Global Notes: October 2009

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In Tanzania, increasing girls’ education and mobile phone usage are considered keys to achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Supporting girls’ education is the first step in eliminating poverty, limiting the spread of disease/infection, and reducing fertility rates. Similarly, mobile phone usage allows [female] small business owners to conduct business and banking transactions, receive medical/health information, and become involved in grassroots activism.

In Malawi, before the May 2009 elections, initiatives were launched to increase female electoral participation, both as candidates and as voters. Campaigners launched 50:50, which aimed to fill at least 50% of parliamentary seats with women and provided female candidates with training, start-up money, and media exposure. Although 50:50 did not reach its goal in 2009, 18% of female MP candidates were elected, raising the percentage of women in parliament from 14% to 21% (as compared to 17% in the US Congress).

In 2008, Spain’s Socialist government led by PM Zapatero began introducing an initiative to change its currently restrictive law regarding of on-demand abortions, an action which has caused strong dissonance with the conservative [Roman Catholic] clergy. The new law, expected to be enacted during summer 2009, would permit abortions up to 22 weeks with a doctor's certificate and allow girls over 16 years to have abortions without parental consent.

In South Korea, a group of former prostitutes have accused former government leaders of encouraging them to have sex with American soldiers during WWII. These women have chastised the South Korean government for asking the Japanese government for reparations without taking responsibility for their own role (with the US military) in the creation and maintenance of the sex trade during the 1960s through 1980s, for example, ensuring that during this time, the prostitutes received etiquette and English classes and remained disease-free.

As a reaction to the decriminalization of abortion and other amendments to the city’s abortion laws in Mexico City in 2007 (upheld by supreme court in 2008), 12 out of Mexico’s 32 states have amended their constitutions to recognize a “right to life” beginning at conception. Seven additional state parliaments are in process of approving similar amendments. These legislative changes are the result of a rumored pact between the Mexican Catholic Church and conservative political leaders. An estimated 874,747 induced abortions in Mexico were carried out in 2006* (compared to 1.2 million in the US), most clandestinely.

In Mexico City, new women-only busses allow women to ride public transport harassment free. Women in Mexico City have expressed relief at the availability of seats on these new busses (adorned with pink placards) and the lack of unwanted groping and harassment. These busses are available on 4 bus routes currently, with more routes to incorporate women-only busses into the fleet in the upcoming months. The women-only busses have been met with some criticism, especially from men.

A recent UNFPA report reveals that there is still much to be done regarding the alleviation of poverty and violence against women worldwide. Fast facts from the 2008 State of World report:
-Women and girls are 3/5 of the world’s 1 billion poorest people;
-Women are 2/3 of the 960 million illiterate adults; and
-Girls comprise 70% of the 130 million children without access to education.
UNFPA suggests that cultural sensitivity training may be one answer to help alleviating some of these problems.

According to a recent UNICEF report, women in the developing world are 300x more likely to die in childbirth than women in developed countries. More than half a million women die in childbirth annually, primarily from infection, hemorrhage, or other preventable complications, making it one of the leading causes of death for women. Although many developing countries have reduced mortality rates for children under 5, mother mortality rates have remained constant.

Stephen Lewis, AIDS and gender specialist, stated in an interview that the UN is in process of creating a new billion-dollar women’s agency by 2010. The proposal calls for the consolidation of current UN gender-focused entities: UNIFEM, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women.