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24 March 2015 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM and women's rights
Articles
Nigerian girls who escaped Boko Haram risk their lives to go to school
By CNN, 24 Mar 2015
In a side room at the American University of Nigeria, four girls chat and giggle. One teenage girl in particular catches our attention. She looks familiar. Then we realize why. We met her just a few weeks after Boko Haram had attacked her school and abducted almost 300 students. As the Boko Haram trucks carrying them began to speed away to the militants' territory, she and her friend bravely jumped, barely escaping with their lives. She was one of the lucky ones. School, she says, from that day on became a reminder of what almost happened. A place she never wanted to return. But now she is back and the change in her is remarkable. She dreams of remaining in the classroom as a teacher, so that just like her tutors, she can influence and inspire young minds.
Sierra Leoneans halt genital mutilation amid Ebola fears: UK minister
By Reuters, 20 Mar 2015
The Ebola epidemic that has ravaged West Africa appears to have brought the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) to a near halt in Sierra Leone, a British minister said on Friday. International development minister Lindsay Northover urged donors, aid agencies, campaigners and others to capitalize on the opportunity to make the break permanent. "We are aware that at the moment with the Ebola crisis ... cutting has temporarily stopped," Northover said. "We have to seize this opportunity and see if we can move forward and end FGM," she told a conference on FGM in London.
Women's rights activists alarmed by UK unease over development targets
By The Guardian, 19 Mar 2015
Activists have accused the British government of undermining negotiations on a set of global goals that will shape the development agenda for the next 15 years, sparking fears that crucial commitments for women could be lost. The UK is understood to be unhappy with some of the targets contained in the proposed set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and wants to reopen negotiations. Women’s rights groups said on Thursday that renegotiating the targets at this stage could prompt renewed debate on the inclusion of targets on women’s reproductive rights, still a controversial area for some governments, and violence against women. It could also result in the loss of targets on equitable trade and climate change.
US 1st lady puts focus on empowering girls through education
By The Washington Post, 19 Mar 2015
Education is the starting point for opportunity, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama said Thursday as she and her Japanese counterpart Akie Abe showcased efforts to help girls stay in or return to school. “Like so many women I was able to achieve both my professional and personal goals because of my education,” Mrs. Obama said after Abe announced plans for Japan to support the “Let Girls Learn” project aimed at promoting education for girls in the developing world. “My education is the starting point for every opportunity in my life,” Mrs. Obama said. “When we put limits on women’s lives we stifle their full potential.”