Difference between revisions of "Women's NGOs"

From NGO Handbook
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While noting the heightened international awareness of gender issues, the authors maintain that no country has yet managed to eliminate the gender gap. Those that have succeeded best are the Nordic countries, with Sweden standing out as the most advanced in the world. These are followed by New Zealand (6); Canada (7), United Kingdom (8), Germany (9) and Australia (10), countries that have made considerable progress in removing obstacles to the full participation of women in their respective societies. France (13) is ranked ahead of the United States (17) among the 58 nations. Seven East European nations hold places among the top 25, with Latvia (11), Lithuania (12) and Estonia (15) the highest ranking in that group. Switzerland (34), Italy (45) and Greece (50) perform poorly, lower in rank than many East European group, and below Latin American nations such as Costa Rica (18), Colombia (30) and Uruguay (32). Brazil (51) and Mexico (52), India (53), Korea (54), Jordan (55), Pakistan (56), Turkey (57) and Egypt (58) occupy the lowest ranks.  
 
While noting the heightened international awareness of gender issues, the authors maintain that no country has yet managed to eliminate the gender gap. Those that have succeeded best are the Nordic countries, with Sweden standing out as the most advanced in the world. These are followed by New Zealand (6); Canada (7), United Kingdom (8), Germany (9) and Australia (10), countries that have made considerable progress in removing obstacles to the full participation of women in their respective societies. France (13) is ranked ahead of the United States (17) among the 58 nations. Seven East European nations hold places among the top 25, with Latvia (11), Lithuania (12) and Estonia (15) the highest ranking in that group. Switzerland (34), Italy (45) and Greece (50) perform poorly, lower in rank than many East European group, and below Latin American nations such as Costa Rica (18), Colombia (30) and Uruguay (32). Brazil (51) and Mexico (52), India (53), Korea (54), Jordan (55), Pakistan (56), Turkey (57) and Egypt (58) occupy the lowest ranks.  
  
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In its introduction, the study refers to the disheartening but true facts of life for women and girls in different parts of the world. For instance, in many places rape is not considered a crime, goes unpunished and continues to be used as a tool of war. Unbelievably true Even in highly developed countries, violence against women of all kinds is routine, and often condoned. Female sexual slavery and forced prostitution are still terrible “facts of life “ for the poor, often very young women. Genetic testing for defects of the unborn is used in some part of the world to determine the sex of the fetus, so that females can be aborted, while in some countries female infants are buried alive. Forced marriage and bride-burning are still prevalent in the Asian subcontinent. A pregnant woman in Africa is 180 times more likely to die of pregnancy complications than in Western Europe. Women, mostly in rural areas, represent more than two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults. In the United States, 90 percent of AIDS cases under 20 years of age are girls. In many developed countries, where basic gender equality appears to have been achieved, the battlefront has shifted to removing the more intangible discrimination against working women. Women still only hold 15.6 percent of elected parliamentary seats globally.  
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In its introduction, the study refers to the disheartening but true facts of life for women and girls in different parts of the world. For instance, in many places rape is not considered a crime, goes unpunished and continues to be used as a tool of war. Unbelievably true even in highly developed countries, violence against women of all kinds is routine, and often condoned. Female sexual slavery and forced prostitution are still terrible “facts of life “ for the poor, often very young women. Genetic testing for defects of the unborn is used in some part of the world to determine the sex of the fetus, so that females can be aborted, while in some countries female infants are buried alive. Forced marriage and bride-burning are still prevalent in the Asian subcontinent. A pregnant woman in Africa is 180 times more likely to die of pregnancy complications than in Western Europe. Women, mostly in rural areas, represent more than two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults. In the United States, 90 percent of AIDS cases under 20 years of age are girls. In many developed countries, where basic gender equality appears to have been achieved, the battlefront has shifted to removing the more intangible discrimination against working women. Women still only hold 15.6 percent of elected parliamentary seats globally.  
  
 
In recent years NGOs have become ever more prominent and visible in the broad arena of women’s issues and are often seen as the foremost defenders of women's causes. Governments and international organizations increasingly rely on them to implement aid programs and deliver development assistance, supporting NGOs in their capacity to address social and environmental problems with greater efficiency than government agencies. Today, thousands of internationally operating NGOs work for global progress on a diverse agenda that embraces the entirety of women’s quality of life and deliver billions of dollars of assistance annually. In many cases, NGOs have been the first to document horrendous women's rights abuses.
 
In recent years NGOs have become ever more prominent and visible in the broad arena of women’s issues and are often seen as the foremost defenders of women's causes. Governments and international organizations increasingly rely on them to implement aid programs and deliver development assistance, supporting NGOs in their capacity to address social and environmental problems with greater efficiency than government agencies. Today, thousands of internationally operating NGOs work for global progress on a diverse agenda that embraces the entirety of women’s quality of life and deliver billions of dollars of assistance annually. In many cases, NGOs have been the first to document horrendous women's rights abuses.
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In 1997, DAW, in collaboration with United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM and INSTRAW, founded WomenWatch, a central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programs, specialized agencies and academic and research institutions. Originally created to provide Internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, since 1997 the intergovernmental mandate has expanded and the website now also provides information on the outcomes of, as well as efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into follow-up to global conferences.  
 
In 1997, DAW, in collaboration with United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM and INSTRAW, founded WomenWatch, a central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programs, specialized agencies and academic and research institutions. Originally created to provide Internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, since 1997 the intergovernmental mandate has expanded and the website now also provides information on the outcomes of, as well as efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into follow-up to global conferences.  
  
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The United Nations support system also includes the U.N. Department for Health and Human Services Office for Population Affairs and the HHS Office for Women’s Health, both of which work with government agencies, non-profit organizations, consumer groups, and associations of health care professionals to address health care prevention and service delivery, research, public and health care professional education, and career advancement for women in the health professions and in scientific careers. In addition, the UNAIDS joint program on HIV/AIDS, combines the efforts and resources of 10 U.N. system organizations to the global AIDS response. Based in Geneva, it works with UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank.  
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The United Nations support system also includes the U.N. Department for Health and Human Services Office for Population Affairs and the HHS Office for Women’s Health, both of which work with government agencies, non-profit organizations, consumer groups, and associations of health care professionals to address health care prevention and service delivery, research, public and health care professional education, and career advancement for women in the health professions and in scientific careers. In addition, the UNAIDS joint program on HIV/AIDS, combines the efforts and resources of 10 U.N. system organizations to the global AIDS response. Based in Geneva, it works with UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank.
  
 
==Conclusion==
 
==Conclusion==

Latest revision as of 08:51, 5 August 2008

This article is based on an article written for the NGO Handbook by Kate Perchuk titled "Women and Civil Society."


The modern landscape of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) devoted to causes and issues critical to women is the legacy of human rights activism in times of historical crisis and is rooted in the fundamental principles of equality first articulated by philosophers in the age of Enlightenment.

Early women’s rights groups challenged the prevailing social order arguing that all individuals were born with natural rights that made them free and equal; that all inequalities that existed among citizens were the result of an inadequate educational system and an imperfect social environment and that these inequalities would be justly remedied by improved education and more egalitarian social structures.

Among these thinkers was Mary Wollstonecraft, a British author best known for her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which was one of the first to claim that women should have equality with men. The book was inspired by the democratic principles of the French Revolution (1789-1799). Wollstonecraft argues that the quality of women’s lives was directly related to their inferior educational opportunities.

Riding the momentum of the American Revolution, the nascent campaign for women’s rights in the U.S. was born from the passion of patriots with a mission to improve American democracy by helping to deliver on the promise of better, more egalitarian lives for all its citizens, outlined in the Declaration of Independence (adopted on July 4, 1776). A small group of educated women, known to one another through their work in the Abolitionist movement , gathered in a corner of New York State in 1848 to address “the social, civil, and religious conditions and rights of woman,” and invoked the powerful language of the seminal document to make their case. The positions articulated in their “Declaration of Sentiments” echoed the hallowed predecessor: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”


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