Full Coverage: Religion

07.05.2008 Durgabai Deshmukh Award winner Daud Sharifa Khanam from southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu provided Muslim women a platform to challenge the oppressive patriarchal system. For this, she has had to face the ire of Muslim clerics. She was hated, abused and threatened but she never gave up the fight.

19.03.2008 A prime issue that chokes the political health of troubled Pakistan is that not all of its able citizens are allowed to vote...

17.03.2008 Tired of living in a world governed by marriage laws formulated and implemented by men, Muslim women in India have come out with their own Nikahnama. It recognises their right to seek divorce and other entitlements so that they are the masters of their own destiny.

12.03.2008 Communalism as an ideology in India is surging forward despite the presence of an avowedly secular government at the centre. There may not have been spectacular occurrences of violence since the new government came to power in 2004, but minorities continue to live in an atmosphere of insecurity.

07.03.2008 Development agencies lack funds for successful reintegration, says UN Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy. Rehabilitation of child soldiers goes beyond the act of demobilisation from armies. Faith organisations and education can help communities receive these children back into their fold, says she.

14.01.2008 Critical of its existing policies, the Afghan government is now trying to transform its religious schools by widening their syllabus. The move is seen as an attempt to regain its past historic glory as students will be taught history, geography, science, languages - and computer studies, apart the teachings of Islam.

08.01.2008 KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 (IPS) - In a move that may hurt Malaysia's multi-religious social fabric the government has announced that certain Arabic words like 'Allah' cannot be used in the literature, gospel, and speeches of non-Muslim faiths.

07.12.2007 An NGO group in Bali is taking advantage of the international climate change conference on the Indonesian island to press for a Global Day of Silence.

28.11.2007 Around 15 organisations, on November 27, held a silent protest at New Delhi’s cultural hub Mandi House in support of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who has been in exile since 1994. Living in eastern Indian city of Kolkata since 2003, she had to recently move out when under pressure from Muslim fundamentalists, the West Bengal government forced her to leave at once.

05.11.2007 Jesuit presence in Afghanistan is helping speed up this war-ravaged country’s development process while also building understanding and faith between Indians and Afghans.

01.11.2007 Religious fundamentalism and its impact on women was much debated at the recent Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights being held at Hyderabad, India. Acts of violence ranging from honour killings to marital rape have been borne by women in times of both war and peace.

31.10.2007 "Da un'Europa sconvolta dai recenti conflitti nei Balcani ad un Europa che, valorizzando etnie, lingue e religioni, sappia cogliere le tante opportunità anche attraverso l'allargamento dell'Unione". E' questo l'appello che è emerso dalle relatrici alla Conferenza internazionale promossa venerdì scorso a Bolzano dalla World Social Agenda nell'ambito della manifestazione "Libera Europa–Freies Europa". La conferenza ha concluso il ciclo di riflessione quadriennale sui continenti nei quali donne dell'Africa, America Latina, dell'Asia, dell’Europa dell’Est e dei Balcani hanno presentato le loro attività e la loro visione di un mondo "diverso, multiplo, mescolato". Dal prossimo anno, la World Social Agenda proporrà percorsi, dibattiti e eventi a Padova, Trento e Bolzano sugli "Obiettivi del Millennio" proposti dall'Onu.

26.10.2007 Social exclusion results in lower development outcomes, deprivations, poverty and contributes to the non achievements of vital human and economic development goals. A two-day national conference being held in the Indian capital, New Delhi, organised by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, is engaged in addressing these critical issues.

02.10.2007 NEW YORK, Oct 2 (OneWorld) - An Islamic humanitarian group held a nationwide campaign this weekend to assist tens of thousands of homeless people.

28.09.2007 If you are an American evangelical Christian you’ll presumably think Jesus Camp chronicles an excellent development – teaching young children to be foot soldiers in God’s army. Everyone else will be disturbed.

28.09.2007 UNITED NATIONS, Sep 27 (OneWorld) - UN officials and human rights activists warned Israel Thursday against its plans to close its borders with the West Bank over the next several days.

14.08.2007

10.08.2007

24.06.2007

16.05.2007 A group of Macedonian non-governmental organizations give their full support and solidarity to Iso Rusi, journalist and president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Macedonia, related to the attacks and threats that the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) sent to his address provoked by his recent op-ed, titled “Gospodin Gospodin Thaqi” (Gospodin Gospodin is the official title of the archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church), published in “Koha” daily newspaper.