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Namibia Hits Political Target; Mothers Need Help
Run Date: 05/10/08
By Jennifer Thurston
WeNews correspondent
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(WOMENSENEWS)--
Cheers
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Namibia has reached 30 percent female representation in the national assembly, a target set in 1997 to be met by 2005 by the South African Development Community, the Windhoek New Era reported May 5. Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique have previously met the goals.
Patricia Mulasikwanda, Zambia's gender affairs minister, commended Namibia for meeting the targets, saying the four countries that have achieved the goal should inspire the other 10 nations, including her own, that have not.
South Africa's public services minister, Geraldine Moleketi, announced that her government would also reach a target of filling 50 percent of senior management positions in the public sector with women by 2009, the Tshwane BuaNews reported May 6.
More News to Cheer This Week:
* Canada awarded honorary citizenship to Burmese Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi May 6, calling on her release from house arrest, Agence France-Presse reported. Canada's foreign minister said Suu Kyi "personifies the struggle to bring freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law" to the nation, struggling with the aftermath of last week's cyclone. Relief agencies predict the cyclone's death toll will rise over 100,000.
* Hazel Jones, an 84-year-old World War II veteran from Dover, N.H., was awarded five medals last week including the Women's Army Corps Service Medal. Jones received the medals after arrangements by Rep. Carol Shea Porter, who has made it a special priority to work with the military to issue veterans' medals even if they are years past due, according to her office. Jones served 17 months in World War II, enlisting after she saw a recruiting poster of Uncle Sam telling her, "I want you for the U.S. Army." She was offered the choice of working in the kitchen or driving a truck, and she chose the truck.
More currently, Pfc. Monica Brown, a medic serving in Afghanistan, became the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star for her heroism in treating wounded comrades in the battle zone, the Washington Post reported May 1. Three days after the medal ceremony, Brown was pulled from her post because she is not allowed to serve in combat zones as a woman.
* Maria Soledad Vela, a member of Ecuador's parliament who is helping to rewrite the nation's constitution, has proposed that women have the right to "free, responsible and informed decisions" about their sex lives, the BBC reported May 3. She said she wanted clearer laws to cover life, health and sexual education. Parliament member Leonardo Viteri accused her of trying to "decree orgasm by law."
* The British government has launched an ad campaign warning men not to pay for sex with women who have been trafficked or exploited, Reuters reported May 5. The posters directly address male brothel customers: "Walk in a punter; walk out a rapist," they read.
* A Maryland court has ruled that a couple's Islamic divorce is not valid, the Washington Post reported May 8, because the "talaq" custom where a man declares "I divorce thee" three times deprives a woman of her due process rights. The ruling allows the wife to seek an equitable financial settlement from her husband, who now lives in Pakistan.
* Malaysia abandoned plans to require women traveling abroad to carry a letter of permission from their parents, the International Herald Tribune reported May 5. On May 8, meanwhile, a Malaysian court for the first time allowed a woman to renounce Islam, the nation's official religion, Reuters reported. The woman converted to Islam when she married a Muslim, but sought to abandon the faith after her divorce.
Namibia Hits Political Target; Mothers Need Help
Run Date: 05/10/08
By Jennifer Thurston
WeNews correspondent
thumbs up and down
(WOMENSENEWS)--
Cheers
thumb pointing up
Namibia has reached 30 percent female representation in the national assembly, a target set in 1997 to be met by 2005 by the South African Development Community, the Windhoek New Era reported May 5. Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique have previously met the goals.
Patricia Mulasikwanda, Zambia's gender affairs minister, commended Namibia for meeting the targets, saying the four countries that have achieved the goal should inspire the other 10 nations, including her own, that have not.
South Africa's public services minister, Geraldine Moleketi, announced that her government would also reach a target of filling 50 percent of senior management positions in the public sector with women by 2009, the Tshwane BuaNews reported May 6.
More News to Cheer This Week:
* Canada awarded honorary citizenship to Burmese Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi May 6, calling on her release from house arrest, Agence France-Presse reported. Canada's foreign minister said Suu Kyi "personifies the struggle to bring freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law" to the nation, struggling with the aftermath of last week's cyclone. Relief agencies predict the cyclone's death toll will rise over 100,000.
* Hazel Jones, an 84-year-old World War II veteran from Dover, N.H., was awarded five medals last week including the Women's Army Corps Service Medal. Jones received the medals after arrangements by Rep. Carol Shea Porter, who has made it a special priority to work with the military to issue veterans' medals even if they are years past due, according to her office. Jones served 17 months in World War II, enlisting after she saw a recruiting poster of Uncle Sam telling her, "I want you for the U.S. Army." She was offered the choice of working in the kitchen or driving a truck, and she chose the truck.
More currently, Pfc. Monica Brown, a medic serving in Afghanistan, became the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star for her heroism in treating wounded comrades in the battle zone, the Washington Post reported May 1. Three days after the medal ceremony, Brown was pulled from her post because she is not allowed to serve in combat zones as a woman.
* Maria Soledad Vela, a member of Ecuador's parliament who is helping to rewrite the nation's constitution, has proposed that women have the right to "free, responsible and informed decisions" about their sex lives, the BBC reported May 3. She said she wanted clearer laws to cover life, health and sexual education. Parliament member Leonardo Viteri accused her of trying to "decree orgasm by law."
* The British government has launched an ad campaign warning men not to pay for sex with women who have been trafficked or exploited, Reuters reported May 5. The posters directly address male brothel customers: "Walk in a punter; walk out a rapist," they read.
* A Maryland court has ruled that a couple's Islamic divorce is not valid, the Washington Post reported May 8, because the "talaq" custom where a man declares "I divorce thee" three times deprives a woman of her due process rights. The ruling allows the wife to seek an equitable financial settlement from her husband, who now lives in Pakistan.
* Malaysia abandoned plans to require women traveling abroad to carry a letter of permission from their parents, the International Herald Tribune reported May 5. On May 8, meanwhile, a Malaysian court for the first time allowed a woman to renounce Islam, the nation's official religion, Reuters reported. The woman converted to Islam when she married a Muslim, but sought to abandon the faith after her divorce.