on the need to make education more inclusive through adequately financed and targeted measures.

22.04.2008 To counter human trafficking, Indian government with support from UN agency on drugs and crime has released a manual for Delhi Police. The manual guides policemen to deal strictly with the crime and also talks of bringing about an attitudinal change so as not to subject the victims to further indignities.

22.04.2008 WomenÂ’s contribution to the economy and society remains largely unrecognised, underpaid and unpaid in most cases. The need for women to secure land and property is even more critical now, writes Dr Vibhuti Patel of SNDT WomenÂ’s University, Mumbai, India.

22.04.2008 Kristine Pearson, chief executive of Freeplay Foundation, is the creator of the wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radio, the first such initiative in the humanitarian sector. She emphasises the use of renewable and clean energy solutions to improve access to communication for the poor.

18.04.2008 Indian NGO Jagori, a womenÂ’s training and resource centre is organising a two week training programme at Kangra, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The course aims to equip rural youth with skills to build a just and gender-sensitive society.

18.04.2008 BBC World is showing seven-part investigative series: Women on the Frontline, focusing on gender violence. The films have been made with the support of several UN agencies. One in three women worldwide suffer from brutalities often at the hands of their own family members and threaten them more than cancer, malaria or war.

16.04.2008 They may be washing others' dirty linen now, but the women do not mind it. Swift Wash, a laundry project started by local NGO Arz in Goa brings dignity and hope to rehabilitated sex workers in this western state of India.

15.04.2008 NEW YORK, Apr 15 (OneWorld) - A new coalition of U.S.-based rights groups says it plans to spend over $1 billion on projects to help women fight poverty in many parts of the world.

14.04.2008 In India's business capital, an NGO Sanmitra helps HIV positive women ensure a life of independence and dignity by making them re-enter the mainstream workforce. The organisationÂ’s thrust is on HIV prevention, care and support to the affected and infected people.

11.04.2008 Climate change can cause rise in malaria and diarrhea, the global killers of children. Fall in crop productivity and water availability will also severely impact the lives of women and children, warned UNICEF on the occasion of World Health Day 2008.

10.04.2008 ASUNCION, Apr 10 (IPS) - For the first time in Paraguayan history, a woman is running for president in the elections on Apr. 20, as the candidate of the Colorado Party, which has governed this country continuously for 61 years.

07.04.2008 What often goes unreported in the mainstream media, finds a place in Khabar Lahariya, a truly peopleÂ’s newspaper run by Dalit women in Chitrakoot in northern India. Despite their lack of education, these women journalists cover politics, development and a range of issues read by all sections of society.

03.04.2008 Thanks to the support of the DMK federation of Dalit land rights and Action Aid, the women of Kattiupaiyur, Tamil Nadu, India have reclaimed what once belonged to the oppressed community. Eight years of struggle have made them proud owners of land that they now dream of passing on to their daughters.

03.04.2008 Determined to improve its gender development index, Bangladesh government has devised a policy for all round development of its women. The policy envisions their empowerment in the political, social, administrative and economic spheres. Muslim clerics are but peeved that this might violate Sharia law.

01.04.2008 ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ is an old adage. Three stories of incredible courage and resilience in the face of adversity are just illustrations of numerous other women in rural India who are putting up a brave fight against poverty, diseases, societal attitudes, bureaucratic apathies, physical attacks and so on.