Press Releases
UN Women Born! Civil Society Celebrates Creation of Gender Equality Entity After Four Years of Advocacy
New York
30 June 2010
The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign celebrates the United Nations General Assembly resolution, agreed to on 30 June and to be formally adopted by the General Assembly on Friday, 2 July, to establish “UN Women”—the new gender equality entity at the UN. This move has been sought by women’s organizations and other civil society organizations around the world since the UN established a System-Wide Coherence Panel for UN Reform in 2006.
Brochures Printed in Braille for the Blind to Raise their Awareness on the Law of Protection against Domestic Violence
In an initiative, the first of its kind in Jordan and neighboring Arab countries, the General Federation of the Young Women's Christian Associations (YWCA) of Jordan, in cooperation with the Cultural Forum for the Blind, and supported by Al-Karama Organization, launched posters and brochures, printed in Braille, explaining the provisions of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence No. 6 of the year 2008 and the procedures of protection contained therein. Provisions were simplified by experts in law and representatives of civil society organizations, both blind and sighted, to be accessible to affected groups and parties that ensure the protection of families.
Progress Report on Realm Work in Jordan
The Karama movement in Jordan signed agreements with the working groups in charge of these realms to implement their proposed solutions to ending violence and discrimination against women at the national level. After initial disbursement of funds for action plans in Jordan, the implementing groups reported on their progress in achievement of project objectives in the realms of economics, politics and law, during the first phase of each group’s projects.
Following is an update on progress at the ground level in Jordan detailed by realm.
Economic Realm
Promoting the societal awareness of the importance of women’s participation in the economic field.
Project Objectives
The project aims at achieving the following targets:
- Raising societal awareness of the importance of women’s participation in the economic domain.
Launching the Activities of the Realms
Karama supports many national action plans promoted by our partners in the education, law, culture, media and economic realms in order to study the socio-economic dimensions of violence against women and analyze its manifestations in society in all fields, These initiatives are key in cultivating social forces to challenge violence against women and empower women to participate as a major party in this confrontation.
After holding several preliminary meetings to discuss the action plans and drafting of the work protocol among partner organizations in each realm, Karama partners carried out several activities. The following shares details of work proposed, developed and implemented with Karama’s support, listed by realm.
Economic Realm
Measuring the Economic Cost of Violence against women
Karama's Oral Statement at the 54th Commission on the Status of Women
The following is the text of Karama's oral statement, which was approved for a High Level Plenary at the 54th Commission on the Status of Women:
On behalf of the Middle East Caucus, we commend and welcome the Commission’s call for the intensification of efforts by governments to fully implement the Beijing Platform for Action 15 years after its adoption by 189 governments, CEDAW and its Optional Protocol, the Millennium Development Goals, and other international standards to enact gender equality and women’s empowerment. There still remains a wide gap between the commitments made by Arab governments to these international agreements and their implementation.
Karama Brings Arab Perspective to the UN Commission on the Status of Women
NEW YORK, NY, March 4, 2010 – On March 3, Karama and UNIFEM convened a one-day
conference attended by more than 100 people at the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to present a detailed review of progress towards the gender equality goals set fifteen years ago in the Beijing Platform for Action and after ten years of the Millennium Development Goals and 30 years of CEDAW implementation.
Join Karama at the United Nations
This week, Karama’s delegation of 32 women from around the Arab world is headed to the UN in New York to participate in the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
During the session, Karama’s team will join women’s activists from around the world to present a detailed review of progress towards fulfilling the gender equality goals set fifteen years ago in the Beijing Platform for Action and ten years ago in the Millennium Development Goals.
Our delegation will present the Arab Regional NGO Shadow Report on Beijing+15 to illuminate the gains and gaps in fulfillment of major international conventions and goals in the region.
These interventions will culminate in a one-day conference on March 3rd, hosted in partnership with UNIFEM to allow our delegates and other experts to share analysis, recommendations and strategies for future advocacy in fulfilling international standards of gender equality.
Karama Delegates Speak Out at CEDAW Session
CAIRO, EGYPT, February 16, 2010 – From January 15 to February 5 Karama sponsored a delegation of three representatives from Egyptian women’s rights groups to participate in the forty-fifth session on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) treaty held in Geneva.
The CEDAW treaty, first adopted in 1979, calls for regular reports by signatory governments to track progress towards implementing the agreement, and encourages NGOs and other civil society organizations to contribute to these progress reports.
Karama’s delegation this year consisted of Dr. Hoda Badran, Chairperson of the Alliance for Arab Women, Dr. Fatema Khafagy, head of the Ombudsperson Office of Egypt’s National Council for Women, and Dr. Azza Kamel, president and founder of Appropriate Communication Tools for Development (ACT Egypt).
Regional Beijing+15 NGO Shadow Report Issued by Women’s Rights Experts
On December 13-14, in Cairo, Egypt, the Alliance for Arab Women, Karama and UNIFEM held a regional consultation meeting to evaluate the achievements and challenges faced in the Arab region since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 by 185 states at the UN World Conference on Women. The regional meeting included 235 women’s rights leaders and civil society representatives from fourteen countries and concluded by outlining future priorities in the Arab region towards the fulfillment of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Fifteen years later, the Beijing + 15 regional consultation convened to issue a Regional NGO Shadow Report evaluating the Arab states' fulfillment of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Sudanese Journalist Lubna Hussein Receives ‘Mahfoutha’ Prize in Cairo
Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein was honored by Karama and the Arab Women’s Fund with the 2009 ‘Mahfoutha’ Sindiyanat El-Karama Award for challenging a decency law in Sudan which forbids women from wearing pants. Standing trial in September 2009, Ms. Hussein faced a punishment of 40 lashes and one month in prison.