Full Coverage: South Asia

30.11.2007 The Central Park of the Indian capital was lit up by aspirations for peace in the region, as more than 20 organisations celebrated the South Asian Women's Day for peace, justice, human rights and democracy. This was also the spot where Anusheh Adil and her popular band BANGLA played a special piece for the day, as part of the SAARC Band Festival.

30.11.2007 Small salt producers in the Indian western state of Rajasthan are partnering NGOs and the government in the campaign against iodine deficiency disorders. According to the WFP, Nawa now produces iodised salt as per the national standard.

30.11.2007 President Pervez Musharraf in a televised address has said that he intends to lift the emergency on December 16 and urged all to participate in elections scheduled to take place on January 8, 2008. Some political parties in Pakistan plan to boycott the elections, fearing that they would not be fair and transparent.

30.11.2007 An art and photography exhibition in Kathmandu brings to light the difficulties faced by young Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Forced out of their home country with their families in the 1990s, these young people have no memories of Bhutan, yet yearn for a return to their old homes.

29.11.2007 Finally bowing to the pressures from domestic quarters and international community, Gen Pervez Musharraf has stepped down as Pakistan’s army chief. He handed over the charge to his trusted deputy Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kavani in a ceremony held in Rawalpindi.

29.11.2007 Hundreds of Muslim women from across India, along with academics, social experts and parliamentarians, addressed social, livelihood, legal and religious issues of the community at the first annual convention of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) in Delhi. The campaign also called for the implementation of the 2006 Justice Sachar Committee report for better education and employment facilities.

29.11.2007 Meet survivors Lisa and Resma in a photo essay by UNICEF – two nine-year olds in Barisal district, who are working hard with their families to recover what they lost in the devastating storm.

29.11.2007 The XI National Conference on e-Governance in India, to be held on February 7-8, 2008, will focus on the national awards for e-Governance 2007-08. The event will be organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DAR&PG) in collaboration with the Department of Information Technology.

29.11.2007 Organizations and networks across 41 districts of Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest northern state, have come together to campaign on the Domestic Violence Act, as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence.

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.

27.11.2007 Domestic violence in the Russian Federation; sex slavery in India; self-immolation in Central Asian republics; gender-based violence and HIV; and 'compensation' marriages are the five underreported stories used by the UN Population Fund to launch a campaign against gender-based violence.
From: UNFPA

27.11.2007 The national platform for Dalit organizations in India, NACDOR, will hold its second national conference from December 5-8, 2007 in New Delhi. Over a thousand Dalit organizations will participate at NACDOR-II to finalise a comprehensive Dalit agenda, while tackling current challenges to the marginalized communities.

27.11.2007 A group of women is fighting social ills in Banda, one of the poorest, caste-ridden and chauvinistic societies in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Dressed in pink saris, these women fear not to wield sticks on the corrupt when need be.

27.11.2007 Barbarity was at its full display in Guwahati, the capital of Indian eastern state Assam, when a tribal woman after being stripped naked was chased and assaulted during a demonstration pressing for Scheduled Tribe status.

27.11.2007 Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘moment of enlightenment’ has described the act of manual scavenging a spiritual experience for dalits! In India, more than one million people are engaged in this inhuman and degrading form of work, despite a law that prohibits either employment of scavengers or construction of dry latrines.

27.11.2007 Tribal women across the world, often seen as backward and primitive, suffer violence and sexual exploitation at the hands of outsiders who invade their land. As most cases go unreported, such acts of hostility remain hidden from the public gaze.

26.11.2007 A Pakistan based helpline for women and children has released astounding figures of rapes, tortures, killings, honour killings, kidnappings, suicides, etc. It cites more than 4,500 reported cases of abuse against women this year in the country while the figure for the last seven years stands at 55,051.

26.11.2007 Parivartan – working in the area of participatory research, training and networking – is organising a training programme on gender responsive budgeting from December 20-22, 2007 in Indian capital New Delhi. The programme will help development practitioners and other functionaries to take into account gender concerns in policy making, programme development and project implementation.

26.11.2007 Even while 3,000 and more people were killed by the deadly storm, local volunteers shouting warnings about the impending cyclone on loudspeakers saved thousands of lives in Bangladesh. This simple, inexpensive and effective warning model is now inspiring policymakers in developing countries.

26.11.2007 Pakistan has been slapped with yet another suspension under the same regime from the 53-member Commonwealth. Last time it was in 1999, when Musharraf had seized power in a coup. The recent ban has come in the wake of the imposition of emergency and is to be revoked only after democracy and the rule of law are restored.