Showing posts with label Gender Equality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gender Equality. Show all posts

Monday, October 2, 2023

New NFTs on Midnight Angels and Brave Girls of the Night

New #NFTs

1. Midnight Angels
2. Brave Girls of the Night 1
3. Brave Girls of the Night 2
(the third and fourth will be minted tomorrow).

I have been creating NFT #series on #women showing their challenges in life from the V for Vivian series to THE MATRIX WOMAN series and today I started the Brave Girls of the Night series.

I call them Storytelling NFTs.
The "Scars of Vivian" on the true life cases of women in abusive relationships, failed marriages and domestic violence is most likely going to have a film adaptation for international release. An art collector of NFT artworks has selected it with four othes which are among my most special NFTs, including "Ethereum Rising".
I am creating these NFTs with the film adaptations on my mind.

#Vivian
#women
#relationship
#marriage
#love
#sex
#domesticviolence
#genderequality
#freedom
#storytelling
#film
#filmadaptation

View them on the Algorand #blockchain on
https://nftmyimage.com/@nigeriadaily

Monday, September 11, 2023

European Union (EU) Flagship Programme To End Violence Against Women Worldwide Shows Limited Impact So Far

 

PRESS RELEASE

European Union (EU) Flagship Programme To End Violence Against Women Worldwide Shows Limited Impact So Far

The €500 million Spotlight Initiative has been an ambitious attempt by the European Commission, together with the UN, to ensure that women and girls around the world live free from violence and harmful practices

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg, September 11, 2023/ -- Almost one third of the €500 million in EU funding for the “Spotlight Initiative” went to its management by the United Nations; The initiative did not achieve its objective of attracting additional funding from new donors; Auditors call for better value for money and note risks to the sustainability of the activities.

The €500 million Spotlight Initiative has been an ambitious attempt by the European Commission, together with the UN, to ensure that women and girls around the world live free from violence and harmful practices. However, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors, this flagship EU programme for combating sexual and gender-based violence has shown little impact to date in terms of improving the situation of those it is intended to help. Despite positive achievements, the auditors found that the initiative could be managed more efficiently and could provide better value for money, as well as increasing the share of funding that reaches final beneficiaries to help more women and girls.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global strategic partnership between the EU and the UN to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in partner countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean. Initially launched in 2017 for a period of four years, it was extended to the end of 2023 due to delays.

“Violence against women and girls has no place in the world, and no woman or girl should be left behind,” said Bettina Jakobsen, the ECA member in charge of the report. “Through the Spotlight Initiative, the EU has put more money than ever into ending such abuse, but more should reach final beneficiaries and we still need to see more impact.”

The auditors acknowledge that the initiative has benefited women and girls globally and helped to address violence. For instance, it has supported activities to prevent violence against women and girls, such as training and awareness campaigns, and services to victims of violence in all African and Latin American countries, albeit to different degrees and with varying levels of success. However, the initiative’s set-up only allows for a limited assessment of performance. Moreover, given its short time span and the fact that data are incomplete, it has not yet been possible to measure the improvement for beneficiaries, such as victims of violence or participants in training courses, and it is difficult to assess the extent to which it has achieved its intended results. There is no evidence that violence against women and girls has fallen in the countries covered.

External and internal factors led to challenges and delays in implementation. These included not only the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and domestic political changes, but also complex governance arrangements due to the number of UN organisations involved. The Commission’s choice of the UN as its implementing partner was a political decision in support of multilateralism. However, the UN’s costs of administering the initiative totalled $155 million (i.e. 31 % of the initiative’s total budget), leaving $351 million for the implementing partners and beneficiaries. Although the EU’s executive was aware that UN involvement entailed higher costs, it did not thoroughly compare the alternatives.

Despite being the sole funder, the EU has not always been given sufficient credit for funding visibility. Moreover, although the EU’s contribution was intended as seed funding to attract additional investors, no new donors have been found, and so results may not be sustained. The auditors also stress that the programme is not long enough to create lasting change on a complex issue which requires long-term actions and additional resources.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Note to Editors:

The purpose of this press release is to convey the main messages of the European Court of Auditors’ special report. The full report is available at ECA.Europa.eu.

Press contact:

ECA press office:

press@eca.europa.eu

Damijan Fišer:

damijan.fiser@eca.europa.eu

M: (+352) 621 552 224

Claudia Spiti:

claudia.spiti@eca.europa.eu

M: (+352) 691 553 547

Vincent Bourgeais:

vincent.bourgeais@eca.europa.eu

M: (+352) 691 551 502

Background:

The Spotlight Initiative is founded on the ‘Theory of Change’ and its six pillars supporting policies and legislation, institutions, prevention, services, data, and women’s movements. This approach is complemented by the “leaving no one behind” principle, including measures to focus on marginalised populations. The initiative receives EU funding of €497 million (€250 million for Africa alone), €465 million of which is managed by the UN in more than 26 countries on four continents. The remaining €32 million is managed by the EU through civil society organisations; other donors have committed only symbolic amounts. An estimated one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15. According to data from the Initiative, in some countries the share of people who think it is justifiable for a man to beat his partner fell in 2021, but the figure actually went up in some Latin American and African countries. In Latin America, none of the supported programmes recorded a fall in cases of femicide.

ECA special report 21/2023 “The Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls – ambitious but so far with limited impact” is available on the ECA’s website (ECA.Europa.eu).

SOURCE

European Court of Auditors (ECA)



Tuesday, March 8, 2011

International Women's Day, 2011: Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality



(In memory of my beloved mother Gladys Eke, one of the greatest women God created.)

100th Anniversary of International Women's Day



7 Mar 2011 11:00 Africa/Lagos

International Women's Day, 2011: Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, March 7, 2011

NEW YORK, March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a message by Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women:

A hundred years ago today, women across the world took an historic step on the long road to equality. The first ever International Women's Day was called to draw attention to the unacceptable and often dangerous working conditions that so many women faced worldwide. Although the occasion was celebrated in only a handful of countries, it brought over one million women out onto the streets, demanding not just better conditions at work but also the right to vote, to hold office and to be equal partners with men.

I suspect those courageous pioneers would look at our world today with a mixture of pride and disappointment. There has been remarkable progress as the last century has seen an unprecedented expansion of women's legal rights and entitlements. Indeed, the advancement of women's rights can lay claim to be one of the most profound social revolutions the world has seen.

One hundred years ago, only two countries allowed women to vote. Today, that right is virtually universal and women have now been elected to lead Governments in every continent. Women, too, hold leading positions in professions from which they were once banned. Far more recently than a century ago, the police, courts and neighbors still saw violence in the home as a purely private matter. Today two-thirds of countries have specific laws that penalize domestic violence and the United Nations Security Council now recognizes sexual violence as a deliberate tactic of war.

But despite this progress over the last century, the hopes of equality expressed on that first International Women's Day are a long way from being realized. Almost two out of three illiterate adults are women. Girls are still less likely to be in school than boys. Every 90 seconds of every day, a woman dies in pregnancy or due to childbirth-related complications despite us having the knowledge and resources to make birth safe.

Across the world, women continue to earn less than men for the same work. In many countries, too, they have unequal access to land and inheritance rights. And despite high-profile advances, women still make up only 19 per cent of legislatures, 8% of peace negotiators, and only 28 women are heads of state or government.

It is not just women who pay the price for this discrimination. We all suffer for failing to make the most of half the world's talent. We undermine the quality of our democracy, the strength of our economies, the health of our societies and the sustainability of peace. This year's focus of International Women's Day on women's equally access to education, training, science and technology underscores the need to tap this potential.

The agenda to secure gender equality and women's rights is a global agenda, a challenge for every country, rich and poor, north and south. It was in recognition of both its universality and the rewards if we get this right that the United Nations brought together four existing organizations to create UN Women. The goal of this new body, which I have the great privilege to lead, is to galvanize the entire UN system so we can deliver on the promise of the UN Charter of equal rights of men and women. It is something I have fought for my whole life.

As a young mother and a pediatrician, I experienced the struggles of balancing family and career and saw how the absence of child care prevented women from paid employment. The opportunity to help remove these barriers was one of the reasons I went into politics. It is why I supported policies that extended health and childcare services to families and prioritized public spending for social protection.

As President, I worked hard to create equal opportunities for both men and women to contribute their talents and experiences to the challenges facing our country. That is why I proposed a Cabinet that had an equal number of men and women.

As Executive Director of UN Women, I want to use my journey and the collective knowledge and experience all around me to encourage progress towards true gender equality across the world. We will work, in close partnership, with men and women, leaders and citizens, civil society, the private sector and the whole UN system to assist countries to roll out policies, programs and budgets to achieve this worthy goal.

I have seen myself what women, often in the toughest circumstances, can achieve for their families and societies if they are given the opportunity. The strength, industry and wisdom of women remain humanity's greatest untapped resource. We simply cannot afford to wait another 100 years to unlock this potential.

About the author: Michelle Bachelet is the first Executive Director of UN Women, a newly formed UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. She is the former President of Chile.



SOURCE UN Women
NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos available upon request.

CONTACT: Gretchen Luchsinger, +1-212-906-6506, Cell: +1-201-736-2945, gretchen.luchsinger@unwomen.org

Web Site: http://www.unwomen.org



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8 Mar 2011
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14:00 CARE Supporters Rally to Mark 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day and Speak Out on Development Issues
14:00 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day Celebrated with 100 Events Across the Country
13:37 Leading Women ChangemakeHERS Reveal Blueprints for Action
13:02 Bare Escentuals Launches Spring Foundation Campaign
7 Mar 2011
20:00 On 100th Anniversary of Women's Day, Chai Ling Reminds U.S. Businesses, Leaders and Citizens to Remember History and Current Plight of China's Women
19:11 For International Women's Day, Honor the Inspirational Women in Your Life by Helping Other Women Around the World
19:09 InterCasino Promotions Lead the Slots Revolutions
18:44 Record 128 Million of World's Poorest Received a Microloan in 2009
13:21 International Women's Day, 2011 / Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality / Message by Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women
16:01 Deloitte International Women's Day Poll: Targets Necessary to Accelerate Advancement of Professional Women
12:37 Reese Witherspoon Launches the Avon Women's Empowerment Bracelet to Honor the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day
12:31 Zambian Women Celebrated on Special Day of Equality
11:00 International Women's Day, 2011: Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality




Tuesday, August 17, 2010

7 of 10 LGBT Americans Say U.S. Remains Far from Gender Equality

7 Aug 2010 12:07 Africa/Lagos


7 of 10 LGBT Americans Say U.S. Remains Far from Gender Equality

90 Years After Enacting Women's Suffrage, LGBT Americans See Greater Evidence of Inequalities Still Facing 21st Century Women

NEW YORK, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1920, 144 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, women in the United States achieved the right to vote. Ninety years later, the issues of gender equality remain debated and unresolved.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO )
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO )

Among all American adults, 63% agree that the U.S. still has a long way to go to reach complete gender quality. While three-quarters of women (74%) agree with this, so do just over half of men (52%). By comparison, when this question is posed to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults, 73% say the U.S. still has a long way to go, including 95% of lesbians (an especially notable finding when compared with 74% of heterosexual females.)
When querying whether things are fine between men and women, the nation is split - just over half of Americans (52%) disagree that things are fine between the genders while 43% say things are fine. But men and women have a different take on the situation with over half of men (55%) believing things are fine compared to just one-third (32%) of women who say the same.


However, when these overall findings are contrasted with the attitudes of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender adults, the differences become even sharper. Only 22% of lesbians (and 32% of gay men) suggest that things are fine between genders, as well as only one-third or 34% of all LGBT adults sampled.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,412 adults surveyed online between June 14 and 21, 2010 by Harris Interactive including 341 adults who self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender by Harris Interactive, a global market research and consulting firm, in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with special expertise in the LGBT market. [Please note that this survey was designed to measure the general attitudes and beliefs of American adults about the changing roles of men and women in society - and not specifically about issues surrounding gender identity and expression nor about continued discrimination towards transgender Americans.]
Whether the issue of gender equality should be addressed is another question in these times with so many other pressing concerns. Three-quarters of U.S. adults (74%) agree that they do not think gender equality is perfect, but there are more pressing issues to fix first. And men and women are in agreement on this (74% of men agree as do 75% of women). A smaller majority (59%) of LGBT adults agrees that while gender equality is not perfect, there are other priorities requiring attention.


Women and Work
Some of the discrepancies the still unratified Equal Rights Amendment was intended to correct were chronic inequities in the workplace among men and women. Seven in ten Americans (69%) say that women often do not receive the same pay as men for doing exactly the same job; which rises to nearly eight in ten (79%) LGBT Americans.
Three in five of all U.S. adults (62%) and 72% of LGBT adults agree that women are often discriminated against in being promoted for supervisory and executive jobs. Women are much more likely than men to agree with this but almost half of men also agree with both sentiments. Four in five women (80%) and 96% of lesbians agree that women often do not receive the same pay for the same job compared to 58% of men (71% of gay men). Three out of four women (yet 93% of lesbians) agree women are discriminated against in their promotions compared to 48% of all men (and 69% of gay men).


For LGBT Americans, do these findings sound familiar?
In ninety years many things have changed for women in this country simply beginning with the right to vote. And some may argue things are better, but there is still the undercurrent that there are issues, especially when it comes to pay and employment, where things have not yet approached an equal footing with men.
Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, which specializes in LGBT marketing and trends, notes that, "LGBT Americans, who most likely recognize the consequences of their own workplace and social inequities are especially sensitive to perceived discrimination in all forms. For gay Americans, these may be life lessons that mirror their own experiences - and demonstrate that the divide today between men and women remains as real as the evidence of unfair and unequal treatment still shown to women in public life."
TABLE 1
GENDER EQUALITY TODAY
"On another subject, August of this year will mark the 90th
anniversary of women receiving the right to vote in the United
States.
How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about
gender equality in the United States


Click here for more Details.