22 September 2020 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & Women's Rights

Articles

Cameroonian refugees situation SGBV report (January - June 2020)
ReliefWeb, 21 Sep 2020

Sexual and Gender Based Violence continue to remain a key protection concern in the Cameroonian operation which holds 58,415 refugees as at end of June with children making up to 52% while adult men and women accounted for 45% and elderly 3% of the total population. Out of the total population it should be noted that host communities registered the highest population of 54% while refugees in the settlements were 46%. Since 2019, UNHCR, government line ministries and its protection implementing partners have increased efforts to address issues of SGBV across the three states of Cross River, Benue and Taraba. 

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Midwives fight medicalization of FGM as they lead the campaign to end the practice
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 20 Sep 2020

Falastin Said, from Garowe, Puntland, has practised as a midwife for 30 years. She serves as a board member of the Puntland Association of Midwives (PAM). "FGM is a deeply rooted cultural practice in Somalia, and my community isn’t spared. Families are now seeking medicalization of FGM as the campaign on ending FGM is getting stronger,” says Ms. Said. Medicalization of FGM refers to the practice being carried out by any category of health care provider, whether in a public or a private clinic, at home or elsewhere. It also includes the procedure of infibulation at any point in time in a woman’s life. UNFPA indicates that FGM can never be “safe,” and there is no medical justification for the practice. 

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Women’s leadership and decision-making has never been more urgent, say women leaders from across the world
UN Women , 19 Sep 2020

At a global, virtual intergenerational event co-hosted by UN Women, the Government of Mexico and the Council of Women World Leaders, in collaboration with the Generation Equality Forum, women leaders convened to discuss the importance of diverse and inclusive feminist leadership.UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasised the importance of inclusive and feminist leadership. “Women understand what it is like to be excluded and therefore how important it is to be included,” said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka. “That motivates and challenges women leaders, to make space for more women, for diverse women, because it is not entrusting to be the first woman at this or the first woman that. We need as many of us as possible if we are to make the changes that are required.”
 

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Afghan Women Win Fight for Their Own Identity
Human Rights Watch, 18 Sep 2020

Afghanistan’s president has signed a new law that will, for the first time, include mothers’ names on their children’s birth certificates and identification cards. The law is a major victory for Afghan women’s rights activists, who for several years have campaigned for both parents to be named under the social media hashtag #WhereIsMyName. The reform will have important real-life consequences, making it easier for women to obtain education, health care, and passports and other documentation for their children, and to travel with their children. It will be especially significant for women who are widowed, divorced, separated, or dealing with abusive partners.
 

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'Women's Rights are Human Rights,' 25 years on
National Geographic , 15 Sep 2020

 When Hillary Rodham Clinton approached the podium at a United Nations conference on women in September 1995 in Beijing, she faced an uncertain audience. Only a few people had read the speech, which was a well-guarded secret even to high-ranking members of the president’s cabinet. Twenty-five years later, a single phrase from Clinton’s speech has entered mainstream parlance: “Women’s rights are human rights.” The concept wasn’t new. But the excitement and energy that Clinton’s speech generated at the Fourth World Conference on Women helped elevate the idea to one that fuels modern feminism and international efforts to achieve gender parity.

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