“People can change their attitudes. We have to help them do it.”
Speaking at an inquiry of the UK International Development Committee, Gro Harlem Brundtland discusses what parliamentarians and policy-makers can do to ensure development programming tackles gender-based violence.
“During the decades of civil war, women were never formally invited into the peace talks – but we showed up anyway.”
On International Women’s Day, Hon. Philister Baya Lawiri, Chair of South Sudan’s Civil Service Commission, highlights the missing ingredient needed in the stalled Sudan-South Sudan peace process: the participation of women.
“Violence against women is rooted in deeply ingrained social norms that portray women as less than men.”
Writing on International Women’s Day for Skoll World Forum, Gro Harlem Brundtland argues that to end the violence affecting millions of women worldwide, we must transform the conditions that make this violence possible.
In a development welcomed by child marriage activists, the United States Congress has passed a bill stating that child marriage breaches fundamental human rights – and requiring the US to integrate the prevention of this harmful practice across its development programmes.
“Poverty is day-to-day violence, no less destructive than war.”
Receiving the 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, Ela Bhatt re-examines our idea of peace, arguing that equity, local economies and the empowerment of women through work are central to supporting economic freedoms, and therefore peace.
From the women peace-builders telling senior African Union officials “enough is enough” to the activists demanding justice for victims of sexual violence: Mary Robinson blogs about the inspiring women she met during her recent visit to Addis Ababa.
“It is ambitious to say that we can end child marriage by 2030, but I am convinced it is possible.”
Writing for Impatient Optimists, Gro Harlem Brundtland argues that including an end to child marriage in the UN’s new development goals would do much to empower girls, provide them with opportunities and ensure their well-being.
Mary Robinson has been in Addis Ababa for the binannual meeting of the Gender is My Agenda Campaign, to meet Sudanese and South Sudanese women leaders, and stress the importance of involving women in the peace process between the two nations.
“To be successful in eradicating child marriage by 2030, there is no village, no township, no corner of this great continent that should not hear the message that child marriage can end.”
Following a meeting with Girls Not Brides member organisations from across Africa last year, Graça Machel urges African civil society to unite in their efforts to end child marriage.
"Since the first sparks of the revolution, women have defied national stereotypes."
Emad Karim, a young Egyptian who took part in a debate with the Elders during their visit to Cairo in October 2012, blogs about the challenges facing women in Egypt's patriarchal society, arguing that men and boys should be actively involved in the campaign for equality.
