EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE: 17 Campaigns for 17 Goals – Synergizing Campaigns for Agenda 2030

sustainability.thomsonreuters.com - Just 14 years remain to accomplish the Agenda 2030 and the world still does not know. As we completed the first year of the implementation of agenda 2030 for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, there is a greater need to harmonize campaigns contributing to SDGs. There is massive opportunity for the international development community to work together in solidarity using campaigns to forward SDGs. However, there is more focus on specific goals and targets rather than on the entire Agenda. If we continue to operate in silos, we lose sight of the big picture and end up fragmenting the Agenda, wasting resources and hindering progress. We must bear in mind that the goal of the international community is to ensure the achievement of all 17 SDGs by 2030. Instead of competing for advocacy space and much-needed resources, we must all take ownership of the Agenda as a whole and cohesively work together towards the attainment of the WorldWeWant by the year 2030. The following are good examples of campaigns for 17 goals, increasing collaboration and raising awareness on SDG achievement:

Video: Madame Gandhi Talks About The Intersection Of Music And Feminism

laist.com - Madame Gandhi performs during Global Citizen's 'Show Up and Vote' concert at the World Market Center on October 25, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Global Citizen) Kiran Gandhi, otherwise known by her stage name Madame Gandhi, is a musician and activist. She lives in L.A., and first came to prominence as the drummer for M.I.A. In a new short film, she discusses how she approaches songwriting, how she advocates for feminism through songwriting, and choosing a wardrobe that prioritizes "self-expression" over beauty.

"My passions have always been the same since childhood. I've always loved music and I've always loved feminism," she says.

Gandhi still uses the same drum kit she received at 12 years old. In addition to her work with M.I.A., she has also produced her own music, releasing a five-song EP titled Voices in 2016. She discusses one track, "The Future is Female" in the film. "The lyrics are a direct commentary on the problems that I see today," she says, before quoting the song:

UN News - PHOTO FEATURE: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

un.org - Fatima, 7, sits on a bed in her home in Afar region, Ethiopia. She was subjected to FGM/C when she was 1 year old. Photo: UNICEF/ Holt 6 February 2017 – While the exact number is unknown, at least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been subjected to female genital mutilation, or FGM, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The World Health Organization (WHO) calls FGM a procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons. In lay terms, babies, girls and women are cut and their genitalia severed. WHO underscores that it not only provides no health benefits, but may lead to a life-time of obstacles. Furthermore, the majority of females who have been subjected to the practice are between infancy and age 15.

A young woman in an Ouagadougou clinic in Burkina Faso has undergone reconstructive surgery to repair the damage caused by female genital mutilation at age 6. Photo: UNICEF/ Nesbitt

In a world first, Singer Vera Lynn to release a new album at age 100

nytlive.nytimes.com - British singer Vera Lynn has come up with an awesome way to celebrate her centennial birthday. Last week, Lynn’s record label announced that a new album of her work is set to be released on her 100th birthday, March 17, in a feat that will make her the first person in history to release an album at the age of 100 years old. Fittingly, the album will be titled “Vera Lynn 100” and will feature her original vocals set to re-orchestrated versions of “The White Cliffs of Dover” and “Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart,” among some of her other most famous songs. Lynn has had a remarkable career. She began performing at the age of 7 and during World War II famously traveled to far-flung locales like Egypt, Myanmar and India to entertain the soldiers. Her morale-boosting performances earned her the nickname the “forces’ sweetheart.” After the war, she became the first British pop star to top the U.S. charts. In 1975, she was made a dame and has been honored by Queen Elizabeth on several occasions.

The singer demurred about the possibility that her forthcoming album might shoot to the top of the charts, saying, “It might seem quite tame to these young people, the music. But for us it was very exciting and very meaningful and it meant a lot to people.” She added, “It’s truly humbling that people still enjoy these songs from so many years ago, reliving the emotions of that time.” Below, list to Lynn’s 1942 version of “The White Cliffs of Dover.”

After the Women's March: six mass US demonstrations to join this spring

theguardian.com - Hope your feet aren’t sore yet, because come spring, thereare major nationwide marches planned for nearly every weekend. After the success of the Women’s March on Washington, activists are preparing for mass mobilizations throughout the year.

Here are some major upcoming ones:

Since Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns during the campaign, thousands are marching on Tax Day to protest “the absolute unfairness of a man who is a billionaire president who might be not paying taxes while working folks are paying their fair share”, said Gwen Snyder, a community organizer and national organizer of Tax March.

At least 30 Tax Marches have been planned in solidarity around the country with several hundred thousand people expected. The Los Angeles event page shows 66,000 people who have expressed interest or attending. The New York march event page has nearly 40,000 interested or attending, and 37,000 people said they are interested in the DC march, with over 7,000 clicking attend.

Snyder, who has spent 10 years as an organizer around economic justice, declared: “I haven’t seen this kind of energy on the ground since Occupy.”

Kenya making big strides towards gender equality through law reforms

businessdailyafrica.com - Women entrepreneurs at a meeting in Mombasa last year. Kenya aims to advance women’s economic participation and self-reliance by creating a conducive environment. PHOTO | FILE Last week, Kenya’s candidate for the African Union (AU) Commission chair, Amina Mohamed, lost to Chadian Moussa Mahamat despite her candidature looking promising.

Last year, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump despite a promising campaign. The question on many people’s minds is whether the world ready for women in political leadership positions?

The 2016 US election opened up a lot of case studies on women and leadership positions. I would not be in a position to comment on that ( whether there was a gender card in the two elections), however in today’s rights that show that Kenya is one of the countries in the world with good legislative environment when it comes to women.

We have to understand these efforts against the backdrop of the Kenyan society where a lot of African cultures are male-oriented. The situation is not the same in the West where there have been equal rights for men and women for a much longer time.

Pakistan Moves to End Impunity for Rapists

ipsnews.net - *This story updates Raped and Abandoned by the Law published on May 3, 2014. LAHORE, Feb 3 2017 (IPS) - Amid a wave of reforms to tighten the country’s laws on honour killings and sexual assault, on Feb. 2, the Sindh Assembly passed a law making DNA testing in rape cases mandatory in the province.

It follows on the heels of a unanimous vote by Pakistan’s Parliament last October to plug gaps in the criminal justice system and boost the rate of conviction in rape cases.

The conviction rate for rape in Pakistan has been less than four percent, prompting protests and legal reforms.

For long, the sole reliance on eyewitnesses and circumstantial evidence has benefitted the accused in rape cases and conviction rates have remained negligible in the country.

The new national law, called The Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, also makes DNA evidence admissible, calls for verdicts in rape cases to be announced within three months, and allows filing of appeals within six months.

It also gives approval to holding of in-camera trials and use of technological aids to record testimony of victims and witnesses in order to save victims from humiliation. In the past, many victims and their families would not pursue cases for this very reason.

WIDER IMAGE-Afghan girls fight prejudice with martial arts

news.trust.org - Girls of the Shaolin Wushu club face regular harassment and abuse in addition to the normal dangers of life in Kabul KABUL, Feb 3 (Reuters) - On a snowy mountaintop to the west of Kabul, a group of Afghan girls practise the flowing movements of Wushu, a sport developed from ancient Chinese kung fu martial arts, stretching and bending and slashing the air with bright swords.

In a country where women's sport is severely restricted, the Shaolin Wushu club in a part of Kabul that is home to the capital's Hazara ethnic community, is a rare exception.

Sima Azimi, the 20-year-old leading the practice session, says Wushu teaches self-defence, but just as important, "it's really effective for body and soul".

She learned the sport in Iran, where she won a gold and bronze medal in competition, and she has been teaching in Kabul for about a year, encouraged by her father, with whom she trains at the club's gym.

"I am working with Afghan girls to strengthen their abilities and I love to see Afghan girls improve the way other girls have improved in the world," she said.

Proud Feminist Padma Lakshmi on Taking Her Daughter to the Women’s March

The examples we set for the next generation are so important—which is why we were heartened and inspired to read this story about actress, author and enthusiastic feminist Padma Lakshmi attending the Women's March on January 21 with her daughter, Krishna.  With examples like Lakshmi's, the next generation is even more likely to grow into the fierce, intelligent, compassionate, determined young women we already know them to be. 

yahoo.com - Padma Lakshmi doesn’t understand why so many women are loath to identify themselves as feminists.

“It’s a real problem. There was a trend among young women in the public eye to say: ‘Oh no, I believe in equal rights but I wouldn’t call myself a feminist,’” she says. “Feminism as a term got misaligned. Feminism just means: you believe in equal rights for everybody. It has nothing to do with body politics. I am a proud, flag-bearing feminist. You would have to be unhinged not to call yourself a feminist.”

As you might have noticed, Lakshmi has impressive knife skills, but she doesn’t mince words either. She’s the host of Bravo’s Top Chef and the author of the aromatic bible The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs. Lakshmi is also politically active, having campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. It’s what compelled her to take her daughter, Krishna, to the Women’s March in Washington.

“I’d never been to a protest. I thought it was important for us to go together. She was on the floor of the convention center with me when Hillary lost. It would give her some way to do something. We’d been discussing, ‘What does this mean?’” Lakshmi tells Yahoo Style of the election.

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Behnaz Shafiei: Iran's trailblazing female biker makes history with women's race - BBC News

bbc.com - When Behnaz Shafiei crosses the finish line on Friday at the end of a dusty, rock-strewn race track in Karaj, near Tehran, it will mark the end of both a simple motorbike race and a three-year campaign for women's rights in Iran. Whether she wins the race or not, it's a victory. The 27-year-old has got a concession from Iran's sports ministry to stage the country's first ever all-female motorbike race, despite women being barred from motorbike riding by modesty laws.

Fifteen women will nose their front wheels to the start line on Friday, drawn from 30 applicants. As with many firsts, there won't be much of a fanfare to herald it, or possibly much of an audience. Men will be barred from the race track for the duration, by order of the sports ministry.

"This event is being handled only by women, from the organisers to the spectators to the racers," said Behnaz. "And God willing, tomorrow it will take place."

But the risks across the country are real. Just last week, two women were arrested in the city of Dezful after being filmed riding a motorbike. Police accused them of committing an "obscene act".

7 Women Share The Heart Issues They Never Thought They'd Have To Deal With Before 35

womenshealthmag.com - You're young, you're healthy, you probably don't need to worry about your heart, right? Wrong, says Suzanne Steinbaum, a cardiologist and spokesperson for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women campaign. "If you have a heart, you can get heart disease," she says. "It's not just something that affects old people and men." In fact, heart disease is the number-one killer of women, accounting for one in three deaths each year, according to the AHA. The difference between you and your 70-year-old neighbor, however, is the type of heart problems each of you is most at risk for. The most prevalent conditions in young women are congenital heart abnormalities, meaning you're just born with them, like a mitral valve prolapse, or genetic problems, Steinbaum says. About five out of every 500 female babies are born with heart defect, according to the AHA.

Your youth also doesn't excuse you from more "traditional" heart issues like heart attacks, clogged arteries, and strokes. Your set of personal risk factors, which include family history, lifestyle factors, and medical history, in addition to age, can give you a better idea of how worried you should be about your heart. For instance, the combo of birth control pills and smoking—both common in younger women—can up your risk of a heart attack by 20 percent, the AHA says.

There Are Almost 24 Male Directors for Every Female Director in Hollywood

vanityfair.com - News alert: it’s tough to be a female director in Hollywood. And on Wednesday, U.S.C.-Annenberg released yet another comprehensive study that details just how tough it is, titled “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair.”

The study analyzes the top 100 highest-grossing films from every year since 2007 and, naturally, comes to shocking conclusions about the industry’s lack of equality. An overall statistic showed that out of the 1,000 films analyzed, only 44 were directed by women. There are about 23.8 male directors for every female director, a statistic that sharply drops for black female and Asian female directors. Out of the 57 black directors included, only three were female, and out of the 34 Asian directors, only three were female. Just one director was Latina. “Women of color are virtually absent as top‐grossing directors,” the study notes.

The study also found a correlation between age and career length for female directors. While male directors are more likely to work from their 20s into their 80s, female directors only worked from their 30s to their 60s—a statistic you can be sure is also impacted by race. In other words: “the span of females’ careers is limited whereas for males it appears to be limitless.”

Salma Hayek And Jessica Williams Get Heated On Feminism

vibe.com - What was meant to be a celebration of women filmmakers at the Sundance Festival turned into an unyielding debate on feminism in the face of Donald Trump’s divisive administration. Sponsored by Glamour and Girlgaze, the “Powered By Women” luncheon held days after the Women’s March on Washington did more than bring a host of influencers to one table. It ultimately ripped the guise of sisterhood to shreds, unearthing the distance women have yet to go to live in solidarity.

According to the Los Angeles Times, veteran actresses Salma Hayek and Shirley MacLaine offered their shared opinion that women shouldn’t reduce themselves to victims. “Find the democracy inside,” MacLaine told Jessica Williams, who alluded to the oppression of black, brown and queer communities.

Hayek chimed in to challenge the former Daily Show correspondent to “investigate” who she is beyond her race and womanhood. Williams, however, noted that it’s impossible for her to turn a blind eye to the inhumane legacy of white supremacy. “If you have to do that, then do that,” the Frida star retorted. “Then that’s your journey. But I want to inspire other people to know it’s a choice.”

Germany's feminist magazine 'Emma' turns 40 as feminism gains ground

dw.com - Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. They wore pink hats and carried signs to express their disgust towards misogyny, homophobia, racism and intolerance. The day after President Donald Trump's inauguration, the Women's March not only took over the streets of American cities like Washington D.C., Seattle and New York; protests of solidarity also took place around the world, from London and Berlin to Nairobi, Tokyo and Sydney. The images recall the beginnings of the women's liberation movement in 1970s Germany. Laws that put women at a substantial disadvantage to men drove women into the streets to protest back then - as they do now. In Germany in the 70s, married women were legally required to manage the household, and were only permitted to hold a job if it didn't mean neglecting their responsibilities as wives and mothers. Men, on the other hand, could quit their jobs without any approval of their wives.

All the while, Germany's constitution from 1949 maintained that "women and men have equal rights."

‘World Must Implement Pledges on Women’s Human Rights’

ipsnews.net - ROME, Jan 31 2017 (IPS) - “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work” will provide concrete, practical and action-oriented recommendations that will cover significant new ground, on overcoming structural barriers to gender equality, gender-based discrimination and violence against women at work, a senior United Nations official stressed. Speaking at a consultation in preparation for the Commission on the Status of Women, a body exclusively dedicated to promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), on Jan. 30 called for sustained commitment and leadership to ensure a successful outcome of the Commission.

“We are at an important [juncture] in the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment and women’s human rights,” she said.

Recalling the recent adoption of a number of far-reaching global commitments, such as Beijing+20 (the 20-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on climate change, the New Urban Agenda, and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, Puri added:

From where I stand: “Today, I am living my dream, because I got a second chance”

unwomen.org - From where I stand: “Today, I am living my dream, because I got a second chance” Aissata Ibrahim Maiga on why women’s representation in media matters

I wanted to be in the media since I was a child. But I was pregnant at 14 years of age and by 15, I was married. My parents supported me to continue my education and I graduated, against all odds.

The contributions that women make at all levels of our society must be seen and heard. This is what drives me in my work as a journalist—young girls must be able to see that Malian women are fully capable of contributing to the development of our country when given the opportunity.

Being a woman in media means that you have to prove your professional competencies continuously, so that you are not judged (poorly) because you are a woman. For the most part, in Mali, men perceive women as weak and don’t see our strength. It’s important to change that perception.

I created a website—www.maliennemoi.org—to tell women’s stories, to show the women in Mali in all their diversities, and to reduce the negative perceptions about African women that remain both inside and outside our borders.

To capitalize on the momentum of the Women's March, feminism must be much more inclusive

qz.com - America, as characterized by some of the first words Donald Trump spoke as president of the US, is a dark place of misery, ridden by poverty, crime, and lack of opportunity—a theater of “American carnage.” Yet Saturday (Jan. 21), in Washington, DC, and all around the country, America was quite the opposite: colorful, energetic, and determined. Women of all ages and ethnicities took to the streets to march, chant, and laugh. They came out by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions, by bus, by train, and by plane; some even ran to the march. And they made it clear that they’re not going to quietly tolerate the new administration’s threats.

A large part of Saturday’s massive turnout was, surely, motivated by the election of Trump, a man who bragged about assaulting women, and ran a presidential campaign rife with sexism and general intolerance. But it also seemed to represent a new wave of feminism that’s been building for the past few years but has yet to find a suitable outlet.

The last large women’s protest in DC took place in 2004, when over a million people showed up to contest the curtailing of abortion rights. Despite the prominent role gender equality has claimed in the public discourse over the past few years, there has been little public celebration of it.

Women Leaders, Relying on Their Peers’ Power and Their Own

nationalgeographic.com - This story appears in the January 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine. For 3 Questions this month, we interviewed two leaders who have blazed trails on matters of gender. Writer and activist Gloria Steinem, 82, has been one of the world’s leading feminists since the 1960s. In her memoir, My Life on the Road, the Ms. magazine co-founder describes a life of nearly constant travel, from her itinerant childhood to her ongoing global advocacy. Sheryl Sandberg, 47, is a champion for women’s leadership and the author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. After years of government service, she leaned in to the tech boom, first with Google and now as chief operating officer for Facebook.

Steinem and Sandberg answered our questions in separate interviews, which have been edited for length and clarity.

What was a defining moment in your life, related to gender?

Gloria Steinem: It’s difficult to think of a defining moment because gender, in my generation, was just so assumed. I never remember wanting to be a boy, except perhaps to put my feet over the movie seat in front of me in the theater. And I never remember feeling limited as a girl, because I was not going to school very much. It came as a shock and surprise when I got to be a teenager and gender became very limiting and very important. There were always whispers and rumors about girls who got pregnant and had to get married. If someone was raped, it was her fault. In my teenage years I became aware of being careful.

Rowan Blanchard Gets Real About Intersectional Activism After the Women’s March

teenvogue.com - The Women's March on Washington truly became a national, and international, movement, with hundreds of thousands of people marching across the United States and around the world in support of women's rights. In downtown Los Angeles alone, 750,000 people marched and one of those was actress and activist Rowan Blanchard, who took to the podium after marching to address the crowd. And though she regularly educates and informs her millions of followers on social media, there’s something about addressing almost a million faces IRL that would probably spook anyone just a little bit — but not Rowan. Although she began her speech by addressing the initial despair she felt after Donald Trump’s election win, she then eloquently explained why she won’t let fear impede her work as an activist in these next four years. “I believe in art,” Rowan told the crowd after reading a passage on hope from a Rebecca Solnit text, “but more than that, I believe in the ineffable power of community.” She went on to note that the strength of marginalized communities is what teaches us that organizing works: “If women, if queer people, if people of color have survived this long in a world that refuses to represent them, that must amount to a force much greater than one man with nothing more to invest in but his ego.” Make no mistake: Her speech is definitely a must-watch.

Three Lessons to Make the Women’s March Worthwhile

taketheleadwomen.com - I’ve marched in and organized many marches. So I supported but wasn’t planning on going to DC for the January 21 Women’s March, feeling good that younger women were rightly leading this time around. As the time grew nearer, Take The Lead’s Leadership Ambassadors created an Action Party event that grew just as the Women’s March itself was growing beyond all expectations. I had to be there—for our event and in solidarity with the millions of other marching women and men around the world. A delayed train back to New York after the march gave me a few moments for power shopping. I spotted a red raincoat I couldn’t’t resist. Nor could I resist asking the cheery salesperson, who by appearance and accent seemed to be from India, whether she had attended the march. “Oh yes,” she said. “It was very important. I got permission from my boss to close the shop for four hours, and I took the other two employees and my daughters.” Her words touched me profoundly as a microcosm of stories that brought so many people out onto the streets.